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 . The price tag for construction would add to this hefty bill, along with the costs of powering the equipment needed to pump the water over the Western Continental Divide. Flooding along the Mississippi River basin appears to have become more frequent in recent years, as has the [] "To my mind, the overriding fatal flaw for large import schemes is the time required to become operational. Studies and modern-day engineering have proven that such projects are possible but would require decades of construction and billions of dollars. California Departmentof Water Resourcesspokeswoman Maggie Maciasin an email: In considering the feasibility of a multi-state water conveyance infrastructure, the extraordinary costs that would be involved in planning, designing, permitting, constructing, and then maintaining and operating such a vast system of infrastructure would be significant obstacles when compared to the water supply benefits and flood water reduction benefits that it would provide. Gavin Newsom also touted desalination in adrought resilience plan he announcedlast week, though in brackish inland areas. The state should do everything possible to push conservation, but thats not going to cure the issue, he told Grist. He said hes open to one but doesnt think its necessary. Most recently, the Arizona state legislature passed a measure in 2021 urging Congress to investigate pumping flood water from the Mississippi River to the Colorado River to bolster its flow. Experts say theres a proverbial snowballs chance in August of most of theseschemes being implemented. About 33% of vegetables and 66% of fruits and nuts are produced in California for consumption for the nation. But interest spans deeper than that. As part of our commitment to sustainability, in 2021 Grist moved its office headquarters to the Bullitt Center in Seattles vibrant Capitol Hill neighborhood. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); A nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Arizona, for instance, has invested millions of dollars in wastewater recycling while other communities have paid to fix leaky pipes, making their water delivery systems more efficient. Here are some facts to put perspective to severalof the opinions already expressed here: An aqueduct running from thelower Mississippi to the Colorado River (via the San Juan River tributary, at Farmington, New Mexico), with the same capacity as the California Aqueduct, would roughly double the flow of thelatter while taking merely 1-3% of the formers flow. Rescue the oceans from the pollution that flood waters pick up and dump into the ocean, creating dead zones. 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, a professor of water law at Arizona State University. USGS 05587500 Mississippi River at Alton, IL Experts we spoke with agreed the feat would be astronomical. The idea of diverting water from the Mississippi to the Colorado River basin is an excellent one, albeit also fantastically expensive. Even if the government could clear these hurdles, the odds that Midwestern states would just let their water go are slim. Gavin Newsom reaffirming his support for the ambitious proposal. Has no one noticed how much hotter the desert is getting, not to mention the increase in fires in our area. Reader support helps sustain our work. I think it would be foolhardy to dismiss it as not feasible, said Richard Rood, professor of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan. A Kansas groundwater management agency, for instance, received a permit last year to truck 6,000 gallons of Missouri River water into Kansas and Colorado in hopes of recharging an aquifer. Some plans call for a connection to. To be talking about pipe dreams when thats not even feasible for decades, if at all Its a disservice, Scanlan said. For instance, a Kansas groundwater management agency received a permit last year to truck 6,000 gallons of Missouri River water into Kansas and Colorado in hopes of recharging an aquifer. Follow us on "We're going to start to see these reservoirs, which nine of them are already filled from the rain water, so then you add on snow melt and we may have some problems with that as far as flooding . Vessels ran aground and had to navigate very carefully. 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. 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. Pipeline | Definition, History, Types, Uses, & Facts | Britannica The most obvious problem with this proposal is its mind-boggling cost. Here's How. Instagram, Follow us on But water expertssaid it would likely take at least 30 years to clear legal hurdles to such a plan. We are already in a severe drought. Gavin Newsom if he's. 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. Experts we spoke with agreed the feat would be astronomical. Siphon off a big portion, and youd be swapping oneecological catastrophe for another, said Audubons Johnson. The delta was tricky for barge traffic and shipping to navigate. But grand ideas for guaranteeing water for the arid Westhave beenfloated for decades. Lake Mead is at its lowest level since it was filled 85 years ago. As an engineer, I can guarantee you that it is doable, Viadero said. Other forms of augmentation, like desalination, are also gaining popularity on the national scene as possible options. In the meantime, researchers encourage more feasible and sustainable options, including better water conservation, water recycling, and less agricultural reliance. Doug Ducey signed legislation this past July that invested $1.2 billion to fund projects that conserve water and bring more into the state. The idea of drinking even heavily treated liquid wastemay seem unpalatable, but Westfordthinks people will adapt. Imagine a Five foot diameter, half burried pipeline covered with photovoltaic cells on the upper half. The only newsroom focused on exploring solutions at the intersection of climate and justice. Pipeline debate at center of California carbon capture plans 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. Your support keeps our unbiased, nonprofit news free. