Arizona tribe first to span canals with solar panels
For the first time in the United States, a tribe in Arizona is building a solar farm over an irrigation canal to produce clean energy and save water at a time of unrelenting drought. The Gila River Indian Community has broken ground on a project to put solar panels over nearly 3,000 feet of the Casa Blanca canal south of Phoenix. It’s one phase of a pilot project designed to eventually help the tribe reach its goal of using 100% renewable power. The idea is modeled after a similar project in India, says David DeJong, director of the Pima-Maricopa Irrigation Project. … The Turlock Irrigation District in California’s Central Valley is expected to start a project of its own soon. DeJong says money from the Inflation Reduction Act funded the solar farm, and it will eventually produce enough electricity to power several thousand homes.