Via Pasadena Star News, a report on a proposal to place solar panels over LA Aqueduct:
A proposal to place solar panels over the 370-mile Los Angeles Aqueduct in an attempt to reduce evaporation and add capacity for renewable energy for residents was approved by a council committee this week.
Around one-tenth of the water in the aqueduct is lost from evaporation each year due to the length of travel for water to make it through the aqueduct, according to the office of Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, who introduced the motion.
O’Farrell is the chair of the council’s Energy, Climate Change, Environmental Justice, and River committee.
The aqueduct, which opened in 1913, provided nearly 40% of Los Angeles’ water supply each year between 2016 and 2019, but the city has lessened its reliance in recent years, according to the motion.
“Los Angeles is already doing so much to fight the climate crisis and advance our environmental justice goals, but as we act urgently, we must also think creatively,” O’Farrell said in a statement when the motion was filed. “The aqueduct is the reason that modern-day Los Angeles exists, but we’re not using it smartly enough.”