In 2015, California's drylands broke into the fourth year of drought. Then-governor Jerry Brown ordered an unprecedented 25% cut in domestic water use. The farmers who use the most water also suggested avoiding deeper and more forced felling.
Brown also aims to get half of the state's energy from renewable sources as climate change accelerates.
But when Jordan Harris and Robin Rudge knocked on the door with an idea to combat water loss and climate pollution by putting solar panels on irrigation canals, they couldn't get anyone to sign up.
West Indies and India completed the second Test at Queen's Park Oval after the fifth and final day was called off on Monday.
India's parliament has been suspended for a third day amid ethnic clashes in the far northeastern state, where more than 130 people have been killed in opposition protests since May.
West Indies struck twice on day four, and while India were quick to score, it hinted at a showdown between the two on the final day, weather permitting, in the second Test at Queen's Park Oval.
Rescuers have completed a four-day search for those missing after monsoon rains hit a city in western India.
Eight years later. Facing devastating heatwaves , record wildfires, the Colorado River crisis, climate change and more, his company Solar AquaGrid and partners are preparing to open the first indoor solar tunnel project in the United States.
"All these elements are coming together," Harris said. "Is there a more urgent problem to which we can devote our time?" »
The idea is simple. install solar panels above canals in sunny, dry areas that reduce evaporation and generate electricity.
Research from the University of California Merced supports this idea and estimates that covering 4,000 kilometers of canals in California could save 63,000 million liters of water. Researchers estimate that most of the installed solar power will also generate significant amounts of electricity.
But this is an assumption. neither these nor other possible benefits have been scientifically tested. That should change with the Nexus project in California's Central Valley.
Indian workers finish installing solar panels covering the Narmada canal in Chandrasan village near Ahmedabad, India, April 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki, File)
CREATE IN A MOMENT!
In California, where cheap land for energy development is as scarce as water, solar has long been considered a two-pronged solution. But the big idea was still hypothetical.
Harris, a former record company executive, founded Rock the Vote, a voter registration campaign, in the early 1990s and organized Raj's corporate social responsibility and sustainability campaigns. They knew people needed help, preferably from a trusted source.
Believing that a study by a reputable institution might be sufficient, they obtained funding from UC Merced to study the effects of covered solar tubes in California.
The results of the research were convincing.
They contacted Governor Gavin Newsom, who called Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crofoot.
"Let's put it in and see what's possible," Crowfoot reminded the governor.
Indian laborers work between solar panels installed at the head of the Narmada Canal in Chandrasan village in Ahmedabad, India on February 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki, file)
Around the same time, the Turlock Irrigation District, also a utility, contacted UC Merced. He wanted to build a solar project to meet the state's ambitious goal of using 100% renewable energy by 2045. However, land was very expensive and building on existing infrastructure was attractive. Then there was the possibility that shading the panels could reduce weed growth in pipes, a problem that costs utilities millions of dollars a year.
"Until UC Merced released this document, we never saw what additional benefits it would have," district spokesman Josh Weimer said. "If anyone was going to test this concept, we wanted to make sure it was us."
The state provided $20 million in public funding, making the pilot project a three-way partnership between the private, public and academic sectors. About 1.6 miles (2.6 kilometers) 20 to 110 feet wide will be covered by solar panels 5 to 15 feet above the ground.
The UC Merced team will study water quality impacts from the evaporation, said Brandy McQueen, the study's principal investigator.
"We need to clarify these issues before making recommendations for wider implementation.
Lessons learned abroad
California is not the first state to use this technology. India has developed one of the largest irrigation projects in the world. The Sardar-Sarovar Dam and Canal Project supplies water to hundreds of thousands of villages in the dry and arid regions of the western Indian state of Gujarat.
Narendra Modi, the then chief minister of Gujarat and now the country's prime minister, inaugurated it with much fanfare in 2012. Engineering company Sun Edison has ordered 19,000 km (11,800 miles) of solar arrays. However, only a few small projects have seen the light of day since then. The company declared bankruptcy.
"Capital costs are very high and maintenance is an issue," said Jaideep Parmar, a Gujarat-based engineer who has overseen several small-scale solar tunnel projects.
A worker washes his hands after installing solar panels on the upper part of the Narmada Canal in Chandrasan village, Ahmedabad, India on February 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
He said terrestrial solar systems make more economic sense given the vast, arid areas.
Simplistic design is another reason why the technology is not widely used in India. Gujarat pilot panels are located directly above the pipe, making access difficult for maintenance and emergency personnel.
While still in California, Harris noted India's experience and began looking for a better solution. There project will use better materials and be taller.
NEXT STEPS
Project Nexus may not be alone for long. The Gila River Indian Community received bipartisan Infrastructure Act funding to install solar panels on its canals to conserve water and reduce pressure on the Colorado River. The Salt River Project, one of Arizona's largest water and power utilities, is exploring the technology in partnership with Arizona State University.
U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., said rapid change is still unwelcome in the world of water infrastructure.
"It's a sclerotic fortress of poor old engineers," he said.
Huffman has been talking about the technology for about a decade and says people are always interested in building dams higher than what they think is a more logical idea.
In last year's Inflation Relief Act, he won $25 million to fund a pilot project for the Bureau of Reclamation. Currently, the locations of the project are being evaluated.
More than 100 climate advocacy groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity and Greenpeace, have sent a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and FBI Commissioner Camille Tutton to "accelerate widespread solar photovoltaic energy systems" on FBI canals and aqueducts. Covering 8,000 miles of canals and aqueducts would "enable more than 25 gigawatts of renewable energy, powering nearly 20 million homes and reducing the evaporation of tens of millions of gallons of water," according to the FBI.
Covering all canals would be ideal, Huffman said, but starting with the California Aqueduct and the Delta Mendota Canal; "It's a really attractive situation," he said. "And it's time to start!"
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This story was first published on July 20, 2023 and was updated on July 21, 2023 to correct a false claim that panels along California's canals could provide 13 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power Los Angeles from January to October. The correct term for the measurement would be gigawatt-hours instead of gigawatts, but beyond that, the researchers say, the total amount of electricity produced has yet to be scientifically estimated.
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Arasu reported from Bangalore, India.
___ The Associated Press is funded by the Walton Family Foundation to report on water and environmental policy. AP is responsible for all content. All AP environment reports are available at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
