Solar panels stretch directly over stretches of its irrigation canals, generating electricity. Crews installed solar panels above two narrow canals and one much wider one. A 2021 study from UC Merced found that covering all 4,000 miles of California’s canal system with solar panels could save up to 63 billion gallons of water every year, enough for about 2 million people. Solar panels also run more efficiently when they’re kept cooler, and the water below them helps with that. If those numbers hold up anywhere close to what the UC Merced study predicted, expect a push to bring solar canals to more of the state’s water system.