LOS ANGELES, CA – The City Council voted Tuesday to review a proposal to install solar panels on the 370-mile Los Angeles Aqueduct in an attempt to reduce evaporation and increase capacity for renewable energy for residents. .
About one-tenth of the water in the aqueduct is lost to evaporation each year because of the length of travel for the water to pass through the aqueduct, according to the office of Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, who introduced the motion.
The aqueduct, which opened in 1913, provided nearly 40% of Los Angeles’ water supply each year between 2016 and 2019, but the city has reduced its reliance in recent years, according to the motion.
“Los Angeles is already doing so much to combat the climate crisis and advance our environmental justice goals, but as we move with urgency, we must also think creatively,” O’Farrell said in a statement when the motion was filed. “The aqueduct is the reason modern-day Los Angeles exists, but we’re not using it wisely.”
The council voted to explore options — including state and federal grants — to help generate solar power on top of the aqueduct and to make a report outlining the water evaporation issue.
In another climate-related decision, the council voted to review requiring developments larger than 100,000 square feet to install gray-water reuse systems.
City News Service
