Residents Holler Back
Just wanted to respond to a really good point one of our readers–a resident from the area–made on this first installment of the Navajo energy story. comments:
Just a couple more thoughts. Where does Joe Shirley and the Desert Rock Project, figure they’ll get their water for this monstrosity? The Navajo Nation abrogated their ‘water rights’ to the Colorado River in the last re-negotiation of the Colorado River Compact. One doesn’t read much about that in the news.
Water supply is a huge issue in the region. The folks at Sithe Global say Desert Rock has plans to incorporate water conservation efforts in its operations. Frank Maisano told me they’re planning on a hybrid dry cooling system that will use 85 percent less water than other plants are using. (He says coal-fired plants generally use up to 45,000 acres of water.) By my math, that means Desert Rock will still be using thousands of acres of much needed water, adding to the overall huge amount of water being used by the big plants on the Nation.
skulzfontaine goes on to ask:
Ms. Sood? Did you ask Joe Shirley about the financial benefits for the Navajo Nation from that spiffy new casino they’ve built north of Shiprock? How is Shirley dividing the casino profits with the Navajo people?
Sure enough, President Shirley’s office did point to the tribe’s first casino–scheduled to open in July–as another governmental effort to drive local economy. Again, where the money will end up is anyone’s guess.
