Federal money funds new projects on Gila River Indian Community
New spending from President Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda was announced today in the Gila River Indian Community and ground was broken for the second phase of the Pima-Maricopa Irrigation Project, which will place solar panels over the Casa Blanca Canal.
The plan will place approximately 2,500 solar panels spanning over 18 and a half miles, estimated to generate 2,200 megawatt hours on average – which is enough to serve about 600 homes.
An additional $50 million in funding was received by Bureau of Reclamation’s Lower Colorado River Basin System Conservation and Efficiency Program from the Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, which has funded clean energy efforts across the country. Specifically, half of that funding was used to design, study and now implement reclamation associated canals.
Pima-Maricopa Irrigation Project Director David DeJong described this project as “unique” and something that has never been done before.
On one side of Interstate 10 they plan to utilize imported solar panels and the other side will use domestically made panels, DeJong said. This is in an effort to gather empirical data on which panels perform better for such an irrigation project, so similar plans may be as effective as possible.
The purpose of placing the panels over the water is to maximize land-use while mitigating the cooling effects they will have on the canal, Dejong said, which will reduce aquatic growth and therefore reduce maintenance requirements.
Acting Deputy Secretary of the Interior Laura Daniel-Davis said Arizona knows more than anyone about the harsh impacts of the climate crisis.
“The prolonged drought that is afflicting the West is one of the most significant challenges that our country is facing,” Daniel-Davis said.
“Biden’s Investing in America agenda is enabling us to deploy resources at an unprecedented pace that’s going to make direct impacts in communities,” Acting Deputy Secretary of the Interior Laura Daniel-Davis said. “The solar panel project being funded by the Inflation Reduction Act here that we’re talking about today represents just the kind of innovative thinking that we need to outsmart the climate crisis by conserving water in your water systems while also generating renewable energy.”
Camille Calimlim Touton, Bureau of Reclamation’s commissioner, said the goal for the solar panels is to “generate renewable energies but also increase efficiencies.”
The first announcement made under the IRA was made in Gila River, and Touton said she is proud that clean energy efforts are continuing in the area. The solar panel plan is an example of an “all-of government” strategy, where outcomes are maximized through collaboration of state agencies and government organizations.
Michael Connor, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, said the country has not done well at working with “historically disenfranchised marginalized communities,” and this plan has provided an opportunity to change that. The “all-of government” approach is really focused on the tribal government, Connor said, and highlighting the collective vision that is found in the Gila River Indian Community.
“I’m confident that with the President’s Executive order in place that we will continue to modernize our efforts and partner with tribes and other federal agencies now have the same obligation to move forward in support of tribal visions,” Connor said. “Not just focus on Indigenous knowledge as we move forward and advance these projects but to really focus and utilize Indigenous leadership.”
Gila River Indian Community Governor Stephen Roe Lewis said the IRA and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law have granted a “historic amount of resources” to the Indian country, allowing them to work and collaborate efficiently with stakeholders and quickly bring plans to action.
“Just a month ago, we signed an agreement funding the first phase of this solar covered canal project and here a month later, we are already beginning the second phase, actually breaking ground,” Lewis said.
Lewis said he had just returned from Washington D.C., where the White House Tribal Nations Summit was held. He said Vice President Kamala Harris made it clear that she understands the significance of tribes leading conservation efforts in the midst of this “mega drought.”