Infrastructure is one of the few ways well turn things around to assure that theres some supply.. Viaderos team estimated that the sale of the water needed to fill the Colorado Rivers Lake Powell and Lake Mead the largest reservoirs in the country would cost more than $134 billion at a penny a gallon. All three officials said the construction of a45-mile Delta Water Project tunnel to keep supply flowing from the middle of the state to thirsty cities in the south isvital. 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. and planned for completion in 2050, it willdivert 44.8 billion cubic metersof water annually to major cities and agricultural and industrial centers in the parchednorth. Despite the recent defeat of a major plant in Huntington Beach, after the California Coastal Commission said it was too environmentally damaging, "ocean desalination can't be off the table," said Coffey. Twitter, Follow us on Historian Ted Steinberg said itsummed up "the sheer arrogance and imperial ambitions of the modern hydraulic West.". 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. [1] No. The pipeline will end in the Rocky Mountain National park. Stories of similar projects often share the same ending, from proposals in Iowa and Minnesota to those between Canada and the United States. 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. Drop us a note at [email protected]. YouTube, Follow us on The lawsuit, originally filed in southern Texas' federal courts Jan. 18, was amended to include Idaho on Monday. 1999-2023 Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. 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. This would take 254 days to fill.. About 60% of the region remains in some form of drought, continuing a decades-long spiral into water scarcity. The Western U.S. is experiencing its driest period in more than a thousand years, according to scientists from UCLA and Columbia University. Has no one noticed how much hotter the desert is getting, not to mention the increase in fires in our area. Experts we spoke with agreed the feat would be astronomical. Follow us on Letter writers have asked why a water pipeline is not constructed from the Mississippi River to the Colorado River. We can move water, and weve proven our desire to do it. The mountains are green now but that could be harmful during wildfire season. Senior citizens dont go to wave parks. Widespread interest in the plan eventually fizzled. They includegawky pink roseate spoonbills, tiny bright yellow warblers, known as swamp candles because of their bright glow in the humid, green woods, and more. Heres how that affects Indigenous water rights, Salton Sea public health disaster gets a $250 million shot in the arm. In the meantime, researchers encourage more feasible and sustainable options, including better water conservation, water recycling, and less agricultural reliance. Not mentioned was the great grand-daddy of all schemes for re-allocating water, known as the North American Water and Power Authority Plan. He frames the pipeline as a complement to water-saving policies. So moving water that far away to supplement the ColoradoRiver, I don't think is viable. Anyone who thinks we can drain the aquifer and survive is grossly misinformed. A Mississippi pipeline to Lake Powell would need to cut across four states, he and Johnson said, including hundreds of miles of wetlands in Louisiana and west Texas. In fact, she and others noted, many such ideas have been studied since the 1940s. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, prodded by members of Congressfrom western states, studied the massive proposal. I find it interesting that households have to watch how much water theyare usingfor washing clothes, wateringlawns, washing cars,etc. Butbig water infrastructure projects aren't just of interest to the general public. What goes into the cat-and-mouse game of forecasting Colorados avalanche risks? Subscribe today to see what all the buzz is about. 00:00 00:00 An unknown error. Last time I heard, we are still the United States of America.". 2023 www.desertsun.com. Here's How. Grab hydrogen and oxygen from the air and make artificialrain. 10/4/2021. Widespread interest in the plan eventually fizzled. The agency is moving forward with smallerprojects across the state to reduce seismic and hydrologic risks, like eliminating leaks or seepage, including at four existing dams and related spillways in Riverside and Los Angeles counties. Filling Lake Mead with Mississippi River Water No Longer a Pipe Dream. For one, theres no longer enough unclaimed water to make most pipeline projects cost-effective. California uses 34 million acre-feet of water per year for agriculture. And contrary to Siefkes' claims, experts said, the silty river flows provide sediment critical to shore up the rapidly disappearing Louisiana coast andbarrier islands chewed to bits by hurricanes and sea rise. Releasing more water downstream would come at the expense of upstream users . Tribes in the Colorado River Basin are fighting for their water. Thats not to mention the housing development again, for the very wealthy with its own lagoon. To be talking about pipe dreams, when thats not even feasible for decades, if at all Its a disservice, Scanlan said. 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. The largest eastern river, the Mississippi, has about 30 times the average annual flow of the Colorado, and the Columbia has close to 10 times. We are already in a severe drought. Water thieves abound in dry California. 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. Page Contact Information: Missouri Water Data Support Team Page Last Modified: 2023-03-04 08:46:14 EST . Answer (1 of 21): Interbasin transfer is something we try to avoid. 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. after the growth in California . The state is expected to lose 10% of its water over the next two decades, reports the . 