Yakama Nation pitches solar and irrigation plan to DOE

YAKAMA NATION, Wash. — The Yakama Nation presented a new energy idea to federal officials that paired irrigation upgrades with solar development.

Yakama Power recently briefed a top Department of Energy official on a plan to move irrigation pipes underground and place solar panels above the disturbed land.

Officials said the project would increase energy production, improve water quality and address safety concerns linked to open irrigation canals on the reservation.

The briefing came as part of a wider effort by the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management to speed up nuclear cleanup work while gathering tribal input across the region.

The project centered on the reservation and combined infrastructure work with power generation in the same footprint.