Biden-Harris Administration Joins Gila River Indian Community to celebrate completion of solar over canals project

WASHINGTON - Bureau of Reclamation Deputy Commissioner David Palumbo joined White House Senior Advisor Tom Perez, Gila River Indian Community Governor Stephen Roe Lewis and community members this week to celebrate the first energy generated from an innovative solar over canals project funded by the Inflation Reduction Act.

"Our partners at the Gila River Indian Community are at the forefront of utilizing technology to work with Reclamation to conserve water," Palumbo said. "They are the first to complete a pilot solar over canals project, which will generate renewable energy while conserving water to better inform future projects of this kind."

The solar pilot project received $5.65 million from the Inflation Reduction Act to cover 2,782 linear feet of the Casa Blanca canal with approximately 2,556 solar panels. The solar panels are expected to generate 1.31 megawatts of clean energy, providing at least 2.26 million kilowatt-hours of annual electricity to the Gila River Indian Community. In addition to producing renewable energy and conserving water through reduced evaporation, this pilot project that will provide important data on these benefits that can be used for future initiatives and investments.

President Biden's Investing in America agenda represents the largest investment in climate resilience in the nation's history and provides much-needed resources to enhance Western communities' resilience to drought and climate change. The Inflation Reduction Act made available $25 million for the design, study and implementation of projects to cover water conveyance facilities with solar panels.

While visiting the Gila River Indian Community, Palumbo also participated in two separate groundbreaking events on pipeline projects to improve efficiency under conservation agreements announced last week with the Gila River Indian Community representing an investment of up to $107 million into three projects with the potential to create system conservation of over 73,000 acre-feet within the next 10 years.