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. "Yes, a Superior-Green River pipeline seems unrealistic, even impossible at first glance," Huttner wrote for Minnesota Public Radio. At comment sessions on Colorado's plan, he said, long-distance pipelines wereconstantly suggested by the public. And there are several approved diversions that draw water from the Great Lakes. States wish they wouldnt. The project would have to secure dozens of state and federal permits and clear an enormous federal environmental review; moving the water would also require the construction of several hundred megawatts of power generation. Nevertheless, Million hasnt given up, and hes currently working to secure permitting for the fourth iteration of the project. Why are they so hard to catch? Paffrath proposed building a pipeline from the Mississippi River to bring water to drought-stricken California. . A multi-state pipeline could easily require decades before it delivers a drop of water," said Michael Cohen, senior researcher with the Pacific Institute. Yahoo, Reddit and ceaseless headlines about a 22-year megadrought and killer flash floods, not to mention dead bodies showing up on Lake Meads newly exposed shoreline, have galvanized reader interest this summer. 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. The memorial is seeking Mississippi River water as a solution to ongoing shortages on the Colorado River as water levels reach historic lows in the two largest reservoirs on the river, Lake Powell and Lake Mead. No, lets talk about her, Desperate mountain residents trapped by snow beg for help; We are coming, sheriff says, Newsom, IRS give Californians until October to file tax returns, 15 arrested across L.A. County in crackdown on fraudulent benefit cards, Calmes: Heres what we should do about Marjorie Taylor Greene, Column: Did the DOJ just say Donald Trump can be held accountable for Jan. 6? Nonetheless, Siefkes trans-basin pipeline proposal went viral, receiving nearly half a million views. But moving water from one drought-impacted area to another is not a solution.. Other forms of augmentation, like desalination, are also gaining popularity on the national scene as possible options. Rescue the oceans from the pollution that flood waters pick up and dump into the ocean, creating dead zones. Since about 1983, Lake Mead has dropped in volume from full capacity at. Improved simulations of streamflow and base flow for selected sites within and adjacent to the Mississippi River Alluvial Plain area are important for modeling groundwater flow because surface-water flows have a substantial effect on groundwater levels. We have already introduced invasive species all over the continentzebra mussels, quagga mussels, grass carp, spiny water flea, lampreys, ru. Local hurdles include endangered species protections, wetlands protections, drinking water supply considerations and interstate shipping protections. This aerial photo of Davenport, Iowa, shows Mississippi River floodwaters in May 2019. Doug Ducey signed legislation this past July that invested $1.2 billion to fund projects that conserve water and bring more into the state. An earlier version of this story misidentified for which agency Jennifer Pitt was a technical adviser. "We do not expect to see (carbon capture and storage) happen at a large scale unless we are able to address that pipeline issue," said Rajinder Sahota, deputy executive officer for climate change . 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. An acre-foot is enough water to serve about two households for a year, so it could supply water to 150 million customers. The most obvious problem with this proposal is its mind-boggling cost. Clouds of birds hundreds of species live in or travel through Louisianas rich Atchafalaya forests each year, said National Audubon Society Delta Conservation Director Erik Johnson. But, as water scarcity in the West gets more desperate, the hurdles could be overcome one day. 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. Snowpacks in the Sierra Nevada Mountains have swelled to more than 200 percent of their normal size, and snowfall across the rest of the Colorado River Basin is trending above average, too. Fort, the University of New Mexico professor, worries that the bigwigs who throw their energy behind large capital projects may be neglecting other, more practical options. Any water diversion from the Mississippi to Arizona must be pumped about 6,000 feet up, over the Rockies. The idea is as old and dusty as the desert Southwest: Pipe abundant Great Lakes water to parched cities out West, such as Phoenix and Las Vegas. 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. 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. No one wants to leave the western states without water, said Melissa Scanlan, a freshwater sciences professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. People need to focus on their realistic solutions.. Ultimately the rising environmental movement squelched it the project woulddestroyvast wildlife habitats in Canada and the American West,submergewild rivers in Idaho and Montana,and requirethe relocation of hundreds of thousands of people. But interest spans deeper than that. Seeking answers,The Desert Sun consultedwater experts, conservation groups and government officials for their assessments. Above, the droughts effects can be seen at a marina on June 29. 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. Similar ideas have been suggested about Great Lakes water. An in-depth feasibility study specifically on pumping Mississippi River water to the West hasnt been conducted yet to Larsons knowledge. 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. Still, its physically possible. Here in the scorching Coachella Valley, local governments have approved construction of four surf resorts for the very wealthy. Its much easier to [propose] a shining pipeline from the Mississippi River that will never be built than it is to grapple with this really unpleasant truth.. A recent edition of The Desert Sun had twoletters objectingto piping water from the Mississippi River to the Colorado River, and on to California. 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. Among its provisions, the law granted the states water infrastructure finance authority to investigate the feasibility of potential out-of-state water import agreements. Gavin Newsom if he's. 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. "My son will never know what a six-gallon toilet looks like," she said. The Mississippi used to flow through a delta full of bayous, shifting sad bars, And islets. Inspired by Mao Zedong, who in 1952 observed, "The south has plenty of water and the north lacks it, so if possible why not borrow some?" If you dont have enough of it, go find more. 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.. Conservation alternatives are less palatable than big infrastructure projects, but theyre also more achievable. Vessels ran aground and had to navigate very carefully. No one wants to leave the western states without water, said Melissa Scanlan, a freshwater sciences professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In 1964, a California engineering company proposed diverting flows from the Yukon and Mackenzie River watersheds, shared by Canada and the U.S., all the way to southern California and into Mexico. Diverting that water also means spreading problems, like pollutants, excessive nutrients, and invasive species. Most notably, the Mississippi River basin doesn't always have enough water to spare. Photos of snowfall around northern Arizona. But water expertssaid it would likely take at least 30 years to clear legal hurdles to such a plan. It's 2011 and the technology exists to build a series of water pipelines across the US, to channel flood water to holding tanks in other areas, and to supply water to drought stricken areas. Pipeline sizes vary from the 2-inch- (5-centimetre-) diameter lines used in oil-well gathering systems to lines 30 feet (9 metres) across in high-volume water and sewage networks. The plan would divert water from the Missouri River which normally flows into the Mississippi River and out to the Gulf of Mexico through an enormous pipeline slicing some 600 miles (970 . Ive cowboyed enough in my life to know that you just got to stick to the trail, he said. "Arizona really, really wants oceanfront," she chuckled. USGS 05587500 Mississippi River at Alton, IL. 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. 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. The Southern Delivery System in the nearby Arkansas River Basin pipes water from Pueblo County more than 60 miles north to Colorado Springs, Fountain and Security. 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 . 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. Every year, NAWAPA would deliver 158 million acre-feet of water to the US, Canada, and Mexico more than 10 times the annual flow of the Colorado River. Trans-national pipelines would also impact ecological resources. These realities havent stopped the Wests would-be water barons from dreaming. Available data for this site Madison County, Illinois. Telling stories that matter in a dynamic, evolving state. Some plans call for a connection to. Would itbe expensive? Los Angeles-area water districts have implemented much of what Famiglietti mentioned. Absolutely not," said Meena Westford, executive director of Colorado River resource policy for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Its one of dozens of letters the paperhas received proposing or vehemently opposing schemes to fix the crashing Colorado River system, which provides water to nearly 40 million people and farms in seven western states. Asked about a Mississippi River pipeline or other new infrastructure to rescue the Colorado River, federal and state officials declined to respondor said there was no realistic chance such a major infrastructure project is in the offing. Power from its hydroelectric dams would boost U.S. electricity supplies. "I started withtoilets, I was the toilet queen of L.A.," said Westford. The pipeline would provide the Colorado River basin with 600,000 acre-feet of water annually, which could serve roughly a million single-family homes. But pipelines and other big ideaswill always attract interest, hydrology experts said, because they falsely promise an innovative, easy way out. and Renstrom says that unless Utah builds a long-promised pipeline to pump water 140 miles from Lake . Million sued, and he says he expects a ruling this year. Facebook, Follow us on Pat Mulroy, head of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, pitched a bold idea at a US Chamber of Commerce event last week: divert excess Mississippi River water to the west to irrigate crops to reduce pressure on the stressed Colorado River. The elephant in the room, according to Fort, is agriculture, which accounts for more than 80 percent of water withdrawals from the Colorado River. Snowpacks in the Sierra Nevada Mountains have swelled to more than 200% their normal size, and snowfall across the rest of the Colorado River Basin is trending above average, too. Trans-national pipelines would also impact ecological resources. 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. 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. But it's doable. ", But desert defenders pushed back. Arizona and Nevada residents must curb their use of water from the Colorado River, and California could be next. John Kaufman, the man who proposed the Missouri River pipeline, wants to see the artificial boundaries expand. Water use has gone down 40% per capita in recent years, said Coffey. Don't bother sending notices on conservation; they willbe ignored. What if our droughts get worse? The idea of a pipeline transecting the continent is not a new idea. By the way, none of this includes the incredible carbon footprints about to be stomped on the environment. John Neely ofPalm Desert responded: "All of these river cities who refuse to give us their water can stop snowbirding to the desert to use our water.
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