Oregon land use regulators would study installing solar panels in unused irrigation pivot corners under a bill meant to boost revenues for farmers facing groundwater restrictions.

House Bill 3346 would direct the Department of Land Conservation and Development to examine siting renewable energy facilities within the state’s seven “critical groundwater areas,” where irrigation can be curtailed to mitigate aquifer depletion.

“It could be one of the small win-wins that we look at how we can do agriculture with clean energy,” said Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane, the bill’s chief sponsor.

Center pivot irrigation systems typically operate within square 160-acre fields, with the corners comprising about 30 acres that don’t receive water and thus don’t produce crops, according to HB 3346’s supporters.

“We’re irrigating in a circle so those corners remain dry,” said Dan Jansen, a farmer near Christmas Valley, Ore., who supports the proposal.

Jansen said his region only gets about 150 frost-free days a year, which already reduces crop choices, while the critical groundwater designation effectively prevents any new land from being developed for agriculture.

“We have some hard limitations on what we can grow,” he said.

The bill is intended as a “jumping off point” to analyze the feasibility of building solar facilities in unused irrigation pivot corners, including the land use and tax implications, Jansen said.

“We’ve got to get creative in finding new ways to support farms and create revenue,” he said.

The proposal didn’t encounter any opposition during a recent legislative hearing before the House Agriculture Committee, but some written testimony questioned the need for the study and its costs.

Solar facilities can be connected to electrical infrastructure that already exists to rotate the center pivots and pump groundwater, said Jim Anderson, CEO of the Midstate Electric Cooperative in La Pine, Ore.

“It’s a fairly easy ask to hook up this generation,” Anderson said.

Solar facilities could offset the power consumption of center pivots during the irrigation season and contribute renewable energy to the electrical grid during the rest of the year, all without disrupting agriculture, according to proponents.

“By supporting this bill, we can unlock new energy sources in areas that are otherwise unused,” Anderson said.