The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board and WSU Professor Eric C. Ewert recently made compelling cases for purchasing the water rights from alfalfa growers and allowing their water to flow into the Great Salt Lake. However, neither the editorial nor the op-ed suggested what might become of the unirrigated land.
Many of these newly available farm lands would be ideal for solar panels. To clean our air and stabilize our climate, Utah needs to transition to cleanly-sourced electricity for all of our energy needs. The solar panels on former alfalfa fields could provide a portion of that electricity.
Transitioning to solar for electricity would save additional water beyond the amount saved from phasing out alfalfa irrigation. Currently, about 60% of our electricity comes from coal-fired plants. These plants generate steam, which then evaporates into the atmosphere, using an estimated 692 gallons of water each month to produce the electricity for an average Utah home. This water would be saved with solar panels.
Solar panels on former alfalfa fields would create a win-win-win, for the farmers, Utah citizens, and the Great Salt Lake.
David Folland, Sandy
