Please plan to attend MBCA’s 57^th Annual meeting this upcoming Saturday January 24, 2026.

After an overview of the many development proposals throughout the County’s Morongo Basin, and an update on our local housing issues, Greywater expert Nicholas Holmes will discuss the reuse of our precious water resource.

Our meeting will provide an opportunity to meet in-person and provide a chance to mix with fellow residents who share the conservation concerns of MBCA. Breakfast snacks and beverages and a light lunch after the meeting will be served.

Please bring any relevant periodicals or publications you would like to offer for the ‘share table’. A membership table will be available to join or renew!

Support MBCA’s Appeal of the Sienna II Lucerne Valley Solar Project

MBCA, along with other Lucerne Valley Groups and Individuals, filed an appeal of the October 23, 2025 Planning Commission’s approval of this 1852 acre, 525 MW, and 525 MW battery storage solar development in the heart of Lucerne Valley. Also within the approval was the Southern California Edison Calcite substation which would facilitate connection of the project to the grid.

We appealed the approval of this project for precisely the reasons the Renewable Energy and Conservation Element (RECE) was recommended for adoption in 2017:

• Priority for small scale accessory solar over utility scale. Preference for Roof-top and parking lot solar panels.
• Concerns over environmental quality, particularly stable desert soils and air quality.
• Strong desire to limit large scale renewable energy developments to disturbed lands.
• Land use compatibility concerns about dust control, water consumption and long-term visual impacts.

In 2019 MBCA and other unincorporated desert communities applauded the passage of the approved RECE 4.10 amendment that would prohibit utility scale solar developments such as this project in Lucerne Valley. We are referring to the current project as Sienna II, as it was accepted by the County and given the 2022-00013 project number to distinguish it from other iterations, including:

          2016 00569 - Sienna east and west
          2017 00750 - Sienna north and south

These developments (totaling 1620 acres, 450MW, 300MW battery storage) were significantly smaller and sited over a mile to the west of Sienna II. These two, different projects, were accepted by the County prior to the passage of the RECE.

However, a loophole was included within the RECE 4.10 resolution when the Board of Supervisors adopted the RECE, allowing projects ‘…accepted as complete before the passage of this resolution may be relocated to other sites under the same policies and regulations’. Huh!? We contend this “Renewable energy development project” Sienna II (2022-00013) is not the same project as was ‘accepted’ before RECE and must not be considered as having had a complete previously accepted application.

Another reason for the appeal relates to the designation of portions of State Highway 247 (Old Woman Springs and Barstow Road) as a Caltrans Scenic Highway. MBCA was involved for the 10 years of concentrated effort it took to receive this designation and we were delighted, when on October 30, 2025 we learned the official date of designation was September 3, 2025.

51 days after the designation, at the October 23, 2025 Planning Commission hearing this fact was not disclosed to the Commissioners by County Land Use Services! The approval of this project would effectively remove many miles of highway from Scenic status. Many miles of inspiring desert vistas experienced on this highway will be lost forever if this project is approved! This loss of a valuable resource for economically disadvantaged Lucerne Valley and the County as a whole was not given any consideration during the consideration of this project!

Another compelling reason for appeal is the potential for excessive dust created by this development. Dust which cannot be mitigated utilizing the methods proposed by the developer. As discovered in the Owens Valley after LADWP drained the lake, the only effective method would be to cover the surface with 4” of gravel. Applying water during a windstorm in the desert would be completely ineffectual. During the Planning Commission hearing the developer stated fencing would be provided to control dust. This video contradicts that assertion.

Lucerne Valley is an economically disadvantaged community and subjecting it to the potential for significant health effects (including the potential of Valley Fever) and environmental harm would be particularly egregious.

The ‘project’ has not been sufficiently defined to warrant its approval. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires that a project description be "accurate, stable, and finite." Examples of insufficient definitions for this project include:

• The layout of the project on the site including setbacks and access roads is undefined:
• The overhead (or underground?) power lines (Gen Tie Lines) that would connect the project to the substation are described as being somewhere “between” 39 and 51 miles in length;
• The precise route of the Gen Tie Lines to Calcite is undefined;
• The type of tracking technology, either fixed-tilt or tracking, is not established; and
• The location of the battery storage is “somewhere in the middle of the site.”

A project of this magnitude demands thorough definition and must not be approved as a “Concept of a project” to properly address its impact.

We believe the potential cumulative effects of approving this project have not been addressed within the environmental documents. The proposed 2,850-acre Stagecoach Solar project, the proposed 480-acre Ord Mountain project and the potential of the 1,255 acres of interstitial land within the amorphous Sienna II project footprint becoming solar would all connect to the Calcite Substation.

Is there sufficient capacity in the Pisgah/Lugo line from the Calcite substation to Hesperia Lugo – and on to Los Angeles? What if anything needs to be done to increase its capacity/reliability affecting those other communities – more lines – local substation(s)? This was totally overlooked or avoided in both the EIR and staff report. No analysis of these potential impacts has been provided.

The climate crisis requires the adoption of clean renewable energy sources, but it also requires the protection of the intact ecosystems that support all life and the human communities. MBCA continues to advocate for a distributed, renewably generated electrical infrastructure utilizing rooftops as well as appropriately sited industrial scale developments.

MBCA encourages attendance in person at the County Chambers in San Bernardino for the hearing on the Sienna II appeal:

However, video conferencing facilities will be available to view to and make oral comments at the following locations:

Bob Burke Government Center
63665 Twentynine Palms Highway 1st floor
Joshua Tree, CA 92252

High Desert Government Center
15900 Smoke Tree St.
Hesperia, CA 92345

Annual Desert-Wise Landscape Tour is Sunday, April 19, 2026

Sponsored by our local water agencies and the Mojave Water Agency, this year will mark our 15^th year showcasing water-wise and native plant friendly landscapes throughout the Basin. We hope to see you there!

Subscribe to MBCA’s YouTube Video Channel

We have expanded our video tour productions with how-to videos that have garnered tens-of-thousands of views! Check out our website and become a subscriber to our YouTube channel.

And finally, we welcome two new Board members in 2026: Erin Flanagan and Joani Tremblay. We are grateful that they have joined us to offer their knowledge and skills to help accomplish MBCA’s mission:

To advocate and educate for a healthy desert environment which nurtures wildlands and our communities’ rural character, cultural abundance, and economic well-being.

Thanks for your continued support of MBCA.