MARK YOUR CALENDAR

LAST OPPORTUNITY FOR RESIDENTS TO SHARE CONCERNS AND COMMENTS WITH ELECTED OFFICIALS

500,000 to 600,000 PV cells on 1600 acres

23-acre data server farm

Once rezoning is approved, the P & Z Commision will be the authority to approve the Conditional Permit. If the project changes to another industry allowable under the zoning of Light Industry, or if the technologies/associated water demands change for the solar farm and data center, the Council will no longer have an opportunity to review the project.

Although there is no guarantee at this time, the plan is to use photovoltaic (PV) technology which uses only 2% of the water used by solar thermal technologies.

In comparison, a 200 MW solar farm using the most common technology of parabolic troughs, can use 820,000,000 gallons of water a year for operations.

The current plan is to have the solar farm support a million-square foot data center. (Microsoft and Google typically build 500,000 square foot facilities or less).

The property owner has verbally stated he will encourage dry cooling even though the most efficient and cheapest way to cool such a facility is evaporative cooling towers. Again, there is no mechanism in place to assure this action.

Additional watershed issues include removal of ground cover to allow for economical installation. Since shade from arrays prevent growth from being re-established under the PV cells, erosion due to sheet flooding and strong southwesterly winds is a critical concern for this sloped area with unstable soils.

To learn more about solar farm installation, visit the following link to Guest Speaker Valerie Rauluk's presentation fromMay 17th and other technical reports solar technologies and water consumption.

Click here to go to special collection site or type in:

https://cwatershedalliance.com/pages/Solar%20Farm.htm

Click here for Board Pak for May 23rd Meeting.

Back to Top

BLM, The Nature Conservancy, CWA and other partners are meeting to finalize the logistics in monitoring nearly 175 miles of the San Pedro River from below the Mexican border to the town of Winkelman on June 18th.

Seven to eight teams of three volunteers each are being recruited for training in the Middle San Pedro area. Tentative training is set for June 14 so that standardized use of GPS units and forms produce quality data. The wet/dry mapping dataset will then be used to historically track the river’s health by monitoring the persistence of surface water during the driest time of each year.

CWA has coordinated the efforts within the Middle San Pedro for four years, extending the ten-year program developed in the Sierra Vista Watershed by BLM and TNC.

Equestrians, ATVs, and hikers will be on the river from approximately 5:30 A.M. to approximately 11:00 A.M.- traveling stretches of the river varying from 3 to 8 miles across lands to which property owners provide permission.

Here is your opportunity to join this year's efforts. Volunteer for parts of the river seldom traveled where perhaps deer, javelina, teal, turtles, minnows, and lots of fresh track can be spotted. From intermittent water south of Benson, to dry white sands to the north, it makes for a great morning outing. Call 609-2738 or email watergroup@aol.com today.

Click here to go to 2010 Map Links.

Back to Top

MEMBERS PRIORITIZE TOPICS OF INTEREST

At the Annual Meeting held in January 2011, the CWA Steering Committee asked its membership to provide direction for this year. Members were asked to identify and prioritize topics for which they would like more information.

The following list was compiled and experts are being identified in each area. The Steering Committee is now making contacts to schedule Guest Presenters for the remainder of 2011.

The first item on the list ranked the highest. The remaining nine are not in ranked order.

Industrial Park – Water Usage
St. David Cienega
Rainwater Harvesting
Hydrological Study – In-depth Results/Modeling
Ecoli Study
Stormwater Policies
Invasive Species
Arsenic
Routine Well Maintenance
Update on Water demands / reclaimed Water – wastewater treatment plant

The above list is dynamic - changeable depending upon new legislation, technology, management strategies, challenges, etc. impacting our watershed. Please contact us with your ideas.

Back to Top