Ive cowboyed enough in my life to know that you just got to stick to the trail, he said. Could massive water pipelines solve the West's drought crisis? | Grist Is California still in a drought? Recent storms fill many CA reservoirs Twitter, Follow us on Experts we spoke with agreed the feat would be astronomical. There are at least half a dozen major water pipeline projects under consideration throughout the region, ranging from ambitious to outlandish. As politicians across the West confront the consequences of the climate-fueled Millennium Drought, many of them are heeding the words of Chinatown and trying to bring in outside water through massive capital projects. Every day, we hear about water conservation, restrictions. It boggles the mind. Nonetheless, Siefkes trans-basin pipeline proposal went viral, receiving nearly half a million views. Is pumping Mississippi River water west a solution or pipe dream? We have already introduced invasive species all over the continentzebra mussels, quagga mussels, grass carp, spiny water flea, lampreys, ru. If you dont have enough of it, go find more. When finished, the $62 billion project will link Chinas four main rivers and requiresconstruction of three lengthy diversion routes, one using as its basethe1,100-mile longHangzhou-to-Beijing canal, which dates from the 7th century AD. But, he said, the days of mega-pipelines in the U.S. are likely over due to lack of environmental and political will. Can Water Megaprojects Save The US Desert West? (Part 2) My water, your water. Facebook, Follow us on Absolutely. But it's doable. 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. But moving water from one drought-impacted area to another is not a solution.. Arizona, which holds "junior"rights to Colorado River water, meaning it has already been forced to make cuts and might be legally required to make far larger reductions, wants to build a bi-national desalination plant at the Sea of Cortez, which separates Baja California from the Mexican mainland. Booming Utah metro wants to pipe in water from Lake Powell so it can Haul icebergs from the Arctic to a new southern California port. Water Piped to Denver Could Ease Stress on River - The New York Times 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. The idea of diverting water from the Mississippi to the Colorado River basin is an excellent one, albeit also fantastically expensive. Pipeline debate at center of California carbon capture plans She points to her earlyworkfor comparison. 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. Whereas I understand water rights, but globalwarming has introduced new priorities. Yet their persistence in the public sphere illustrates the growing desperation of Western states to dig themselves out of droughts. 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. Grab hydrogen and oxygen from the air and make artificialrain. Other forms of augmentation, like desalination, are also gaining popularity on the national scene as possible options. 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 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. Anyone who thinks we can drain the aquifer and survive is grossly misinformed. Millions in the Southwest will literally be left in the dark and blistering heat when theres no longer enough water behind the dam to power the giant electricity-producing turbines. 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. To be talking about pipe dreams when thats not even feasible for decades, if at all Its a disservice, Scanlan said. 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. 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. About 33% of vegetables and 66% of fruits and nuts are produced in California for consumption for the nation. 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.. 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. Idaho joins Texas lawsuit against Biden administration over federal No. 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. It might be in the trillions, but it probably does exist.. But in the face of continuing, ever-worsening drought and ongoing growth of the cities of the desert Southwest, is there a better idea out there? Proposed interstate water pipelines to California - Wikipedia 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. The idea of a pipeline transecting the continent is not a new idea. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. John Kaufman, the man who proposed the Missouri River pipeline, wants to see the artificial boundaries expand. 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 to pump even more water out of the already-depleted Lake Powell. 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. As apractical matter, Famiglietti, a Universityof Saskatchewan hydrology professor who tracks water basins worldwide via NASA satellite data, saidMississippi River states also experiencedry spells, and the watershed, the fourth largest in the world, also ebbs and flows. Senior citizens dont go to wave parks. . he 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. 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. Mississippi River drought will impact your grocery bill. Million himself, though, is confident that his pipeline will get built, and that it will ensure Fort Collins future. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. Any water diversion from the Mississippi to Arizona must be pumped about 6,000 feet up, over the Rockies. Fueled by Google and other search engines, more than 3.2 millionpeople have read the letters, an unprecedented number for the regional publication's opinion content. Can you solve drought by piping water across the country? - New York Times Seeking answers,The Desert Sun consultedwater experts, conservation groups and government officials for their assessments. Could a water pipeline from the Mississippi River to Arizona be a real 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. Can the Mississippi River save Arizona? - wmicentral.com 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. Janet Wilson is senior environment reporter for The Desert Sun, and co-authors USA Today'sClimate Point newsletter. "Mexico has said it didn't although there has been a recent change ingovernment.". Pumping Mississippi River water west: solution or dream? Even smaller projects stand to be derailed by similar hiccups. Widespread interest in the plan eventually fizzled. Title: USGS Surface-Water Daily Data for the Nation URL: https://nwis.waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/dv? Experts we spoke with agreed the feat would be astronomical. The Unaffiliated is our twice-weekly newsletter on Colorado politics and policy. In southeastern California,officials at the Imperial Irrigation District, which is entitled toby far the largest share of Colorado River water, say any move to strip theirrights would result in legal challenges that could last years. As the West bakes, Utah forges ahead with water pipeline For one, theres no longer enough unclaimed water to make most pipeline projects cost-effective. Those will require sacrifices, no doubt but not as many as building a giant pipeline would require, experts said. Letters to the Editor: Really, Californians? Another call for a water "Yes, a Superior-Green River pipeline seems unrealistic, even impossible at first glance," Huttner wrote for Minnesota Public Radio. 