PAHRUMP VALLEY – Laura Cunningham can see the invasive weed through the fence.

The yellow plant that covers the ground beneath the new giant solar panels thrives when disturbed – a telltale sign that tells her how this strip of the Mojave Desert has been forever changed. It’s the same stretch of desert near Pahrump where Spanish explorer Antonio Armijo and his crew stopped after discovering and naming Las Vegas on their way to Los Angeles around 1829.

“Here the soil is undisturbed and intact,” said Cunningham, pointing to isolated patches of grass outside the fence. “But there has been a massive invasion.”

Cunningham, of the nonprofit Western Watersheds Project, is one of several environmental advocates who have petitioned the Bureau of Land Management to designate this section of Pahrump Valley as an “area of ​​critical environmental risk.”

The push for recognition is largely symbolic, drawing attention to whether Nevada’s need to use its public lands to transition to green energy sources justifies the strain on desert ecosystems. The area is also historically significant because it includes Armijo’s Old Spanish Trail, they argue.

The BLM did not respond to a request for comment on the possibility of such a conservation classification.

“Solar panels should be placed over shaded parking lots or on rooftops,” Cunningham said. “Pristine habitat in the Mojave Desert should be a last resort.”

The only project that has broken ground in the region is the nearly completed Yellow Pine Solar Project, although five other companies have submitted plans that are in various stages of the BLM permitting process.

In total, the six projects could fundamentally change the landscape of nearly 20,000 acres of public lands – the equivalent of more than seven Harry Reid International Airports. They could also generate enough electricity to power thousands of homes, although none of the companies clarified whether Southern Nevada would be the primary beneficiary.

A threat to the desert tortoise?

Perhaps the most discussed impacts of these solar projects affect the desert tortoise, an endangered species that some people in Las Vegas keep as pets.

The fence around Yellow Pine is designed to keep desert tortoises out and keep solar panels inside. It even extends several feet into the ground to prevent tortoises from burrowing. Design plans for the six projects show a wide range of approaches to dealing with the tortoises. Some suggest the animals could coexist with solar panels after construction is complete.

Cunningham said turtles that are relocated nearby sometimes return to their original habitat and circle the fence for hours until they succumb to the triple-digit heat. The species’ numbers continue to decline each year, she said.

“What does this say about their long-term survival?” asked Cunningham.

A representative of NextEra Energy Resources, the company building Yellow Pine, said in a statement that wildlife concerns had been discussed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the BLM and that all federal and local standards had been followed.

Another project that has raised concerns about the turtle is the Rough Hat Clark County Solar Project. In March, a group of environmentalists wrote to the BLM asking it to withdraw the federal permit for the project proposed by Candela Renewables.

Louis DeRosa, who oversees Candela’s permitting process for solar projects, said the Wildlife Service’s process for tracking the desert tortoises is rigorous. Biologists identify each tortoise and assess its health. Before they are relocated, they are fitted with a GPS tracker, DeRosa said.

The BLM will determine whether the turtles will be able to return freely to the project area after construction is complete, said Jim Woodruff, Candela’s vice president of public affairs. He said the project will have “almost no disruption” to the ecosystem in the long term.

“This has been the holy grail for regulators, industry and environmental organizations,” Woodruff said. “This way, turtles and the project can coexist.”

Construction work in Nevada’s most sensitive water basin

In the nation’s driest state, many are concerned that the projects are located in the watershed that, on paper, is at the top of the list of most overused areas. People own many water rights in that area that go far beyond what gets into the ground each year through snowpack.

The basin is home to the highest number of Nevada residents who rely on domestic wells for their water supply.

Solar projects do not require much water for maintenance, but they use a significant amount of water during construction, raising concerns about water resources as Nye County residents see groundwater levels drop over time.

This is a dilemma that local officials, including Megan Labadie, Nye County’s natural resources director, want to address head-on.

In January, she sent a letter to the Clark County Commission asking them to stop issuing building permits for solar plants, a project that Labadie said is currently under a moratorium in Nye County. Because many of these projects are on the county line, Nye County doesn’t have much power, even though pumping water out of the basin is solely to the detriment of groundwater users in cities like Pahrump.

“In rural America, we don’t have a lot of representation or support,” Labadie said. “It’s like Clark County is the golden child and Nye County doesn’t have much say.”

DeRosa of Candela Renewables said his company will permanently surrender its water rights once construction is complete — which he sees as responsible stewardship in a strained basin.

This covers almost all of the water rights to 800 acre-feet, or 260,000 gallons, with a small amount retained for day-to-day operations. It is unclear whether the other companies will follow suit.

“Every year, so much water is taken out of the ground that would otherwise have been taken,” DeRosa said.

The solar boom in Pahrump Valley is a result of the BLM’s rejection of an update to the Southern Nevada land use plan, Labadie said. The new version would have worked with Nye County to identify ideal solar zones.

In response to concerns that the energy generated would not benefit Nye County, officials are currently drafting an ordinance that would require companies to pay taxes to the county, Labadie said.

“We are developing this renewable energy regulation so that we can at least see some benefit,” she said. “But that doesn’t solve our water problem.”

The future of the “Least Conflict Zones”

The nonprofit organization The Nature Conservancy is leading the research into the best locations for solar energy in Nevada. It has published a report identifying the so-called “least conflict zones” for solar energy across the country.

These are often former mining areas or otherwise already polluted and disturbed areas, so-called brownfield sites.

There are nearly 400,000 acres in Nevada that meet this criterion, or 2.5 times the size of Lake Mead.

The nonprofit, along with other science groups, unsuccessfully asked the BLM in 2020 to identify the right public lands suitable for solar energy. The petition on areas of critical environmental concern is a response, said Jaina Moan, the Nature Conservancy’s director of external relations for Nevada.

Any disturbance to the desert habitat should be avoided as much as possible, she said, adding that it could take hundreds or thousands of years for the Mojave to naturally recover from disturbance.

“We need to think about how we can use this responsibly in our landscape,” Moan said. “And maybe there’s a point where there’s not enough space anymore.”

Contact Alan Halaly at [email protected]. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.