Extreme Water Extraction Threatens Aquifer, Residents' and Farmers' Wells

Note: At the Jan. 2, 2019 Planning Commission meeting, after a discussion of water use issues, sPower agreed verbally to draw water ONLY from the county water supply, and to assist with infrastructure develpment to do so.

However, to date the company's GDP (General Development Plan) has not been changed to reflect this commitment.

Further, sPower offers only to pay HALF the $7 million infrastructure cost. The taxpayers will pay for the other half.

• sPower needs more than 200 million gallons of water during 18 months of construction. (The company originally estimated more than 300 million gallons. After Concerned Citizens first flagged this as a danger to the aquifer, sPower reduced the estimate.) In any event, sPower plans to withdraw the water they need from new large wells. The state will not impose restrictions on water usage. Any restrictions must be imposed by the county via the Special Use Permit conditions.

• In addition, sPower estimates that 8 million gallons per year is needed during operation. The water will be used for landscaping and panel washing. Peak loads during panel washing could be millions of gallons in a few days.

• Excessive extraction of water from new large capacity wells could lower groundwater levels and irreversibly damage the aquifer.

• A recent geology study by GEO SEER concludes: “The local aquifer is not robust enough to sustain industrial taps in quantity to supply water to a solar power site of the proposed magnitude... The current plan, as provided by sPower, would lead to the collapse of the area aquifer.”

• There are thousands of households that depend on well water in Spotsylvania County. Many of these residents report problems with their wells during periods of drought. Further stress on the aquifer could exacerbate the problems, requiring Spotsylvania County to spend millions of dollars to supply drinking water.

• Farmers in the area depend on well water for irrigation.

• Fawn Lake depends on ground water from several springs plus water from Greenfield Creek. A reduction in groundwater levels could dry up these springs, which would reduce the lake level and make it unusable.

• Damage to the aquifer could be irreversible. Who will pay for this damage?

Concerned Citizens therefore has recommended specific conditions be included in the Spotsylvania County Special Use Permit to alleviate these concerns, or at least mitigate any potential impact. Those recommended conditions can be found here:

Special Use Permit Conditions

"DO NO HARM"