Water for long-term geothermal enegy production in the Imperial Valley

Technical Report · Fri Sep 22 00:00:00 EDT 1978

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6046223· OSTI ID:6046223

Layton, D W

The geothermal resources of California's Imperial Valley have the potential for the production of an estimated 3000 to 5000 MW/yr of electricity for 30 yr, provided that adeuqate cooling water is available for power plants. There are five possible sources of cooling water: irrigation water, waste waters from agriculture, steam condensate, ground water, and water from the Salton Sea. Technical, environmental, and regulatory constraints, however, could limit the availability of the water supplies. Of particular concern are the constraints that could be imposed if different water policies were implemented. To study how future policies could affect geothermal development, six combinations of various policies were defined to represent potential regulatory controls. A range of future water balances in the valley was also specified. The water balances plus the six policy combinations were used to determine whether deficits of cooling water would eventually constrain low, medium, or high levels of geothermal energy production. A companion analysis of changes in the elevation and salinity of the Salton Sea resulting from the use of agricultural waters for cooling was also made.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 6046223
• Report Number(s): UCRL-52576
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANTS
WATER REQUIREMENTS
AGRICULTURE
COOLING
CROPS
GROUND WATER
IMPERIAL VALLEY
IRRIGATION
SALINITY
SALTON SEA
STEAM
WASTE WATER
CALIFORNIA
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LIQUID WASTES
NORTH AMERICA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POWER PLANTS
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
USA
WASTES
WATER
WESTERN REGION
Geothermal Legacy
150800* - Geothermal Power Plants