… In a dramatic but inaccurate statement in [Epoch Times' California Insider] podcast, [Comite Civico del Valle Executive Director Luis] Olmedo calculated that the annual use of IID’s precious water allocation by a new geothermal plant that will use a closed system would equate to 3 pools for each resident of Imperial County. … IID’s annual water allowance from the Colorado River is 3.1 million-acre feet, with 500,000-acre feet transferred through various federally mandated programs to other water authorities, leaving IID with 2.6 million-acre feet. … Here are the real facts. IID has reserved 25,000-acre feet of the 2.6-million-acre feet, or 0.0096% for “industrial use” defined by IID as renewable energy with 11 BHE geothermal plants, 2 for ORMAT, and 1 for Energy Source, plus other contractual industrial users. … A new geothermal plant may require as much as 5,000 acre feet for initial use, which is a one-time use. After that, the “top off” volume is less than 600-acre feet per year.
–Written by Kay Day Pricola, retired executive director of the Imperial Valley Vegetable Growers Association.

Other Imperial Valley geothermal news:

• The Desert Review (Brawley, Calif.): BLM to hold geothermal lease sale in California on August 2025