According to data, the west of the US is in the worst megadrought in the last 1,200 years.
The groundwater supplies are overpumped in numerous areas and the wildfires, dryness, and declining water supplies make climate change a personal issue for so many people.
Engineers have therefore been working together on a way to keep the water supplies safe and enhance renewable energy, all with the goal to protect the climate.
What Is the Solar-Canal Solution?
The so-called solar-canal solution is going to be tested in California.
Around 4000 miles of canals deliver water to around 35 million Californians and to 5.7 million acres of farmland throughout the state.
The study from 2021 explains that these canals will be covered with solar panels to help lower the evaporation of water, one of the most critical Californian resources.
It will also help meet the renewable energy goals of the state and help save money.
The first US prototypes for narrow-span and wide-span canals are currently under development in the Central Valley. The team includes researchers from the University of California Merced and they will work on ways how to make this a large-scale solution.
Preservation of Water & Land
California is drought-prone and water is a major worry and climate change is only making the weather hotter and drier. The serious droughts in the past 10 to 30 years caused wells to dry out and officials to place restrictions on water and triggered major wildfires.
California has very ambitious conservation goals. There is a state mandate to lower the groundwater pumping while keeping a steady supply to cities, farms, wildfires, and ecosystems.
Back in 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom directed the Natural Resources Agency to lead the efforts to conserve 30 percent of the land and waters by 2030.
Most of the rain and snow in California happen north of Sacramento in the winter whereas 80 percent of the water is in the south during summer.
This is why the canals snake throughout the state and it’s the biggest such system globally. They estimate that around 1 to 2 percent of the water they carry gets lost due to the evaporation in the hot Californian sun.
A study from 2021 showed that covering the 4000 miles of the canals with solar panels will help preserve more than 65 gallons of water annually through the decrease of evaporation.
This is sufficient to irrigate 50,000 acres of land or meet the needs for water of more than 2 million people. By installing the solar panels on land that’s already in use rather than on undeveloped land, California can meet its sustainability goals for land and water.
Sources: