In 1982,efforts were made to revive the plan by a Parsons company engineer, and the Lyndon Larouche movement supported itas recently as 2010. 00:00 00:00 An unknown error. Senior citizens dont go to wave parks. Design and build by Upstatement. There are no easy fixes to a West that has grown and has allocated all of its water theres no silver bullet, she said. Who is going to come to the desert and use it? Million told Grist that hes secured partial funding for the project from multiple banks and the infrastructure company MasTec, but it remains unclear how much he would have to charge to make the project profitable. But, as water scarcity in the West gets more desperate, the hurdles could be overcome one day. This summer, as seven states and Mexico push to meet a Tuesday deadline to agree on plans to shore up the Colorado River and itsshrivelingreservoirs, retired engineer Don Siefkes of San Leandro, California,wrote a letter to The Desert Sun with what he said was asolution to the West's water woes: build an aqueduct from the Old River Control Structure to Lake Powell, 1,489 miles west, to refill the Colorado River system with Mississippi River water. Gavin Newsom reaffirming his support for the ambitious proposal. "Recently I have noticed several letters to the editor in your publication that promoted taking water from the Mississippi River or the Great Lakes and diverting it to California via pipeline or . 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. Power from its hydroelectric dams would boost U.S. electricity supplies. USGS 05587500 Mississippi River at Alton, IL. Similar ideas have been suggested about Great Lakes water. So come on out for the plastic Marilyn on our dashboard, and stay for the stupendous waste of water, electricity and clean air. As an engineer, I can guarantee you that it is doable, Viadero said. An earlier version of this story misidentified for which agency Jennifer Pitt was a technical adviser. Sharing Mississippi River water with California would feed America The pipeline would help it tap another 86,000 acre-feet of . My water, your water. Janet Wilson is senior environment reporter for The Desert Sun, and co-authors USA Today'sClimate Point newsletter. 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. The idea of diverting water from the Mississippi to the Colorado River basin is an excellent one, albeit also fantastically expensive. "I don't think that drought, especially in the era of climate change, is something we can engineer our way out of.". 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. YouTube, Follow us on 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. 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. The state should do everything possible to push conservation, but thats not going to cure the issue, he told Grist. Your support keeps our unbiased, nonprofit news free. Doug Ducey signed legislation this past July that invested $1.2 billion to fund projects that conserve water and bring more into the state. It would cost at least $1,700 per acre-feet of water, potentially yield 600,000 acre-feet of water per year by 2060 and take 30 years to construct. Here in the scorching Coachella Valley, local governments have approved construction of four surf resorts for the very wealthy. 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. 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. 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. What if our droughts get worse? Is sending Mississippi water to West feasible? Experts weigh in 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. On the heels of Arizonas 2021 push for a pipeline feasibility study, former Arizona Gov. To be talking about pipe dreams, when thats not even feasible for decades, if at all Its a disservice, Scanlan said. 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. But we need to know a lot more about it than we currently do.. 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. Terms of Use | Privacy Policy. It's the lowest level since the lake was filled in the. It would turn the Southwest into an oasis, and the Great Basin into productive farmland. The water, more than 44 million gallons a day, would come from 115 wells drilled between 1,000 and 5,000 feet deep in Beryl-Enterprise, a basin where the state has restricted use of shallow groundwater due to over-extraction. 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 . Newsom said the state must capture 100 million metric tons of carbon each year by 2045 about a quarter of what the state now emits annually. 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. ", But desert defenders pushed back. But there are tons of things that can be done but arent ever done.. It dawned on Million that Colorado had unclaimed rights to water from the Green, since the river was part of the Colorado River system, and he devised a plan to build a pipeline that would pump water around the Rockies to the city of Fort Collins, where he lives. For decades, key stewards of the river have ignored the massive water loss, instead allocating Arizona, California, Nevada and Mexico their share of the river without subtracting whats evaporated. He said hes open to one but doesnt think its necessary. 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. . There are at least half a dozen major water pipeline projects under consideration throughout the region, ranging from ambitious to outlandish. Over the years, a proposed solution has come up again and again: large-scale river diversions, including pumping Mississippi River water to the parched west. Infrastructure is one of the few ways well turn things around to assure that theres some supply.. Other legal constraints include the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Protection Act and variousstate environmental laws, said Brent Newman, senior policy director for the National Audubon Society's Delta state programs. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. The trooper inside suffered minor injuries. You couldbuild a pipeline from the Mississippi or Missouri Rivers. and Renstrom says that unless Utah builds a long-promised pipeline to pump water 140 miles from Lake . 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. 1999-2023 Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. But pipelines and other big ideaswill always attract interest, hydrology experts said, because they falsely promise an innovative, easy way out. Makes me wonder how this got this far, whose interests are being served and who's benefiting. As an engineer, I can guarantee you that it is doable, Viadero said. PROVISIONAL DATA SUBJECT TO REVISION. And several approved diversions draw water from the Great Lakes. This aerial photo of Davenport, Iowa, shows Mississippi River floodwaters in May 2019. Drought conditions plagued the region throughout 2022, for instance, prompting concerns over river navigation. The only newsroom focused on exploring solutions at the intersection of climate and justice. 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.. What states in the Southwest have failed to do is curtail growth and agriculture that is, of course, water-driven. Title: USGS Surface-Water Daily Data for the Nation URL: https://nwis.waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/dv? The Great Lakes Compact, signed by President George W. Bush in 2008,bans large waterexportsoutside of the areawithout the approval of all eight states bordering them andinput fromOntario and Quebec. 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. Could a water pipeline from the Mississippi River to Arizona be a real solution? And biologists andenvironmental attorneys saidNew Orleans and the Louisiana coast, along with the interior swamplands, need every drop of muddy Mississippi water. In any case, Utah rejected a permit for the project in 2020, saying it would jeopardize the states own water rights. And there are several approved diversions that draw water from the Great Lakes. Email: newsroom@coloradosun.com Twitter, Follow us on Trans-national pipelines would also impact ecological resources. Famiglietti also said while oil companies are willing to spend millions because their product yields high profits per gallon, that's not the case with water, typically considered a public resource. Instagram, Follow us on "Arizona really, really wants oceanfront," she chuckled. The Nevada Legislature is considering a bill that, if passed, would require restaurants to only provide water upon customer request. Do they thank us for using our water? The idea of drinking even heavily treated liquid wastemay seem unpalatable, but Westfordthinks people will adapt. If officials approve this, the backlash willresult in everyone using as much water as wecare to. We are already in a severe drought. Don't bother sending notices on conservation; they willbe ignored. 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. 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. John Kaufman, the man who proposed the Missouri River pipeline, wants to see the artificial boundaries expand. Page Contact Information: Missouri Water Data Support Team Page Last Modified: 2023-03-04 08:46:14 EST . 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. An acre-foot is enough water to serve about two households for a year, so it could supply water to 150 million customers. pipeline, line of pipe equipped with pumps and valves and other control devices for moving liquids, gases, and slurries (fine particles suspended in liquid). Lower Mississippi River flow means less sediment carried down to Louisiana, where its used for coastal restoration. 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. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, prodded by members of Congressfrom western states, studied the massive proposal. Absolutely. These realities havent stopped the Wests would-be water barons from dreaming. Instagram, Follow us on 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.. 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. Steps are being taken to address water issues in Buckeye. Trans-national pipelines would also impact ecological resources. Even smaller projects stand to be derailed by similar hiccups. Million himself, though, is confident that his pipeline will get built, and that it will ensure Fort Collins future. Lake Mead is at its lowest level since it was filled 85 years ago. The project would require more than 300 new dams,canals, pipelines, tunnels, and pumping stations. Opinion: How has American healthcare gone so wrong? Imagine a Five foot diameter, half burried pipeline covered with photovoltaic cells on the upper half. 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. 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. Even if the sticker price werent so prohibitive, there are other obstacles. . Absolutely not," said Meena Westford, executive director of Colorado River resource policy for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The memorial also suggests that the pipeline could be used as stormwater infrastructure to prevent regular flooding along the . This latest version would curve up through the Wyoming flatlands and back down to Fort Collins, a distance of around 340 miles. 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. The snowbirds commonly stay here for at least six months.
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