Solar power plant developers applying to use land owned by the Bureau of Land Management will find that the agency primarily concerned with how much water their planned system will require for cooling solar collectors.

Charles Adamson, manager of transmission project licensing for Southern California Edison, noted at a recent utility-scale solar seminar that "BLM is really worried about the reduction of the water table." SoCal Edison faced a similar problem from an Indian tribe that owned the land that housed one of its coal-fired plants, in Laughlin, Nevada. "The water was used to transport the coal and the tribe decided they were losing too much water and couldn't afford it anymore, so it is closed. So even if you have water, you might not be able to use it!"

A cautionary tale, to be sure.

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