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. She points to her earlyworkfor comparison. Stories of similar projects often share the same ending, from proposals in Iowa and Minnesota to those between Canada and the United States. Each year . Las Vegas' grand proposal is to take water from the mighty Mississippi in a series of smaller pipeline-like exchanges among states just west of the Mississippi to refill the overused. The memorial also suggests that the pipeline could be used as stormwater infrastructure to prevent regular flooding along the . Proposed interstate water pipelines to California - Wikipedia 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. Instagram, Follow us on 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. 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. The snowbirds commonly stay here for at least six months. Famiglietti said as long as urban areas in the West don't persist in untrammeled growth, they have enough supply for the immediate future, with the ability to rip out lawns, capture stormwater runoff in local reservoirs, do municipal audits to fix leaks and other tools. Officials imposed the state's first-ever water restrictions on cities and towns, and California farmers are drilling deeper and . Asked what might be the requirements and constraints of a pipeline from the Mississippi River to the Colorado River, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Gene Pawliksaid, Since (the Army Corps) has not done a formal study related to the use of pipelines to move water between watersheds, we cannot speculate on the details or cost of such projects.. Donate today to keep our climate news free. Idaho joins Texas lawsuit against Biden administration over federal Precedents set by other diversion attempts, like those that created the Great Lakes Compact, also cast doubt over the political viability of any large-scale Mississippi River diversion attempt, said Chloe Wardropper, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor researching environmental governance. The resulting fresh water would bepiped northto the thirsty state. That's a big pipe: Retired engineer suggests aqueduct from Mississippi Don't bother sending notices on conservation; they willbe ignored. In northwestern Iowa, a river has repeatedly been pumped dry by a rural water utility that sells at least a quarter of the water outside the state. No one wants to leave the western states without water, said Melissa Scanlan, a freshwater sciences professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. People fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta's Elk Slough near Courtland, California, on Tuesday, March 24, 2020. Trans-national pipelines would also impact ecological resources. 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. Lower Mississippi River flow means less sediment carried down to Louisiana, where its used for coastal restoration. Pipe water from the plentiful Great Lakes to deserted towns in the West like Phoenix and Las Vegas. Such major infrastructure is an absolute necessity, said Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, who said he represents the governor on all things Colorado River.. John Kaufman, the man who proposed the Missouri River pipeline, wants to see the artificial boundaries expand. Its possible that the situation gets so dire that there is an amount of money out there that could overcome all of these obstacles, Larson said. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson), Lawmakers targeting hospital facility fees, Whats Working: How a Denver nonprofit is expanding the benefits of work. Opinion: How has American healthcare gone so wrong? We can move water, and weve proven our desire to do it. Many sawSiefkes' idea and others like it as sheer theft by a region that needs to fix its own woes. Skelton: A pipeline to the Mississippi? Silly as the recall - Los California wants to build a $16 billion pipeline to draw water out of the Sacramento River Delta and down to the southern part of the state, but critics say the project would deprive Delta farmers of water and destroy local ecosystems. Here are some facts to put perspective to several of the. All rights reserved. Nevertheless, Million hasnt given up, and hes currently working to secure permitting for the fourth iteration of the project. You tellgolf courses how much water they can use, but one of thelargest wave basins in the world is acceptable? In their technical report, which hasnt been peer-reviewed, they calculated that a pipe for moving this scale of water would need to be 88 feet in diameter around twice the length of a semi trailer or a 100-foot-wide channel thats 61 feet deep. Whereas I understand water rights, but globalwarming has introduced new priorities. "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. Tina Peters convicted of government obstruction charge, acquitted of obstructing a police officer, (720) 263-2338 Call, text, Signal or WhatsApp, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. Why are they so hard to catch? Lower Mississippi River flow means less sediment carried down to Louisiana, where it's used for coastal restoration. 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. Million himself, though, is confident that his pipeline will get built, and that it will ensure Fort Collins future. Los Angeles-area water districts have implemented much of what Famiglietti mentioned. But, as water scarcity in the West gets more desperate, the hurdles could be overcome one day. It would carry about 50,000 acre-feet of water per year, much less than the original pipeline plan but still twice Fort Collins current annual usage. "I think that societally, we want to be more flexible. 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 . Today, any water pipeline could cost from $10 billion to $20 billion with another $30 billion in improvements just to get the water to thirsty people and farms. The 800-mile system of pipelines, ditches and reservoirs would cost an estimated $23 billion and could provide 1 million acre-feet of water a year to Colorado. One benefit would be flood control for the Eastern USA . Each year worsens our receipt of rain and snow. The Old River Control Structure, as it was dubbed, is also the linchpin of massive but delicate locks and pulsed flows that feed the largest bottomland hardwood forests and wetlands in the United States, outstripping thebetter-known Okefenokee Swamp that straddles Georgia and Florida.
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