As originally planned, the wind farm project christened "Lava Ridge" was going to be built on almost 200,000 acres in southern Idaho. Most of those would federal lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

...The Lava Ridge Wind Project would consist of 400 turbines up to 740 feet in height and the associated infrastructure, including new roads, powerlines, substations, maintenance facilities and battery storage facilities. It would be located 25 miles northeast of Twin Falls. 

Magic Valley Energy LLC — an affiliate of New York-based energy infrastructure company LS Power — seeks the BLM’s permission to build the project in Jerome, Lincoln and Minidoka counties on approximately 197,474 acres of federal, state and private land.

According to the draft impact statement, the developer chose the proposed location based on the quality of wind in the area, the power markets accessible by existing and planned transmission lines, and the absence of land use constraints.

By May of last year, when BLM closed the proposed project's 90-day public comment period, they'd received over 11,000 and were just gosh darn thankful for all the "public interest."

Or so they said.

Classically, BLM wasn't really concerned whether people were "for" or "against," so much as whether they could make a case for whatever point they were advocating.

In other words, government bureaucrats didn't give a rip about the public opinion of local Idaho residents unless someone had a leg to stand on. And even then, they were only willing to take it under consideration.

... BLM spokesperson Heather Tiel-Nelson told the Idaho Capital Sun that the bureau received nearly 11,000 public comments. Over the next several months, Tiel-Nelson said the bureau will review the comments and post a summary report to their website by early summer. 

“This project has definitely generated a significant amount of public interest,” she said in a phone interview. “We are very grateful to all of our stakeholders and those who commented and provided feedback to us.”

Tiel-Nelson said the bureau is not focused on how many comments it received in favor or against the project, but rather it will consider comments that are “substantive,” or comments that identify factual errors, data gaps, relevant methods or scientific studies. 

As these things go, there were quite a few reasonable objections to Lava Ridge's construction besides its being big, ugly, and a waste.

For one thing, the proposal snugged behemoth wind turbines damn near right up against the property line of the Minidoka National Historic Site in Jerome, Idaho. The caretakers of that place are horrified by the intrusion.

Minidoka National Historic Site in Jerome, Idaho, tells the painful stories of the unconstitutional forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Minidoka is a place to heal deep emotional trauma, educate the public about racial injustice, and commemorate our ancestors. When visiting the site, visitors experience a sense of isolation and remoteness due to the sweeping vistas of surrounding lands and distant mountains.

The proposed Lava Ridge wind project will forever alter Minidoka’s somber landscape and fails to honor the significance of the events that occurred at Minidoka as a place of reflection, healing, and education for the survivors, descendants, and public. The proposed project places 340 towers in the Minidoka NHS viewshed with 12 of those towers on the historic Minidoka footprint. The Minidoka community of survivors and descendants deserve the respect and acknowledgment of this gross violation of civil liberties by our nation’s government through the preservation of the site. The Minidoka story must be recognized and treated in an honorable and somber manner as other painful events in our nation’s history. The proposed Lava Ridge project minimizes the trauma, loss, and humiliation suffered by American citizens based solely on racial discrimination.

It turns out that water is a precious commodity in that arid part of the state, go figure. Building a massive wind farm - and maintaining one - takes copious amounts of that liquid treasure. Millions of gallons would be drawn from new wells to be used in everything from pouring concrete to spraying roads for dust and the water needed to change the oil in the turbines once they're operational. A little over a year ago, estimates were over 125M gallons for the life of the project for one of the proposed layouts.

...Regarding water resources for the Lava Ridge project, Alternative C would use a total of 126.2 million gallons from the construction phase through decommissioning, an estimated period of 34 years. Alternative E would use about 92 million gallons. 

The ranchers and farmers in that area have long had to deal with an aquifer that has known limitations and were loathe to see a scarce precious resource taxed even further.

In fact, at the end of May and only a week before the BLM announced their decision, the state of Idaho announced a water curtailment plan for that very Magic Valley region among 5 other districts. The state was literally going to shut the water off if those offending districts didn't come up to snuff on their water mitigation plans in two weeks' time.

Idaho Department of Water Resources Director Mathew Weaver issued a curtailment order Thursday afternoon that requires 6,400 junior groundwater rights holders who pump off the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer to shut off their water.

The order would affect groundwater users that the Idaho Department of Water Resources said are not in compliance with state mitigation plans, according to a news release the department issued Thursday. 

...The order would affect about 500,000 acres of agricultural land in eastern Idaho and the Magic Valley if the groundwater water users do not come into compliance. Groundwater users who have not participated in a groundwater district for mitigation purposes will have 15 days to join a plan or face curtailment, the Idaho Department of Water Resources said. 

