A man from Minnesota wrote to the Palm Springs Desert Sun earlier this month and expressed similar sentiments, warning, If California comes for Midwest water, we have plenty of dynamite.. The Abandoned Plan That Could Have Saved America From Drought He said a major wastewater reuse project that MWD plans to implement by 2032 could ultimately yield up 150 million gallons of potable water a day from treated waste. Pumping Mississippi River water west: solution or pipe dream? This would take 254 days to fill.. The list of projects that run on similarly magical thinking goes on: Utah wants to build a pipeline of its own from Lake Powell to the fast-growing city of St. George, but Lake Powell has almost no water left. As an engineer, I can guarantee you that it is doable, Viadero said. At one point, activists who opposed the project erected three large billboards warning about the high cost and potential consequences, such as the possibility that drawing down the Green River could harm the rivers fish populations. Each year . In it, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Idaho Attorney General Ral Labrador contend that a new interpretation of a Clean Water Act rule is too vague, oversteps the bounds of federal authority and puts the liberties of states and private property owners at risk. You should worry, Hidden, illegal casinos are booming in L.A., with organized crime reaping big profits, Look up: The 32 most spectacular ceilings in Los Angeles, Elliott: Kings use their heads over hearts in trading Jonathan Quick, This fabled orchid breeder loves to chat just not about Trader Joes orchids. From winter lettuce in grocery stores to the golf courses of the Sun Belt, the Wests explosive growth over the past century rests on aqueducts, canals and drainage systems. Amid a major drought in the Western U.S., a proposed solution comes up repeatedly: large-scale river diversions, including pumping Mississippi River water to parched states. The state also set aside funds in 2018 to study possible imports from the Missouri or Mississippi Rivers, but to date, the study hasnt been done, he said. Once again, Arizona hopes to import out-of-state water in face of crisis Pipelines usually consist of sections of pipe made of . Arizona needs water. But a Mississippi pipeline is a pipe dream Talk about a job-creating infrastructure project, which would rivalthe tremendous civilengineering feats our country used to be noted for. Why are they so hard to catch? Politics are an even bigger obstacle for making multi-state pipelines a reality. The river's web, if some have their way, could become even larger. "Yes, a Superior-Green River pipeline seems unrealistic, even impossible at first glance," Huttner wrote for Minnesota Public Radio. Savor that while your lawns are dying. I think the feasibility study is likely to tell us what we already know, he said, which is that there are a lot less expensive, less complicated options that we can be investing in right now, like reducing water use. Water use has gone down 40% per capita in recent years, said Coffey. Why does California want to build a $16 billion water pipeline? Water Piped to Denver Could Ease Stress on River - The New York Times A water pipeline like Millions would help, if he could wave a magic wand and build it, but Fort believes the present scramble over the Colorado River will likely make such projects impossible to realize. California uses 34 million acre-feet of water per year for agriculture. Water thieves abound in dry California. Were doing everything we can to minimize impacts, maximize benefits, and this project has a lot of benevolence associated with it. In his vision of the Wests future, urban growth will necessitate more big infrastructure projects like his. Your support keeps our unbiased, nonprofit news free. Even if the government could clear these hurdles, the odds that Midwestern states would just let their water go are slim. Yet some smaller-scale projects have become reality. My water, your water. The water will drain into the headwaters of the Colorado river. Answer (1 of 21): Interbasin transfer is something we try to avoid. Democrat recall candidate Kevin Paffrath wants filter systems | The Some plans call for a connection to. The driver of the truck was not injured. Donate today to keep our climate news free. "I'm an optimist," said Coffey, who said local conservation is key. Would itbe expensive? Certainly not the surrounding communities. Stories of similar projects often share the same ending, from proposals in Iowa and Minnesota to those between Canada and the United States. Great Lakes water piped to Southwest 'our future,' says NASA scientist What if our droughts get worse? We have already introduced invasive species all over the continentzebra mussels, quagga mussels, grass carp, spiny water flea, lampreys, ru. The California water wars of the early twentieth century are summed up in a famous line from the 1974 film Chinatown: Either you bring the water to L.A., or you bring L.A. to the water. Nearly a hundred years have elapsed since the events the film dramatizes, but much of the West still approaches water the same way. The two reasons: 1) the process of moving water that far, and that high, wouldn't make economic sense; 2) Great Lakes water is locked down politically. The delta was tricky for barge traffic and shipping to navigate. YouTube, Follow us on Do we have the political will? Column: Building a pipeline to the Mississippi? An idea as harebrained Canadian water for California's drought? - High Country News All rights reserved. But we need to know a lot more about it than we currently do.. Twitter, Follow us on Subscribe today to see what all the buzz is about. In the meantime, researchers encourage more feasible and sustainable options, including better water conservation, water recycling, and less agricultural reliance. Yet their persistence in the public sphere illustrates the growing desperation of Western states to dig themselves out of droughts. Officials imposed the state's first-ever water restrictions on cities and towns, and California farmers are drilling deeper and . Almost two decades ago, when Million was working on a masters thesis, he happened upon a map that showed the Green River making a brief detour into Colorado on its way through Utah. But there are tons