Utility scale solar siting guidance
March 14th, 2023
Big solar projects, utility scale projects taking up 2,500-3,500 acres of prime farmland, are an issue here in the midwest. There are legitimate problems, primarily runoff and erosion necessitating drainage mitigation and large ponds; and the problem of fencing around the project funneling wildlife onto the roads and highways.
Anyway, there’s been some attention paid to these issues, in one case by none other than my “friends” at Great Plains Institute, who were part of a federal study on stormwater management:
That’s good, an admission that there are problems with water draining off all these acres of impervious surface.
And this just came through today from the Environmental Quality Board:
The guidance has a link to a way to find “high value” resources:
Most high value resources described in this guidance document can be identified using Minnesota
Conservation Explorer (MCE).