As an engineer, I can guarantee you that it is doable, Viadero said. Instagram, Follow us on All rights reserved. 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. Can the Mississippi River save Arizona? - wmicentral.com Just this past summer, the idea caused a firestorm of letters to the editor at a California newspaper. Arizona and Nevada residents must curb their use of water from the Colorado River, and California could be next. You should worry, Hidden, illegal casinos are booming in L.A., with organized crime reaping big profits, Look up: The 32 most spectacular ceilings in Los Angeles, Elliott: Kings use their heads over hearts in trading Jonathan Quick, This fabled orchid breeder loves to chat just not about Trader Joes orchids. "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 . But Denver officials have expressed skepticism,because Missouri or Mississippi water isof inferior quality to pure mountain water. The federal Water Conservation Bureau gave approval Tuesday to piping 440 billion gallons of water per month to Arizona. 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. My state, your state. Petition End Floods in America by Creating a Pipeline Network to It was the Bureau of Reclamation. For as long as this idea has been proposed. Heres why thats wise, Nicholas Goldberg: How I became a tool of Chinas giant anti-American propaganda machine, Opinion: Girls reporting sexual abuse shouldnt have to fear being prosecuted. Drop us a note at tips@coloradosun.com. While the much-needed water has improved conditions in the parched West, experts warn against claiming victory. The Nevada Legislature is considering a bill that, if passed, would require restaurants to only provide water upon customer request. 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. Email: newsroom@coloradosun.com 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. Your support keeps our unbiased, nonprofit news free. Canadian water for California's drought? - High Country News The water pipelines from the Mississippi River in Davenport, Iowa connecting to the headwaters of the Colorado River at the Rocky Mountain National Park. 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. 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? Letters to the Editor: Really, Californians? Another call for a water Releasing more water downstream would come at the expense of upstream users . About 60% of the region remains in some form of drought, continuing a decades-long spiral into water scarcity. And several approved diversions draw water from the Great Lakes. The idea of diverting water from the Mississippi to the Colorado River basin is an excellent one, albeit also fantastically expensive. Drought-Stricken West Looks to Mississippi River to Solve Water Woes Just pump water a few miles from the Mississippi near Des Moines into the Ogallala aquifer. 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. Each edition is filled with exclusive news, analysis and other behind-the-scenes information you wont find anywhere else. Experts say theres a proverbial snowballs chance in August of most of theseschemes being implemented. 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. "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 . In the 20 years since he first had the idea, Million has suffered a string of regulatory and legal defeats at the hands of state and federal agencies, becoming a kind of bogeyman for conservationists in the process. To Larsons knowledge, an in-depth feasibility study specifically on pumping Mississippi River water to the West hasnt been conducted yet. But interest spans deeper than that. Conservation alternatives are less palatable than big infrastructure projects, but theyre also more achievable. 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. Column: Building a pipeline to the Mississippi? An idea as harebrained Water pipeline not feasible - Las Vegas Sun Newspaper A pipeline taking water from the Missouri River west makes perfect sense, if you don't care about money, energy, or the environment. 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. Experts we spoke with agreed the feat would be astronomical. 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. (Unrecognizable. Lake Mead, a lifeline for water in Los Angeles and the West, tips toward crisis, July 11). 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. A man from Minnesota wrote to the Palm Springs Desert Sun earlier this month and expressed similar sentiments, warning, If California comes for Midwest water, we have plenty of dynamite.. Latitude 3853'06", Longitude 9010'51" NAD27. USGS 05587500 Mississippi River at Alton, IL. Developed in 1964 by engineer Ralph Parsons and his Pasadena-basedParsons Corporation,the plan would provide 75million acre-feet of water to arid areas inCanada, the United States and Mexico. 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. The Associated Press Climate team contributed images and page design. "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. Well, kind of, Letters to the Editor: Shasta County dumps Dominion voting machines at its own peril, Editorial: Bay Area making climate change history by phasing out sales of gas furnaces and water heaters, Column: Mike Lindell is helping a California county dump voting machines. But interest spans deeper than that. Major projects to restore the coast and save brown pelicans and other endangered species are now underway, and Mississippi sediment delivery is at the heart of them. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), FILE - Dredge Jadwin, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredging vessel, powers south down the Mississippi River Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022, past Commerce, Mo. 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. That's a big pipe: Retired engineer suggests aqueduct from Mississippi The idea of a pipeline transecting the continent is not a new idea. Additionally, building large infrastructure projects in general has become more difficult, in part thanks to reforms like the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires that detailed environmental impact statements be produced and evaluated for large new infrastructure projects. 