Federal regulators have given Native American tribes more power to block hydropower projects on their lands after a flood of applications were filed to expand renewable energy in the water-scarce U.S. Southwest.
Previously, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted developers permission to proceed with planning even if tribes objected. This practice came to an end last week. Now a new commission policy gives tribes the ability to quickly veto proposals, forcing companies to comply if they want the federal government to grant them exclusive rights to their hydropower projects.
“This is the recognition and respect of tribal sovereignty, which is critically important,” said George Hardeen, spokesman for the Navajo Nation President’s Office.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently rejected seven proposals for projects across the Navajo Nation, which stretches 27,000 square miles (69,000 square kilometers) across Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. When it issued these denials, the commission also announced the policy change giving tribes the same power as federal agencies to block projects.
“It applies wherever a hydroelectric project is proposed on tribal lands in the United States,” said Aaron Paul, an attorney with the Grand Canyon Trust, a conservation organization.
The Hopi tribe, which is completely surrounded by Navajo, urged the commission to enshrine the policy announcement in a formal rule, fearing that another administration would be less favorable to the tribes and change policy.
The hydropower projects are essentially large batteries that generate energy when demand is high and there are not many other renewable sources such as solar and wind available. Hydropower can be turned on when needed and works by flowing water from a higher reservoir to a lower reservoir.
At a later time, when the grid has excess power, the water is pumped in a loop back to the higher reservoir, charging the battery.
Developers have shown new interest in building these pumped hydro projects as coal-fired power plants in the Southwest have closed. The area’s canyons, towering plateaus and dramatic river valleys are ideal terrain because the projects require moving water between different elevations.
Environmental groups and some members of the Navajo Nation argue that the projects require enormous amounts of water — especially in a part of the country that already doesn’t have enough water. About a third of the Navajo Nation’s 175,000 people do not have running water at home.
People are sensitive to how scarce water is, and “they would be more likely to say ‘no’ to these types of projects,” Hardeen said.
Some of the rejected proposals came from Nature and People First. For example, the company told federal regulators that it wanted to build the Black Mesa East project on the Navajo reservation in Arizona, which would have two upper reservoirs with a combined capacity of 100,000 acre-feet and a single lower reservoir with the same total storage capacity. . An acre of water serves two or three houses annually.
The project was proposed near a lease for a home that Jheremy Young’s family has owned for generations. He is happy that the committee blocked it. The area around the mesa is rugged, quiet and vast, and water needs to be brought in.
“That’s where my dad came from, that’s where his dad came from,” Young said. “The sentimental value of the land – the story, the history – was the biggest concern.”
The Navajo Nation told federal regulators that the company had not consulted appropriate tribal authorities or addressed key concerns about water use and damage to the habitats of golden eagles and other species. Hardeen now said developers must first go through the Navajo Nation Division of Natural Resources.
Denis Payre, president and CEO of Nature and People First, said the commission’s decision was “undeniably disheartening.” The company secured support from local Navajo communities and spoke with Navajo government officials about a project it said would create jobs.
“Developing pumped storage projects is inherently challenging; this additional obstacle threatens to halt our collective efforts,” Payre said.
The company has submitted a proposal for a much larger project than it plans to build, giving it the flexibility to build a smaller project on the piece of land it believes is best after study and consultation with the tribes .
That approach and the use of that amount of water is causing resistance, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group.
“If you’re going to propose a small project, actually propose a small project,” said Taylor McKinnon, the center’s director of Southwest.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission also rejected proposals from Rye Development, which said it values tribal consultation and will continue to study opportunities on tribal land.
Malcolm Woolf, president and CEO of the industry group National Hydropower Association, said he supported tribes’ right to stop unwanted projects. But he said the new policy could halt planning too quickly.
The commission denied preliminary permits for the seven projects, which only recognizes that a company is first in line to develop a project and allows further studies. Developers must consult with tribes before they can obtain a license and begin construction.
Companies don’t want to navigate a complicated permitting process and work with one tribe for years only to have another company grab the rights to the project at the last minute, Woolf says.
One company that quickly agreed to the new policy is Pumped Hydro Storage, which is seeking a preliminary permit for a project near the Little Colorado River on Navajo Nation land in Arizona. In light of its new policy, the committee has asked for more input from those who might be impacted before deciding what to do.
The company’s manager, Steve Irwin, said pumped storage is important but difficult to build on Navajo Nation land.
“There is no clear path to doing business on the reservation,” Irwin said. “It’s almost like you have to have 100% unanimous consensus. It’s not a majority, it has to be 100%, and it’s like you’re never going to get 100%.”
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