The Gila River Indian Community Governor announced energy was generated from an innovative solar over canals project funded by the Inflation Reduction Act. 

“Our partners at the Gila River Indian Community are at the forefront of utilizing technology to work with Reclamation to conserve water,” Bureau of Reclamation Deputy Commissioner David Palumbo said in a statement. “They are the first to complete a pilot solar over canals project, which will generate renewable energy while conserving water to better inform future projects of this kind.” 

The solar pilot project received $5.65 million from the Inflation Reduction Act to cover 2,782 linear feet of the Casa Blanca canal with approximately 2,556 solar panels. The solar panels are expected to generate 1.31 megawatts of clean energy, providing at least 2.26 million kilowatt-hours of annual electricity to the Gila River Indian Community. In addition to producing renewable energy and conserving water through reduced evaporation, this pilot project will provide important data on these benefits that can be used for future initiatives and investments.  

The Inflation Reduction Act allocated $25 million for the design, study and implementation of projects to cover water conveyance facilities with solar panels.