This $15,000,000 Cooperative Agreement award from the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation under the SECURE Water Act - Research Agreements program (CFDA 15.560) aims to identify viable solutions to enable the nation's canals and irrigation water districts to serve a dual purpose of traditional water conveyance and renewable energy generation. The 5-year pilot project seeks to evaluate the potential benefits of installing solar panels over existing canal infrastructure, which could reduce water evaporation, generate clean energy for the grid, and boost solar panel efficiency through the cooling effect of the water. The project intends to prepare a final report summarizing the study results to inform future decisions on investing in solar canal infrastructure.
The award recipient, the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, is a non-profit organization that provides water service to approximately 1.2 million acres of irrigated agriculture, 2 million people, and 130,000 acres of wetlands in California's central valley region. In addition to this cooperative agreement, the entity has received prior federal contract and grant awards from the Bureau of Reclamation for maintenance, environmental compliance, and water infrastructure projects.
Generated 3/4/25, 8:45 AM