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. The . A water pipeline from the Mississippi River to the west? - Los Angeles For as long as this idea has been proposed. 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. But there are tons of things that can be done but arent ever done.. Still, he admits the road hasnt always been easy, and that victory is far from guaranteed. But we need to know a lot more about it than we currently do.. Politics are an even bigger obstacle to making multi-state pipelines a reality. The Western U.S. is experiencing its driest period in more than a thousand years, according to scientists from UCLA and Columbia University. Democrat recall candidate Kevin Paffrath wants filter systems | The The water would be drained via a 36 inch pipe already installed four miles west of Sugarloaf Mountain outside Marquette. 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. But interest spans deeper than that. Donate today to keep our climate news free. 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. The massive river, with tributaries from Montanato Ohio, is a national artery for shipping goodsout to sea. 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. But interest spans deeper than that. Is sending Mississippi water to West feasible? Experts weigh in We've had relatively rich resources for so long,we've never really had to deal withthis before, andwe don't want to change.". What's the solution to West's water crisis? Desperate ideas explained All that snow in Arizona is nice now but officials worry that it could create disastrous flooding and wildfire conditions. To Larsons knowledge, an in-depth feasibility study specifically on pumping Mississippi River water to the West hasnt been conducted yet. Scientists estimate a football field's worth of Louisiana coast is lost every 60 to 90 minutes. As an engineer, I can guarantee you that it is doable, Viadero said. 1999-2023 Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Shipping Snow: Could Eastern Water Ease Western Drought? 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. To the editor: While theres no question that the receding waters of Lake Mead are having a detrimental effect on recreation and tourism, the real looming catastrophe is that if the water level of the nations largest reservoir continues to fall and hits a certain level, the hydroeclectic power plant at Hoover Dam will have to shut down. Lake Mead is at its lowest level since it was filled 85 years ago. People fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta's Elk Slough near Courtland, California, on Tuesday, March 24, 2020. 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. Your support keeps our unbiased, nonprofit news free. 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. Even at its cheapest, the project would cost about twice as much per acre-foot of water delivered than other solutions like water conservation and reuse. The federal Water Conservation Bureau gave approval Tuesday to piping 440 billion gallons of water per month to Arizona. 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. 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. Simulation of monthly mean and monthly base flow of streamflow using 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. But the idea hasnever completely died. 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. One proposed solution to the Colorado River Basin's water scarcity crisis has come up again and again: large-scale river diversions, including pumping Mississippi River water to the parched West . Each year . To be talking about pipe dreams, when thats not even feasible for decades, if at all Its a disservice, Scanlan said. You couldbuild a pipeline from the Mississippi or Missouri Rivers. Under the analyzed scenario, water would be conveyed to Colorados Front Range and areas of New Mexico to help fulfill water needs. Can A Pipeline Really Bring Drinking Water From Mississippi To The West? Their technical report, which hasnt been peer-reviewed. What states in the Southwest have failed to do is curtail growth and agriculture that is, of course, water-driven. Still, its physically possible. Petition End Floods in America by Creating a Pipeline Network to The pipeline will end in the Rocky Mountain National park. The Mississippi used to flow through a delta full of bayous, shifting sad bars, And islets. Western Water Woes - Is Big Infrastructure the Way to Go? Imagine a Five foot diameter, half burried pipeline covered with photovoltaic cells on the upper half. "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 . Not mentioned was the great grand-daddy of all schemes for re-allocating water, known as the North American Water and Power Authority Plan. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa Waves of torrential rainfall drenched California into the new year. Certainly not the surrounding communities. I find it interesting that households have to watch how much water theyare usingfor washing clothes, wateringlawns, washing cars,etc. The idea of drinking even heavily treated liquid wastemay seem unpalatable, but Westfordthinks people will adapt. Diverting that water also means spreading problems, like pollutants, excessive nutrients, and invasive species. ", But desert defenders pushed back. Last updated on: February 10, 2023, 10:54h. We want to have more sustainable infrastructure. Most notably, the Mississippi River basin doesn't always have enough water to spare. . 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. Local hurdles include endangered species protections, wetlands protections, drinking water supply considerations and interstate shipping protections. And, here in the land of the midnight 90-degree temperatures, we are building our very own ice hockey rink, because there is more than enough electricity to freeze that body of water and keep the arena cold enough to keep the ice from melting. Why can't California build a pipeline for water from other states Under the analyzed scenario, water would be conveyed to Colorados Front Range and areas of New Mexico to help fulfill water needs. This One thousand mile long pipeline could move water from the Eastern USA (Great Lakes, Ohio River, Missouri River, and Mississippi River) to the Colorado River via the Mississippi River. 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. Run a pipeline a few hundred miles to the San Juan River in Pagosa Springs CO which drains into Lake Powell and you are good to go. Trans-national pipelines would also impact ecological resources. Water pipeline not feasible - Las Vegas Sun Newspaper But, as water scarcity in the West gets more desperate, the hurdles could be overcome one day. My state, your state. We need to protect our water supply, at allcosts, and forgo our financialgains. 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. (Unrecognizable. Lake Mead, a lifeline for water in Los Angeles and the West, tips toward crisis, July 11).

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