Who is going to come to the desert and use it? A multi-state compact already prohibits any sale of water from the Great Lakes unless all bordering states agree to it, and its almost certain that Mississippi River states would pass laws restricting water diversions, or file lawsuits against western states, if the project went forward. Can Water Megaprojects Save The US Desert West? (Part 2) Heres how that affects Indigenous water rights, Salton Sea public health disaster gets a $250 million shot in the arm. It might be in the trillions, but it probably does exist.. Here are 2 reasons why the drought in California won't open the door to What goes into the cat-and-mouse game of forecasting Colorados avalanche risks? Diverting that water also means spreading problems, like pollutants, excessive nutrients and invasive species. "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 . Rescue the oceans from the pollution that flood waters pick up and dump into the ocean, creating dead zones. On the heels of Arizonas 2021 push for a pipeline feasibility study, former Arizona Gov. John Kaufman, the man who proposed the Missouri River pipeline, wants to see the artificial boundaries expand. The water pipelines from the Mississippi River in Davenport, Iowa connecting to the headwaters of the Colorado River at the Rocky Mountain National Park. Could massive water pipelines solve the West's drought crisis? | Grist 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. 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. 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. Just this past summer, the idea caused a firestorm of letters to the editor at a California newspaper. Even smaller projects stand to be derailed by similar hiccups. Water thieves abound in dry California. About 33% of vegetables and 66% of fruits and nuts are produced in California for consumption for the nation. Its largestdam would be 1,700 feet tall, more than twice the height of Hoover Dam. Column: Building a pipeline to the Mississippi? An idea as harebrained 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. Conservation alternatives are less palatable than big infrastructure projects, but theyre also more achievable. We have already introduced invasive species all over the continentzebra mussels, quagga mussels, grass carp, spiny water flea, lampreys, ru. There are no easy fixes to a West that has grown and has allocated all of its water theres no silver bullet, she said. Photos of snowfall around northern Arizona. You tellgolf courses how much water they can use, but one of thelargest wave basins in the world is acceptable? Arizona needs water. But a Mississippi pipeline is a pipe dream 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. The elephant in the room, according to Fort, is agriculture, which accounts for more than 80 percent of water withdrawals from the Colorado River. 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. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) Waves of torrential rainfall drenched California into the new year. 2023 www.desertsun.com. Pitt, who was a technical adviser on Reclamation's2012 report,decried ceaselesspipeline proposals. 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. Yet their persistence in the public sphere illustrates the growing desperation of Western states to dig themselves out of droughts. 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. Yes, it would be hugely expensive. The resulting fresh water would bepiped northto the thirsty state. 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. 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. and Renstrom says that unless Utah builds a long-promised pipeline to pump water 140 miles from Lake . In any case, Utah rejected a permit for the project in 2020, saying it would jeopardize the states own water rights. 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. Here's How. We want to have more sustainable infrastructure. Proponents of these projects argue that they could stabilize western cities for decades to come, connecting populations with unclaimed water rights. Drainage area 171,500 square miles . Were not looking for the last dollar out of this project, he told me. I have dystopian nightmares aboutpipelines marching across the landscape, saidglobal water scarcity expert Jay Famiglietti. The Arizona Legislature wants the federal government to study the feasibility of constructing a pipeline . 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. As a resident of Wisconsin, a state that borders the (Mississippi) river, let me say: This is never gonna happen, wrote Margaret Melville of Cedarburg, Wisconsin. In fact, she and others noted, many such ideas have been studied since the 1940s. 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. 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. Lake Superior Water Headed to the Southwest - Word on the Street If officials approve this, the backlash willresult in everyone using as much water as wecare to. Lake Mead is at its lowest level since it was filled 85 years ago. Citizens of Louisiana and Mississippi south of the Old River Control Structure dont need all that water. The idea's been dismissed for as long as it's. Trans-national pipelines would also impact ecological resources. To Larsons knowledge, an in-depth feasibility study specifically on pumping Mississippi River water to the West hasnt been conducted yet. Trans-national pipelines would also impact ecological resources. Each year worsens our receipt of rain and snow. Here are some facts to put perspective to several of the. Latitude 3853'06", Longitude 9010'51" NAD27. The idea of diverting water from the Mississippi to the Colorado River basin is an excellent one, albeit also fantastically expensive. According to DPS, the driver of the semi-truck lost control of the truck on the icy I-40 freeway near Williams, striking a DPS patrol car parked by the side of the highway. 