Wednesday night’s meeting of the Joshua Basin Water District was again dominated by discussion of NextEra Energy’s efforts to secure water for their proposed solar plant at the old Joshua Tree airport site. Reporter Mike Lipsitz covers the district’s action on NextEra in part one of this two-part report…
Last night Joshua Basin Water District directors voted in a split 3-2 decision to deny a will-serve letter to NextEra Energy. The decision followed a lengthy discussion as directors weighed the likely consequences of granting a service commitment to the solar developer against the likelihood that NextEra will move forward on their stated intention to otherwise begin construction of a high capacity production well. Directors Mike Reynolds, Bob Johnson and Rebecca Unger opposed any commitment to NextEra for a host of reasons, including the fear of setting a dangerous precedent. Directors Mickey Luckman and Victoria Fuller cast the minority votes in favor of committing to NextEra. They reasoned it would be the lesser of two evils for the district to provide water rather than see NextEra drill their own autonomous production well. Last night’s decision leaves little doubt that NextEra’s next move will be to go forward with their plans to drill their own production well.
Far from the end of this story, NextEra’s proposed industrial-scale solar plant at the old Joshua Tree airport site must still satisfy the 31 requirements stipulated in the county’s solar ordinance in order to clear the County Planning Commission. Z107.7 News continues coverage of last night’s water district meeting in tomorrow’s part two of this story.
JOSHUA BASIN WATER PART 1: TWO EVILS ON CONTROVERSIAL SOLAR PROJECT