From scarce groundwater to despoiling sage grouse habitat and murdering raptors, desecration of sacred sites, or potentially impacting an aquifer that runs all the way to the Yellowstone, people were pretty much united against the project.

...“You could be far right, far left, in the middle, if you live here, and you're in the Magic Valley, southern Idaho," Matsuoka Keegan said. "It’s brought those people together. I haven't talked to anybody that is in favor of it.”

And that was before they found out the New York-based LLC's wind turbines wouldn't even be benefiting their electrical bills. 

Any power that Lava Ridge wind turbines generated? Would be going to CALIFORNIA.

FEELING ABUSED YET?

The company tried to appease residents by saying they would "set aside" some energy for Idaho locals, but folks there didn't fall off the cabbage truck yesterday.

The company proposing the Lava Ridge Wind Project in the Magic Valley said it will set aside some power for Idaho electric utilities to buy.

...One objection has been that the power, produced on public lands in Idaho, would likely be sent out of state to places like California or Nevada where there are more people and more targeted renewable energy goals.

“A common theme that we often heard was, if we’re going to make this investment, utilize these resources in Idaho, there’s a preference that Idahoans have the benefit of receiving some of the power from this facility,” said Luke Papez, a senior director of project development at LS Power.

Well, how very generous.

On 6 June, BLM handed down its imperial ruling with what I'm sure bureau wonks thought were extraordinary accommodations made to the puling proletariat. Okay, they said, we'll move some stuff, cut the tower sizes a smidge, and make it half as big.

But we're still building it.  

The Lava Ridge Wind Project is moving forward under a new plan that shrinks the project to nearly half of its originally proposed size.

The Bureau of Land Management on June 6 issued its final environmental review, which selected an alternative model for the project after taking into consideration input from landowners, ranchers, Native American tribes and public officials. The finalization for the preferred alternative would take place later this summer, Magic Valley Energy spokesperson Amy Schutte told the Sun.

Magic Valley Energy, an affiliate of LS Power, seeks to build the wind development about 25 miles northeast of Twin Falls. The original proposal for the wind project would have sat on 197,000 acres of land, and consisted of 400 turbines up to 740 feet in height. The bureau’s preferred alternative shrinks the project to sit on 104,000 acres of land, consisting of 241 turbines with a maximum height of 660 feet.

According to the BLM, the preferred alternative reduces potential impacts to sage grouse, large wildlife migration routes, cultural resources, Jerome County Airport and agricultural aviation uses, public land ranchers, and private landowners.

That's not going to cut it with the locals. Every last opposition group in Idaho sounds like they're snortin' fire and the state's elected officials are all on the same page.

...As for Lava Ridge, “we are opposed to it, even reduced, because of the effects” such as to the aquifer, grazing, the Jerome airport, land values and Minidoka, he said.

“Idaho doesn’t need or want this project,” said Idaho Rep. Jack Nelsen, R-Jerome. “Half size is still offensive.”

“With a decision made, Idaho citizens and officials can now engage,” he said. He expects widespread opposition, including from the state and communities.

Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo and Rep. Mike Simpson, all R-Idaho, and Gov. Brad Little and Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke issued statements opposing Lava Ridge and BLM’s preferred alternative. Attorney General Raul Labrador on June 6 appealed to the Federal Aviation Administration to reconsider its determination that the project causes no hazard.

“This is the latest example of the Biden administration’s unsound energy agenda,” Little said. BLM is “determined to give California electricity from Idaho despite overwhelming opposition from Idahoans and contrary to formal actions by Idaho’s county, state and federal elected officials.”

BLM disregarded Idahoans' input on Lava Ridge and favored Californians energy needs. CA will reap the benefits and ID will get all the negative impacts. We will know California is serious about green energy when we see wind turbines in Hollywood’s hills. https://t.co/pqdTqGEHA4

— Lt. Governor Scott Bedke (@ltgovernorbedke) June 7, 2024

Now that a decision has been made, the project can be sued by the state and various groups, including the National Parks Conservation Association in partnership with the Minidoka internment camp site.

Opponents believe the proposed Lava Ridge wind farm endangers the Minidoka National Historic Site in Idaho, where Japanese Americans were held during World War II. https://t.co/bp4Wx4CIwq

— The Seattle Times (@seattletimes) June 12, 2024

They can also keep voting Republican this November.

Or they will if they're smart.

Winning is the next best thing to nuking the site from orbit.

Taking it all in November is the only way to be sure.