Directors at Joshua Basin Water District have some big decisions on the horizon. Some, like the Joshua Tree airport solar project, have received lots of attention; others, like the Urban Water Management Plan, have gone largely unnoticed. Both were discussed at last night’s meeting. Assignment reporter Mike Lipsitz has details in this two-part report. Today, in part one, we cover the airport solar project.
At last night’s meeting of the Joshua Basin Water District any consideration of providing a Water Service Agreement for the proposed Joshua Tree airport solar project was tabled on the advice of legal counsel. That advice came on the heels of a 19-page letter from a San Francisco law firm submitted on behalf of the Coalition for Responsible Solar. The letter alleges that the proposed agreement between the District and NextEra Energy contains significant deficiencies, including the need for a new California Environmental Quality Act study on conditions of the Service Agreement itself. Whether or not the issues raised by the letter turn out to be valid remains to be seen; either way, prospects for executing any service agreement are on hold for the moment. Of course, any service agreement or CEQA study would become moot if the project’s opponents win their appeal before the county board of supervisors; they are hoping for a reversal of the planning commission’s approval of the 115-acre solar farm.
JOSHUA BASIN WATER FACES BIG DECISIONS, PART 1 OF 2