of things that can be done but arent ever done.. Under the analyzed scenario, water would be conveyed to Colorados Front Range and areas of New Mexico to help fulfill water needs. While the much-needed water has improved conditions in the parched West, experts warn against claiming victory. Arizona lawmakers want to build a pipeline from the Mississippi River more than a thousand miles away, a Colorado rancher wants to pipe water 300 miles across the Rockies, and Utah wants. A retired engineer suggested a rather outlandish-in-scope but logical-in-approach solution to the seemingly growing floods in the central U.S. and the water woes of the West Coast - build a nearly 1,500-mile aqueduct to connect the two. While they didnt outright reject the concepts, the experts laid out multi-billion-dollar price tags, including ever-higher fuel and power costs to pump water up mountains or over other geographic obstacles. The Colorado River's 1922 compact allocated about 23% of the Upper Basin's water to Utah, and the state uses about 72% of that water. Water pipeline not feasible - Las Vegas Sun Newspaper The Colorado Sun is a journalist-owned, award-winning news outlet based in Denver that strives to cover all of Colorado so that our state our community can better understand itself. Developed in 1964 by engineer Ralph Parsons and his Pasadena-basedParsons Corporation,the plan would provide 75million acre-feet of water to arid areas inCanada, the United States and Mexico. The hypothetical Mississippi River pipeline, which gained new life last year amid devastating drought conditions, is a case in point. By Brittney J. Miller, The Cedar Rapids Gazette. Siphon off a big portion, and youd be swapping oneecological catastrophe for another, said Audubons Johnson. In 2012, the U.S. Department of the Interiors Bureau of Reclamation completed the most comprehensive analysis ever undertaken within the Colorado River Basin at the time, which analyzed solutions to water supply issues including importing water from the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. Could massive water pipelines solve the West's drought crisis? | Grist People need to focus on their realistic solutions.. Meanwhile, a rookie Democrat running for governor in Californias recall election last year proposed declaring a state of emergency in order to build a similar project. A Canadian entrepreneur's plan published in 1991 diverted water from eastern British Columbia to the Columbia River, then envisioned a 300-mile pipeline from the river through Oregon to a reservoir near Alturas, California. Nevertheless, Million hasnt given up, and hes currently working to secure permitting for the fourth iteration of the project. [1] If we had a big pipeline from Lake Sakakawea, we wouldn't just dump it into Lake Powell. Here are 2 reasons why the drought in California won't open the door to Yet their persistence in the public sphere illustrates the growing desperation of Western states to dig themselves out of droughts. Imagine a Five foot diameter, half burried pipeline covered with photovoltaic cells on the upper half. The water would be drained via a 36 inch pipe already installed four miles west of Sugarloaf Mountain outside Marquette. Each state along the Colorado River basin had the rights to a certain quantity of river water, divided among major users like farms and cities, and the projects were designed to help the states realize those abstract rights. China, unlike the US, is unencumbered by NEPA, water rights and democratic processes in general. Its largestdam would be 1,700 feet tall, more than twice the height of Hoover Dam. The concepts fell into a few large categories: pipe Mississippi or Missouri River water to the eastern side of the Rockies or to Lake Powell on the Arizona-Utah border, bring icebergs in. 00:00 00:00 An unknown error. "Nebraska wants to build a canal to pull water from the SouthPlatte River in Colorado, and downstream, Colorado wants to take water from the Missouri River and pull it back across Nebraska. Arizona is among six states, that released a letter and a proposed model for how much Colorado River water they could potentially cut to stave off a collapse. To the editor: I'd like to ask if the reader from Chatsworth calling for the construction of a water pipeline from the Mississippi River to Colorado River reservoirs has ever been to . The resulting fresh water would bepiped northto the thirsty state. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. Here in the scorching Coachella Valley, local governments have approved construction of four surf resorts for the very wealthy. Photos of snowfall around northern Arizona. The trooper inside suffered minor injuries. Studies and modern-day engineering have proven that such projects are possible but would require decades of construction and billions of dollars. The letter and others with an array of ideasgenerated hugeinterest from readers around the country and debate about whether the conceptsare technically feasible, politically possible orenvironmentally wise. "My son will never know what a six-gallon toilet looks like," she said. ", Westford of Southern California's Metropolitan Water District agreed. "The desalinationplant Arizona has scoped out would be by far the largest ever in North America,"said Jennifer Pitt, National Audubon Society's Colorado River program director. Their technical report, which hasnt been peer-reviewed. Last time I heard, we are still the United States of America.". Proponents of these projects argue that they could stabilize western cities for decades to come, connecting populations with unclaimed water rights. When that happens, it wont be just tourists and recreational boaters who will suffer. What's the solution to West's water crisis? Desperate ideas explained To the editor: With the threat of brownouts and over-stressed power grids, dwindling water resources in California and the call to reduce consumption by 15%, I want to point out we are not all in this together. Drop us a note at tips@coloradosun.com. The only newsroom focused on exploring solutions at the intersection of climate and justice. Mulroy was the keynote speaker at the convention, held at Mandalay Bay, in Las Vegas, which is one of several that comprises the Chamber of Commerce's . Infrastructure is one of the few ways