Other projects planned in California, Utah
WASHINGTON (KTVZ) – The Department of the Interior announced Thursday that President Biden’s Invest in America agenda is investing $19 million to install solar panels on irrigation canals in Oregon’s Northern Union Irrigation District, as well as in California and Utah, while reducing critical water evaporation. supply and achieving clean energy goals.
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Michael Brain and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton joined state and local officials in the announcement on the Delta-Mendota Canal Floating Solar Project, which will receive $15 million in funding.
“Through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, we have historic new resources to invest in innovative solutions that advance our clean energy goals and make Western communities more resilient to drought and climate change,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Michael Brain. “Working with state, tribal, and local stakeholders, the Department of the Interior will continue to invest in key water infrastructure projects that mitigate the worst impacts of climate change and invest in communities across the country.”
“As with much of our work, Reclamation cannot achieve our mission without the valuable participation of our partners,” said Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton. “We look forward to working together on this new idea to save water and create renewable energy with funding from President Biden’s Investing in America program. These projects will help inform similar projects to better understand their impact and make this information available to the public so that we can all understand the scale and associated benefits they provide.”
Installing solar panels on irrigation canals has the potential to provide a variety of benefits, including:
Generation of renewable energy; Reducing channel evaporation losses; Increasing the efficiency and production of solar panels due to the cooling effect of the water under the panels; Creation of land resources for open space and agricultural use; Reducing facility maintenance by reducing algae and/or aquatic plant growth; and Reducing the energy footprint and carbon emissions required to operate and maintain the Facility.
President Biden’s Investing in America agenda represents the largest investment in climate resilience in the nation’s history and provides much-needed resources to increase resilience of Western communities to drought and climate change.
The projects in California, Oregon and Utah are part of an initiative to improve water efficiency and study the amount of clean energy produced for future scale-up. They are funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, which provides $25 million to design, study and implement projects to cover Reclamation-related water transfer facilities with solar panels.
Projects announced Thursday include:
San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority in California, $15 million for the Delta-Mendota Channel Floating Solar Project: The San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority, Reclamation and the University of California-Merced will collaborate through a public-private-academic partnership to evaluate the effects of floating solar arrays on the Delta-Mendota Channel. The pilot intends to potentially deploy up to three floating solar technologies to evaluate the viability, costs, and benefits of floating solar on canals at large transportation facilities such as the Delta-Mendota Canal. The initiative will also validate the design of floating photovoltaics for water movement, identify and solve problems related to the maintenance of a channel with panels on it, explore the potential for energy production and develop methods to measure impacts on water quality.
$2.55 million for the North Division Irrigation District, Main Channel Floating Photovoltaic Project in Oregon: The North Division Irrigation District will build floating solar panels on the Main Canal of the Deschutes Project. The project will assess the impact of floating solar panels on increasing water efficiency and the amount of clean energy produced.
Weber Basin Water Conservation District $1.5 million for Solar Panels on the Layton Canal Project in Utah: The Weber Basin Water Conservation District will cover existing canals upstream of the Layton Canal with solar panel structures surrounding the canal. The project will serve as a five-year demonstration of data collection and monitoring to assess technical feasibility, economic feasibility and viability for both Reclamation and the District for full-scale implementation. The project expects to improve water quality by reducing algal blooms along the canal, generate renewable energy to offset pumping station use or sell to utilities, and significantly reduce water loss to evaporation.
Thursday’s announcement builds on $5.65 million announced for the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona to build and install solar panels on the Casa Blanca Canal.
Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, Reclamation also invests $8.3 billion over five years for water infrastructure projects, including rural water, water storage, conservation and transportation, nature-based solutions, dam safety, water treatment and reuse, and desalination. During the first two years of its implementation, Reclamation allocated nearly 3 billion dollars to 425 projects.
This funding also advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which aims to ensure that 40 percent of the total benefits of certain climate, clean energy and other federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities marginalized and burdened by pollution with little investment.