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. Seeking answers,The Desert Sun consultedwater experts, conservation groups and government officials for their assessments. There are at least half a dozen major water pipeline projects under consideration throughout the region, ranging from ambitious to outlandish. Local hurdles include endangered species protections, wetlands protections, drinking water supply considerations and interstate shipping protections. Most notably, the Mississippi River basin doesnt always have enough water to spare. But interest spans deeper than that. USGS Surface Water for USA: Streamflow Measurements Why can't California build a pipeline for water from other states Here in the scorching Coachella Valley, local governments have approved construction of four surf resorts for the very wealthy. Just this past summer, the idea caused a firestorm of letters to the editor at a California newspaper. 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. 1999-2023 Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Drop us a note at tips@coloradosun.com. The water would be drained via a 36 inch pipe already installed four miles west of Sugarloaf Mountain outside Marquette. It's the lowest level since the lake was filled in the. Drought conditions plagued the region throughout 2022, for instance, prompting concerns over river navigation. The federal Water Conservation Bureau gave approval Tuesday to piping 440 billion gallons of water per month to Arizona. Meanwhile, watershed states in the U.S., and even counties havetaken actionto preventsuch schemes. Arizona Legislators Want to Ship Mississippi River - Planetizen Coffey said the project isn't really a pipeline, but more "a bypass for an aging 60-year-old"system. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. Do we have the political will? Lower Mississippi River flow means less sediment carried down to Louisiana, where its used for coastal restoration. The driver of the truck was not injured. Why not begin a grand national infrastructure project of building a water pipeline from those flooded states to the Southwest? 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. Power from its hydroelectric dams would boost U.S. electricity supplies. YouTube star and Democratic political novice Kevin Paffrath proposed the Mississippi River pipeline last week during a debate among candidates seeking to replace Gov. 2023 www.desertsun.com. Either way, most of these projects stand little chance of becoming reality theyre ideas from a bygone era, one that has more in common with the world of Chinatown than the parched west of the present. But Denver officials have expressed skepticism,because Missouri or Mississippi water isof inferior quality to pure mountain water. 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. In the meantime, researchers encourage more feasible and sustainable options, including better water conservation, water recycling, and less agricultural reliance. Terms of Use | Privacy Policy. 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. For him, thatincludessetting aside at leastportions of the so-called "Law of the River," a complicated, century-old set of legal agreements that guarantees farmers in Southern California the largest share of water. 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. Letter writers have asked why a water pipeline is not constructed from the Mississippi River to the Colorado River. 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. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa Waves of torrential rainfall drenched California into the new year. Yes. Experts we spoke with agreed the feat would be astronomical. 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. Los Angeles-area water districts have implemented much of what Famiglietti mentioned. Among its provisions, the law granted the states water infrastructure finance authority to investigate the feasibility of potential out-of-state water import agreements. But, as water scarcity in the West gets more desperate, the hurdles could be overcome one day. Instead, California is focused on better managing the water we have, improving forecasting, and making our groundwater basins more sustainable.. Is sending Mississippi water to West feasible? Experts weigh in 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 in-depth feasibility study specifically on pumping Mississippi River water to the West hasnt been conducted yet to Larsons knowledge. 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 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. Drought conditions plagued the region throughout 2022, prompting concerns over river navigation. A multi-state pipeline could easily require decades before it delivers a drop of water," said Michael Cohen, senior researcher with the Pacific Institute. "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. Heproposed usingnuclear explosionsto excavate the system's trenches and underground water storage reservoirs. Many sawSiefkes' idea and others like it as sheer theft by a region that needs to fix its own woes. Diverting the Missouri River to the West: 'Can' Does Not - HuffPost Water use has gone down 40% per capita in recent years, said Coffey.
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