By Scott Streater, E&E News reporter
The Bureau of Land Management is seriously considering offering more than 21,000 acres of federal lands in Southern California for utility-scale geothermal power development, according to a new draft analysis released today.
The Haiwee Geothermal Leasing Area project would be among the largest areas offered for geothermal leasing on federal lands in recent years. It would also be the first geothermal lease sale in California, if not nationwide, under the Trump administration, which has been criticized by congressional Democrats for mostly ignoring renewable energy development on federal lands in favor of oil and gas leasing.
The draft supplemental environmental impact statement for the commercial lease sale proposal, published in today's Federal Register, establishes BLM's "preferred alternative" action: to authorize "geothermal leasing, exploration and development throughout the entire" Haiwee Geothermal Leasing Area.
The Bureau of Land Management is seriously considering offering more than 21,000 acres of federal lands in Southern California for utility-scale geothermal power development, according to a new draft analysis released today.The Haiwee Geothermal Leasing Area project would be among the largest areas offered for geothermal leasing on federal lands in recent years. It would also be the first geothermal lease sale in California, if not nationwide, under the Trump administration, which has been criticized by congressional Democrats for mostly ignoring renewable energy development on federal lands in favor of oil and gas leasing.
The draft supplemental environmental impact statement for the commercial lease sale proposal, published in today's Federal Register, establishes BLM's "preferred alternative" action: to authorize "geothermal leasing, exploration and development throughout the entire" Haiwee Geothermal Leasing Area.
But the proposed leasing area also raises concerns for some environmentalists. The area includes habitat for the Mohave ground squirrel and the desert tortoise. The squirrel is listed as a threatened species under the California Endangered Species Act, and the tortoise is listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. There are also concerns about the project using potentially hundreds of millions of gallons of water a year in the arid region.
The draft document estimates that commercial-scale geothermal projects in the proposed leasing area could spur $1 billion in investment in geothermal power projects capable of producing enough electricity to power about 117,000 homes annually.
The draft supplemental EIS does not authorize any future lease sale, nor does it set any date for one.
But as part of the analysis for the project, which began nearly a decade ago, BLM "is also reviewing three pending lease applications" for geothermal projects covering about 4,400 acres of federal lands in the project area, the draft supplemental EIS says.
"We're definitely interested," said Ian Crawford, a spokesman for the Davis, Calif.-based Geothermal Resources Council, an association of geothermal professionals that promotes the alternative energy resource.
But Crawford said there "hasn't been very much exploration done" in the region and that his group needed to see more "scientific evidence" that there's an abundant resource available.
The proposal would require amending the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan to account for "the potential environmental impacts of opening for lease approximately 22,805 acres of federal mineral estate for geothermal energy exploration and development," the draft supplemental EIS says. BLM owns the entire subsurface mineral estate and all but 1,572 acres of surface land in the project area.
BLM's preferred alternative calls for approving the CDCA Plan amendment and authorizing the three pending leases "subject to certain stipulations to protect sensitive resources."
Environmental concerns
Those "sensitive resources" have some environmental groups concerned.
Authorizing the lease sale project would require amending the four designated areas of critical environmental concern — the Ayers Rock, Rose Spring, Mohave Ground Squirrel and Sierra Canyon ACECs — "to allow for surface occupancy" within the leasing area.
The ACECs are designed to protect sensitive species habitat, and the leasing area "is near the northern extent of the range of the desert tortoise," the draft document says.
Development outlined in the preferred alternative could result in the "permanent loss" of 276 acres of desert tortoise and Mohave ground squirrel habitat, although stipulations would likely be added "to minimize project impacts" to both species.
Lisa Belenky, a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, said the "surface disturbance and habitat fragmentation" caused by large geothermal projects "could have significant impacts on the Mohave ground squirrel in this area."
There are also concerns about the volume of water industrial-scale geothermal power projects would consume in Southern California's arid Inyo County.
The draft supplemental EIS acknowledges these concerns. "Short-term and potential long-term impacts" to water resources are possible "during exploration and development activities." It discusses placing lease stipulations on groundwater use for each project to keep impacts low.
"The center is concerned that BLM is pushing this proposal forward to encourage large amounts of geothermal development in this area because water resources needed for such development are quite limited," Belenky said.
Publication of the draft supplemental EIS in today's Federal Register kicks off a 90-day public comment period running through Aug. 1.
Read more about the proposed Haiwee Geothermal Leasing Area here.
