Solar Power World

  • Home
  • Top Solar Contractors
  • Articles
    • Most Recent Posts
    • News
      • Latest News Items
      • SPW State News Hub
      • IRA coverage
      • Solar tariffs
      • U.S. manufacturing updates
    • Featured
      • Latest Feature Stories
      • Contractor’s Corner
      • Trends in Solar
      • The Solar Explorer
  • Policy
    • The Solar Policy Scoop
    • IRA Coverage
  • Markets
    • Residential
    • Commercial
    • Community Solar
    • Utility
  • Products
    • Winners of SPW’s 2024 Top Products
    • Batteries and Storage
    • Electric Vehicle (EV)
    • Inverters
      • U.S. solar inverter manufacturers
    • Racking and Mounting
      • U.S. solar mounting manufacturers
    • Software
    • Solar Panels
      • U.S. solar panel manufacturers
  • Resources
    • About SPW
    • Digital Issues
    • Event Coverage
    • Podcasts
    • Product Manufacturing Locations
      • U.S. solar inverter manufacturers
      • U.S. solar mounting manufacturers
      • U.S. solar panel manufacturers
    • Solar Classrooms
    • Suppliers
    • Videos
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Voices
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

Over 100 advocacy groups push for solar above all government-owned canals

By Kelsey Misbrener | July 20, 2023

Share

More than 125 groups are urging the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the Interior Department to develop a new initiative to deploy solar power above the nearly 8,000 miles of canals owned and operated by the federal government.

The letter to the Interior Department and Bureau of Reclamation said installing solar panels over open-air canals and aqueducts would generate power and reduce evaporative water loss because of climate change-induced droughts.

“Focusing the deployment of solar energy on water-conveyance canals — an already built environment — and already within the Bureau of Reclamation’s control, could allow the department to meet the requirements of the Energy Act of 2020 mandate to deploy 25 GW of onshore renewable energy on public lands without destroying a single additional acre of habitat,” the letter said.

“Instead of sacrificing even more public lands, the Interior Department should deploy renewable energy in places that have already been developed, like water canals,” said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We don’t have to pave over thousands of acres of desert public lands and destroy wildlife habitat for renewable energy. This initiative can help reduce water loss, create jobs in frontline communities and preserve public lands.”

Many canals operated by the Bureau of Reclamation are near environmental justice communities. Renewable energy deployment above canal systems would produce clean energy that displaces dirty fossil-fuel energy in those communities, while also providing jobs for low-wealth communities throughout the West.

“Putting solar panels over canals and in the built environment helps conserve desert ecosystems,” said Cody Hanford, joint executive director at the Mojave Desert Land Trust, a Joshua Tree, California-based conservation group. “We work with federal agencies every day to ensure that conservation is a part of our energy transition. Prioritizing solar development on canals and in urban areas can help reduce pressure on our vulnerable desert wild lands.”

California has launched a pilot project to install solar panels over some of its canals, while similar solar systems are being installed overseas in countries including India and Lebanon. If most Bureau of Reclamation canals were covered with solar panels, it could generate enough renewable energy to power nearly 20 million homes.

Canals play a key role in an equitable clean energy future, as outlined in a positive vision policy brief released by a coalition of environmental justice and conservation organizations this year.

News item from The Center for Biological Diversity

About The Author

Kelsey Misbrener

Kelsey Misbrener is currently managing editor of Solar Power World and has been reporting on policy, technology and other areas of the U.S. solar market since 2017.

Tell Us What You Think! Cancel reply

Related Articles Read More >

Fluence opens BESS enclosure and BMS manufacturing plant in Arizona
SMA to begin assembling medium-voltage power stations in the U.S. in 2026
House Budget Committee advances tax bill to last committee before floor vote
Prysmian releases all-in-one utility solar cabling package at Cleanpower 2025
Solar Power World Digital Edition
Check in with the nation's leading solar construction magazine today.
 
“the-informed-solar-installer”
“solar
“spw
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, tools and strategies for Solar Power Professionals.

Contractor’s Corner Podcast

“solar
Solar Power World
  • Top Solar Contractors
  • Solar Articles
  • Windpower Engineering & Development
  • Leadership
  • About/Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising
  • WTWH Media

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Solar Power World

  • Home
  • Top Solar Contractors
  • Articles
    • Most Recent Posts
    • News
      • Latest News Items
      • SPW State News Hub
      • IRA coverage
      • Solar tariffs
      • U.S. manufacturing updates
    • Featured
      • Latest Feature Stories
      • Contractor’s Corner
      • Trends in Solar
      • The Solar Explorer
  • Policy
    • The Solar Policy Scoop
    • IRA Coverage
  • Markets
    • Residential
    • Commercial
    • Community Solar
    • Utility
  • Products
    • Winners of SPW’s 2024 Top Products
    • Batteries and Storage
    • Electric Vehicle (EV)
    • Inverters
      • U.S. solar inverter manufacturers
    • Racking and Mounting
      • U.S. solar mounting manufacturers
    • Software
    • Solar Panels
      • U.S. solar panel manufacturers
  • Resources
    • About SPW
    • Digital Issues
    • Event Coverage
    • Podcasts
    • Product Manufacturing Locations
      • U.S. solar inverter manufacturers
      • U.S. solar mounting manufacturers
      • U.S. solar panel manufacturers
    • Solar Classrooms
    • Suppliers
    • Videos
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Voices
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe