The U.S. House Natural Resource Committee has passed a bill that would let Salt River Project build a new power generating reservoir development near Apache Lake.
House Bill 1607 was introduced by Republican Arizona Representative David Schweikert and co-sponsored by Republican Rep. Debbie Lesko and Democratic Reps. Greg Stanton and Ruben Gallego.
Arizona Independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema and Democratic Senator Mark Kelly have introduced companion legislation in the U.S. Senate.
SRP is considering two possible sites above Apache Lake for a reservoir development that would release water into the lake through a hydropower dam to generate electricity for the Phoenix area. Surplus power, possibly solar-generated, would pump water from the lake approximately 1,000 feet up to the reservoir to refill it for cycled releases.
SRP expects each refill of the 100-200-acre reservoir could generate enough electricity to power 250,000 homes for 10 hours. The utility has already contracted for the engineering and design work, but cost predictions will not be available until the size, the project site and design are evaluated.
The proposed legislation extends the land available for power projects to two more miles on the south side of the lake to include the areas under consideration. Both sites contain U.S. Forest Service Land that would be placed under Bureau of Reclamation control. It specifically excludes land in the Tonto National Monument and the Superstition Wilderness.
HB 1607 will now advance to the full House of Representatives for a possible vote. (Source)
