This article was originally published at nevadacurrent.com
Dixie Meadows. (Photo courtesy Patrick Donnelly, Center for Biological Diversity)
Federal land managers are seeking to fast-track a geothermal project that would be built adjacent to the sole habitat of an endangered toad, a move conservation groups said they intend to challenge in court.
The “Dixie Meadows Geothermal Utilization Project” is one of nine geothermal projects in Nevada by developer Ormat Technologies that could soon be approved under the Trump administration’s new emergency permitting procedures, according to state records.
Three of those projects have already been approved under the new expedited rules, which aim to cut permitting timelines by up to a year or more for energy developments on public land.
Once approved, the Dixie Meadows geothermal project would be built directly adjacent to the only known habitat of the endangered Dixie Valley toad – a 760-acres of wetland habitat fed by hot springs in the remote Dixie Valley northeast of Fallon.
According to state records from the Nevada Department of Wildlife obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management plans to authorize the Dixie Meadows geothermal project under “emergency” permitting procedures within the next two months.
Federal wildlife managers have previously stated the project would likely adversely impact the Dixie Valley toad by altering groundwater at Dixie Meadows, a finding that led to the toad’s listing under the Endangered Species Act.
The Center for Biological Diversity sent a formal notice to the Bureau of Land Management last week announcing its intent to sue the Trump administration for violating the Endangered Species Act through the emergency permitting process.
During his first month in office President Donald Trump declared an “energy emergency” as grounds for fast-tracking lengthy environmental reviews and permitting processes for energy projects deemed critical to national security.
The Center for Biological Diversity said their formal notice was one of the first challenges to Trump’s executive order declaring an “energy emergency” as a means to expedite energy projects on public lands.
In their lawsuit notice, the conservation group said an emergency approval of the Dixie Meadows geothermal project would bypass required actions under the Endangered Species Act, including full consultation with the Fish and Wildlife Service.
The Center for Biological Diversity also disputed the existence of an energy emergency and Trump’s authority to declare one under federal law.
“This fake energy emergency is being used to justify extinction, but in this country laws mean something and presidents can’t act with impunity,” said Patrick Donnelly, the Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity.
“Presidents don’t have unilateral authority to declare an emergency where one doesn’t exist so they can do whatever they want,” he added.
Energy production in the U.S. hit an all-time high in 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Several energy sources—natural gas, crude oil, natural gas plant liquids, biofuels, solar, and wind—each set domestic production records last year.
Ormat did not respond to requests for comment on the possibility of the project’s approval under the new emergency permitting process.
Ormat has been locked in a legal battle over the Dixie Valley geothermal project since 2021, when the Center for Biological Diversity and the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe sued the federal government for approving the project.
The Bureau of Land Management initially approved the geothermal project in 2021, but the agency withdrew their approval after the Dixie Valley toad was listed as an endangered species following a federal review that determined the planned geothermal plant would likely threaten the toad’s survival.
“Since we successfully got the toad protected under the Endangered Species Act and BLM withdrew the project approval our lawsuit has been in suspended animation ever since,” Donnelly said.
Ormat responded to the toad’s endangered species listing by submitting a plan to significantly reduce the size of the project. Ormat also sued the Biden administration over its decision to list the Dixie Valley toad as endangered.
Geothermal power plants draw on wells drilled deep in the earth’s crust, pumping up steam and hot water to power giant turbines that generate electricity. Opponents of the Dixie Valley geothermal project and federal wildlife officials have emphasized research showing the negative effects of other geothermal plants on groundwater-dependent springs in Nevada.
One such plant is the McGinnis Hills geothermal power plant, managed by Ormat, where water flows in the Jersey Valley Hot Springs began declining not long after commercial power production started in 2012.
Ormat has repeatedly argued that newer technology pioneered by the company would eliminate the groundwater depletion attributed to older, outdated geothermal plants the company has since phased out.
Ormat has also argued that federal wildlife officials used faulty data based on older geothermal technology when they determined the Dixie Valley geothermal project was a possible risk to the Dixie Valley toad.
Geothermal is one the few renewable energy sources the Trump administration is promoting as part of its “American Energy Dominance” plan.
That could draw more geothermal development to Nevada, which is home to some of the largest undeveloped geothermal resources in the country.
Nevada is second only to California in geothermal electricity generation, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Nevada produces about 26% of total geothermal energy in the nation, and has the potential to grow.
A recent report released by the U.S. Geological Survey found that untapped geothermal energy in the Great Basin — which covers most of Nevada — could produce electricity equivalent to 10% of the current U.S. power supply. Geothermal currently accounts for less than 1% of U.S. electricity generation, according to the EIA.
Nevada was also the first state to get geothermal projects approved under Trump’s new emergency permitting process after the three geothermal projects were fast-tracked in the state last month.
Those projects include the Diamond Flat Geothermal Project near Fallon; the McGinness Hills Geothermal Optimization Project in Lander County; and the Pinto Geothermal Project along the Oregon-Nevada border.
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