This informative article from NapaNews.com digs into a little of Boise’s history with geothermal power.
There’s also mention of the City of Boise’s commercial hot springs of the past; the Natatorium – last seen: 1930 (!) I’ve long heard the legend of a hot springs used by the locals, both commercial and non-commercial.
One thing that bugs me about the article is the declaration of hot springs as a ‘renewable’ source of energy. Here’s my problem; we all know that farmers that use aquifers for irrigation have depleted hot springs near Bruneau, Idaho and many other places. The farmers tapped into geothermal wells and drained them dry irrigating their fields. In Bruneau’s case, this was also responsible for adding the Hot Springs Snail to the endangered species list.
Another consideration needs to be given to the fact that 90% of hot water (in the NW) is the result of left-over energy from a meteor collision in SE Oregon – the energy super-heats the water in fault lines and send it towards the surface. This would seem non-renewable to me, unless the water in the fault lines is supplied by a renewable water source. That leaves the other 10%, hot water from volcanic activity. Again this would only be renewable if the water source is.
Happy Soaking!