Well, the official end of the rainy season is fast approaching, and things still look fairly bleak for this summer. Two articles of interest to water issues in the state: one about a geothermal plant in Inyo county being allowed to draw from an aquifer in addition to its dwindling well water to generate steam AND use as cooling water, the second about the Montara Water and Sanitary District being blocked from gaining title to wells at the regional airport.
I am not sure of the oparting specifics of the Inyo geothermal plant, but it does seem a waste to use potable water to cool condensed steam. Why can’t that water be reinjected to generate more steam?
If things go awry in the 100-square-mile Rose Valley aquifer basin, in local farm wells, at the hunting club’s 1,200-acre retreat at Little Lake — or for endangered animals, including the desert tortoise — Coso would be required to reduce or stop pumping.
The firm originally wanted to pump 4,800 acre-feet of water per year. Instead, the commission approved extraction of 3,000 acre-feet in the first year. Barring unforeseen problems, the amount could be increased to 4,800 within one year.
The water is used to create steam to drive turbines, as well as to cool the system.
The second article has some confusing details also. It seems the airport wells provide 60% of the districts raw water, and that amount may still be provided, but that the district wanted to treat it with a new process:
The water district had hoped to win the lawsuit and begin treating the water with a more state-of-the-art facility than the one in place, as well as build two storage tanks to hold extra water the district was hoping to coax out of the ground.
