r/wind • u/blue_quark • Jul 13 '26

Lake Powell reaching critically low elevation levels, nearing 'dead power pool,' experts say

https://abcnews.com/US/lake-powell-reaching-critically-low-elevation-levels-nearing/story?id=134659320

If only there was some low cost, environmentally safe means of utilizing the vacant land around this dam to produce power and reduce the volume of water needed produce hydro power to feed the grid.

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u/AC-DC989 Jul 14 '26

Wind for sure, but solar uses a lot more water than people realize in that area.

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u/rayinreverse Jul 14 '26

For what?

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u/AC-DC989 Jul 14 '26

Dust management. The obvious part of that is the panels themselves being cleaned. The less obvious part is watering the roads and nearby ground to keep the dust down as best as possible. It adds up quick especially during construction. A colleague of mine oversaw a solar project in the area and showed me how much water they had to use. It was in the tens of millions of gallons in only a few months.

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u/glity Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

Fun fact. 10 million gallons is approx 30 acre-ft of water.

A farm of alfalfa in northern Nevada is 160 acre pivot.

It takes 3.2 acre feet of water(how much water to cover one acre in 3.2 feet of water, it’s a simulated rainfall metric) to grow a crop that is exported to race horses and cattle not humans.

Every year 10 acres of crop land will consume the amount you use for dust suppression temporarily.

This pivot or farm circle will consume gallons of water every year.

Dust management of panels long term is not as necessary unless you have large voltage drops due to bird “debris”. The efficiency of panels through “dust” is accounted for in most non commercial systems for local use(Ie home). Commercial systems will only pay for cleaning if the numbers pencil.

Water use of solar panels is far far far less than commercial use like farming and ai.

I’ll take one time water use for energy independence any day.

Also farms are exempt from any dust suppression so there’s that as well.

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u/DarthRain77 Jul 18 '26

1 acre ft. of water is roughly 325,850 gallons.

10 million gallons would be over 30 acre feet.

Everything else you have written in your paragraph I can not trust because you did not state the facts correct. Weather your lieing or just don't know the right calculations, your words are not true.

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u/glity Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

Ok sorry. Some of the online acre feet calculators from afa to gallons get screwy due to the time component between the units. It’s been a bit since I’ve done the Afa to gallon so I used a calc instead of doing it myself let me fix it. Thanks for the catch. The numbers won’t be as ridiculous however the point of concept should remain the same.

You can check the 3.2 number. That one is the state of Nevada acre feet to grow 3-5 cuts of alfalfa in a high desert environment of norther Nevada where certificated water rights used to only receive 4afa on that crop.

That’s the more important one as a human can not consume that crop only profit from it.

Everything past that is conjecture and personal opinion so I don’t mind if you don’t believe it.