well turn things around to assure that theres some supply.. Booming Utah metro wants to pipe in water from Lake Powell so it can But the loss of so much water from the. The Western U.S. is experiencing its driest period in more than a thousand years, according to scientists from UCLA and Columbia University. But there are tons of things that can be done but arent ever done.. Noting about 4.5 million gallons per second of Mississippi River flow past the Old River Control Structure in Louisiana, the letter writer explains diverting 250,000 gallons per second would. The main pipeline would span about 1,000 miles from Jackson, Miss., along the southern borders of Colorado and Utah to Lake Powell, at an elevation of about 3,700 feet. Yes. 1999-2023 Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. If this gets any traction at all, people in the flyover states of the Missouri River basin probably will scream, one water official told the New York Times when the project first received attention. States have [historically] been very successful in getting the federal government to pay for wasteful, unsustainable, large water projects, said Denise Fort, a professor emerita at the University of New Mexico who has studied water infrastructure. USGS 05587500 Mississippi River at Alton, IL. In fact, she and others noted, many such ideas have been studied since the 1940s. Why it's a longshot: First, to get across the Continental Divide and into the Colorado River, you'd need an uphill pipeline about 1,000 miles long, which is longer than any other drinking water . "I started withtoilets, I was the toilet queen of L.A.," said Westford. Moreover, we need water in our dams for. By George Skelton Capitol Journal Columnist Aug. 30, 2021 5 AM PT SACRAMENTO The award for dumbest idea of the recall election goes to the rookie Democrat who proposed building a water. But the idea hasnever completely died. Follow us on He said the most pragmatic approach would only pump Midwest water to the metro Denver area, to substitute forimports to the Front Range on the east side of the Rockies, avoiding "staggering" costs to pump water over the Continental Divide. Rescue the oceans from the pollution that flood waters pick up and dump into the ocean, creating dead zones. Who is going to come to the desert and use it? Most recently, in 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation produced a report laying out a potentially grim future for the Colorado River, and had experts evaluate 14 big ideas commonly touted as potential solutions. Can Water Megaprojects Save The US Desert West? (Part 2) Drought-Stricken West Looks to Mississippi River to Solve Water Woes In 1982,efforts were made to revive the plan by a Parsons company engineer, and the Lyndon Larouche movement supported itas recently as 2010. Why not begin a grand national infrastructure project of building a water pipeline from those flooded states to the Southwest? As the largest single contractor of the SWP and a major supporter of Southern California water conservation and recycling programs, Metropolitan seeks feasible alternatives to convey Colorado River Aqueduct supplies or Diamond Valley Lake storage from the eastern portion of its service area or purified water from Pure Water Southern California . Buying land to secure water rights would cost a chunk of cash, too, which leads to an even larger obstacle for such proposals: the legal and political hoops. Latitude 3853'06", Longitude 9010'51" NAD27. Not mentioned was the great grand-daddy of all schemes for re-allocating water, known as the North American Water and Power Authority Plan. A multi-state pipeline could easily require decades before it delivers a drop of water," said Michael Cohen, senior researcher with the Pacific Institute. Here are some facts to put perspective to several of the. Among its provisions, the law granted the states water infrastructure finance authority to investigate the feasibility of potential out-of-state water import agreements. The only newsroom focused on exploring solutions at the intersection of climate and justice. At comment sessions on Colorado's plan, he said, long-distance pipelines wereconstantly suggested by the public. Do they thank us for using our water? Lake Mead is at its lowest level since it was filled 85 years ago. But it's doable. The 2012 study didn't discount either option but. Famiglietti saidit's time for a national water policy, not to figure out where to lay down hundreds of pipesbut to look comprehensively at the intertwining of agriculture and the lion's share ofwater it uses. The project entails the construction of thousands of miles of pipelines and canals, 427 water treatment facilities, countless pumping facilities, and the displacement of 300,000 residents. This is the country that built the Hoover Dam, and where Los Angeles suburbs were created by taking water from Owens Lake. Could a water pipeline from the Mississippi River to Arizona be a real solution? A 45-mile, $16 billion tunnel that would mark California's largest water project in nearly 50 years took a step closer to reality this week, with Gov. Page Contact Information: Missouri Water Data Support Team Page Last Modified: 2023-03-04 08:46:14 EST It's the lowest level since the lake was filled in the. We want to have more sustainable infrastructure. Specifically, start with a line from the Mississippi River to the Colorado River at Lake Powell, where a seven-state compact divvies up the water. The drought is so critical that this recent rainfall is a little like finding a $20 bill when youve lost your job and youre being evicted from your house, said Rhett Larson, an Arizona State University professor of water law. An additional analysis emerged a decade later when Roger Viadero, an environmental scientist and engineer at Western Illinois University, and his graduate students assessed proposals suggested in last summers viral editorials. Their detractors counter that, in an era of permanent aridification driven by climate change, the only sustainable solution is not to bring in more water, but to consume less of it. She and others worked to persuade reluctant consumers, builders and policymakers to ditchwidely usedsix-gallon flush toilets in favor of perfectly effective two-gallon versions.
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