Proposed solar plant in Mojave Desert loses key buyer of electricity

Jacob Overson, left, a Mojave Desert resident, and David Lamfrom of the National Parks Conservation Assn. at the site of the proposed Soda Mountain Solar Project.

A bighorn sheep on its perch at the base of the Soda Mountains in Mojave National Preserve. Los Angeles city officials said that the Soda Mountain Solar Project would be too damaging to bighorn sheep and other wildlife.

A proposed solar power project near the preserve leaves environmentalists concerned that it will disrupt the historic habitat of native desert bighorn sheep.

Soda Lake gets a rare summer thunderstorm on June 11, 2015. Tule and mesquite grow around a freshwater spring that attracts desert bighorn sheep.

David Lamfrom of the National Parks Conservation Assn. checks a fenced-in freshwater spring that is home to the rare Mohave tui chub fish.

Hoof prints of bighorn sheep lead to a freshwater spring at Soda Lake.

Soda Lake also hosts the loggerhead shrike, which preys on lizards, grasshoppers and small rodents.

An American badger crosses a road at the Mojave National Preserve.

A tule stalk provides a perch for a dragonfly at a freshwater spring at Soda Lake.

A dust devil swirls on the edge of Soda Lake in the Mojave National Preserve.