AP: Solar panels on water canals seem like a no-brainer. So why aren't they widespread?

[OKIsItJustMe]

Solar panels on water canals seem like a no-brainer. So why aren’t they widespread?

BY BRITTANY PETERSON AND SIBI ARASU
Published 12:27 PM EDT, July 20, 2023

Back in 2015, California’s dry earth was crunching under a fourth year of drought. Then-Governor Jerry Brown ordered an unprecedented 25% reduction in home water use. Farmers, who use the most water, volunteered too to avoid deeper, mandatory cuts.

Brown also set a goal for the state to get half its energy from renewable sources, with climate change bearing down.

Yet when Jordan Harris and Robin Raj went knocking on doors with an idea that addresses both water loss and climate pollution — installing solar panels over irrigation canals — they couldn’t get anyone to commit.

Fast forward eight years. With devastating heat, record-breaking wildfire, looming crisis on the Colorado River, a growing commitment to fighting climate change, and a little bit of movement-building, their company Solar AquaGrid and partners are preparing to break ground on the first solar-covered canal project in the United States.

…

https://www.solaraquagrid.com/projects

[Think. Again.]

1. Yep....

I read an article a while ago about covering the Los Angeles River (a huge concrete stormwater canal) with solar.

We need to be doing ALL of these things, and we need to be doing them now.

[OnlinePoker]

3. There are projects underway to revitalize and rewild the L.A. River

Here's the website of the organization working on this:

https://lariver.org/

And here's a map showing the completed, underway, and proposed projects. Better to have a living, breathing watershed than a covered concrete ditch.

[Think. Again.]

4. okay wow, THAT'S terrific!

[walkingman]

2. Great idea - let's get started.

[relayerbob]

5. Yep, and covering packing lots

[Diamond_Dog]

6. You beat me to it, relayerbob!

[NNadir]

7. Because they're a wishful thinking exercise in excessive mining for no result?

The planet is on fire, despite half a century of "solar will save us" hype.