Description
The Salton Sea Geothermal Field is located on the southeast corner of the Salton Sea located in the Imperial Valley in southeastern California. Located within the geothermal field at approximately 33.2° N, 115.6° W is the Salton Sea geothermal plant. This geothermal plant is the study site for this research which attempts to identify a correlation between the plant operation parameters and seismicity originating at this site. Rising energy demands coupled with environmental awareness have led to an increased interest in natural and renewable resources. The geology of the southern California Imperial valley has created a viable geothermal resource that currently houses four operating geothermal power plants. The San Diego Gas and Electric Company (SDG&E) has stated its intent to use the Sunrise Powerlink as a conduit to carry renewable energy from the Imperial Valley. With a focus of wind, solar, and geothermal energy, the Sunrise Powerlink’s approval hinged on its ability to fulfill California’s regulation that 20% of the power supply must be generated from renewable resources (California ISO, 2006). This demand for renewable energy out of the Imperial Valley is certain to strain current production rates at the existing geothermal fields. Wastewater pumping accompanies geothermal energy production as an integral process. This process has been shown to induce seismicity in various studies (Majer et al., 2007; Nicol et al., 2011, National Research Council, 2012). For this reason, the effects of increased production need to be evaluated. While this study focuses on the Salton Sea Plant, the impact at all four existing geothermal plants, Brawley, Salton Sea, East Mesa, and Heber is of particularly interest because of their critical location. The location of these fields lies between the terminus of the San Andreas Fault to the north and the East Pacific Rise to the south. This area is a seismically sensitive location and therefore the effects of wastewater pumping are critical to understand.
