Eastern Sierra News
Written by Benett Kessler Tuesday, 08 December 2009 18:31
Martin Adams, Director of Water Operations for DWP, made a slight excuse when he started off by saying that it’s tough to
Martin Adams, Director of DWP Water Operations
Supervisor Susan Cash threw back DWP Manager David Freeman’s locally offensive TV statements that LA “owns the Owens Valley lock, stock and barrel” and plans to make it “DWP’s Solar Park.” Mr. Martin responded that DWP has no plans to change any of the current commitments in the Owens Valley – including ranching and mitigation measures. He took great pains to offer assurances that life as we know it in the Owens Valley would stay the same, with a few solar arrays here and there – south of Independence and on the Owens Dry Lake.
Martin said that the sun potential in the Owens Valley is “almost un-matched.” He called DWP’s recent work toward solar development “organized rampage.” In fact, the local Air Pollution Control District had never heard of DWP’s ambitious plan for solar panels. Martin said APCD officials are meeting with DWP in Los Angeles this week on the issues.Martin offered that DWP would launch a master plan process for the Owens Lake and make new plans cooperative efforts. He said the State Lands Commission is willing to work with DWP on such a plan. LA will go to the State Lands Commission December 17th for a lease to build a solar project, probably scaled down from David Freeman’s 600 acre plan.
Supervisor Susan Cash and other board members pressed Martin. Cash wanted to know about benefits for Inyo people. She pushed for hiring local people to build the solar projects. What about a break on power rates? Others said more land is needed for housing for workers. Supervisor Cash wanted to know why DWP had moved rapidly on their own solar project but have dragged their feet on mitigating damage here. Martin promised fast movement on all matters.
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Trying to discuss Mr. Freeman's current proposal is like tying to shoot a bullet out of the air with another bullet but, I think it is safe to say that if the topic is photovoltaic panels on Owens Lake, much less the rest of the valley floor, then the facts are:
IF, one could cover the lake bed with PV panels, they would be Chinese, they would be mounted on stands to tilt them toward the sun, that will decay, they would be covered with bird guano constantly, stopping them from generating power, and the angle of tilt needed to make them work will cause them to act like rows of wings in the wind, making a strong turbulence on the underside, creating dust much more efficiently. Once the lake, and the valley, are covered with a “power generating station”, then the DWP with be obligated to police the site. It will be absolutely necessary to keep all water from entering the former lake bed, as well as all forms of life, particularly birds and humans. If Homeland security raises the terror level, the only rational way to protect the many gigawatt/mega dollar power plant, will be to gate off the valley at both ends and evacuate the few people who live here.
The foul stench occurring here is the smell of politicians on a power grab. If Mr. Freeman really wanted to fulfill the mandate from the mayor, the quickest most economic thing to do would be put those Chinese solar panels in LA where the power is going to be used, saving billions of dollars on ‘transmission lines’ that won’t need to be built. But Eco Power is not the goal here. DWP’s commissioners
“approving” a project with no engineering done, on a site that DWP does not own, is a fact. That no one else has scaled up ‘roof top’ photovoltaics into a muti-gigawatt system is also a fact and for
many good reasons. That no one has covered the bottom of a lake bed with them not only is a fact but should rank right up there with common sense. When T. Boone Pickens suggested that we should fill tornado alley with giant wind mills and cover it with tens of thousands of miles of transmission lines that aren’t there now, because... IT’S TORNADO ALLEY! , banks and insurance companies and the owners of the land didn’t jump on the idea.
In this case, if Mr. Freeman gets his way, the federal government will cough up our hard earned tax dollars for this bogus shovel ready project, long before Washington DC figures out that this is a dumb idea. Renewable energy is an important goal, expensive failures are still good things to avoid. Ah, but the new BS
line for the press conference can be: “ We didn’t know that photovoltaic panels don’t work well under water!”