Feds give early approval to Nevada hydropower project

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has given preliminary approval for the Desert Bloom Project, a proposed hydropower dam system in Clark County, Nevada. This early approval allows Desert Bloom Energy Storage company to explore the project's feasibility, which involves creating two reservoirs with a combined capacity of 9,800 acre-feet of water and generating enough power for roughly 110,000 homes. The project is situated on public land on the desert mountain outskirts of Las Vegas. The project faces significant opposition from local government and the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA). Bronson Mack, an SNWA spokesperson, stated that the project's estimated consumption of 10,000 acre-feet of water does not align with Southern Nevada's conservation goals, which have focused decades on reducing water use and safeguarding community water supplies through efficient practices like recycling 40% of used water back into the Colorado River. While the project could potentially help alleviate a statewide energy strain, partly driven by a boom in data centers, it comes at a time when Western states are experiencing unprecedented pressure on water supplies due to a decades-long drought and overuse of the Colorado River. The preliminary FERC approval does not permit any construction or ground disruption, and similar projects proposed in the past did not come to fruition.