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 . But, he said, the days of mega-pipelines in the U.S. are likely over due to lack of environmental and political will. Even smaller projects stand to be derailed by similar hiccups. 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. Can A Pipeline Really Bring Drinking Water From Mississippi To The West? In fact, she and others noted, many such ideas have been studied since the 1940s. Pumping Mississippi River water west: solution or dream? Theyre all such hypocrites. Dothey pay extra for using our water? Nevertheless, Million hasnt given up, and hes currently working to secure permitting for the fourth iteration of the project. Stories of similar projects often share the same ending, from proposals in Iowa and Minnesota to those between Canada and the United States. Can you solve drought by piping water across the country? - New York Times Moving water from the Mississippi River to west would require massive 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. LAS VEGAS -- Lake Mead has nearly set a new record when its water level measured at 1081.10 feet, according to the Bureau of Reclamation. Hydrologic Unit Code 07110009. Power from its hydroelectric dams would boost U.S. electricity supplies. Arizona needs water. But a Mississippi pipeline is a pipe dream But there are tons of things that can be done but arent ever done.. 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. 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. Here's How. This latest version would curve up through the Wyoming flatlands and back down to Fort Collins, a distance of around 340 miles. 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. The project would require more than 300 new dams,canals, pipelines, tunnels, and pumping stations, bans large waterexportsoutside of the area. 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. Diverting that water also means spreading problems, like pollutants, excessive nutrients and invasive species. And biologists andenvironmental attorneys saidNew Orleans and the Louisiana coast, along with the interior swamplands, need every drop of muddy Mississippi water. Heproposed usingnuclear explosionsto excavate the system's trenches and underground water storage reservoirs. Known as one of the greenest commercial buildings in the world, since it opened its doors on Earth Day in 2013 the Bullitt Center has been setting a new standard for sustainable design. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) Waves of torrential rainfall drenched California into the new year. What if our droughts get worse? Just this past summer, the idea caused a firestorm of letters to the editor at a California newspaper. 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. Their technical report, which hasnt been peer-reviewed, 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. A pipeline to the Mississippi River Perhaps the biggest achievement Paffrath said he would accomplish if elected governor would be to solve California's water crisis by building a. Letters to the Editor: Antigovernment ideology isnt working for snowed-in mountain towns, Letters to the Editor: Ignore Marjorie Taylor Greene? Engineers said the pipelineidea is technically feasible. To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow ads on Grist. Here are 2 reasons why the drought in California won't open the door to Shipping Snow: Could Eastern Water Ease Western Drought? 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. Diverting the Missouri River to the West: 'Can' Does Not - HuffPost 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.. It is time to think outside the box of rain. 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. We are already in a severe drought. 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. 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. 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 resulting fresh water would bepiped northto the thirsty state. The 2012 study didn't discount either option but. "I started withtoilets, I was the toilet queen of L.A.," said Westford. 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 actual costs to build such a pipeline today would likely be orders of magnitude higher, thanks to inflation and inevitable construction snags. Filling Lake Mead with Mississippi River Water No Longer a Pipe Dream. The driver of the truck was not injured. We can move water, and weve proven our desire to do it. Yet their persistence in the public sphere illustrates the growing desperation of Western states to dig themselves out of droughts. 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. In the meantime, researchers encourage more feasible and sustainable options, including better water conservation, water recycling, and less agricultural reliance. Don't bother sending notices on conservation; they willbe ignored. Pitt, who was a technical adviser on Reclamation's2012 report,decried ceaselesspipeline proposals. Pipelines usually consist of sections of pipe made of . If officials approve this, the backlash willresult in everyone using as much water as wecare to. Donate today tohelp keep Grists site and newsletters free. 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. No. Mississippi River to Colorado River Solar Powered Pipeline - Halfbakery He said hes open to one but doesnt think its necessary. "Yes, a Superior-Green River pipeline seems unrealistic, even impossible at first glance," Huttner wrote for Minnesota Public Radio. Yes. Last time I heard, we are still the United States of America.". Nonetheless, Siefkes trans-basin pipeline proposal went viral, receiving nearly half a million views. Studies and modern-day engineering have proven that such projects are possible but require decades of construction and billions of dollars. 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. Take for instance the so-called Water Horse pipeline, a pet project of a Colorado investor and entrepreneur named Aaron Million. The sharing of water would greatly contribute to California being able to feed the nation. Similar ideas have been suggested about Great Lakes water. As part of our commitment to sustainability, in 2021 Grist moved its office headquarters to the Bullitt Center in Seattles vibrant Capitol Hill neighborhood. Citizens of Louisiana and Mississippi south of the Old River Control Structure dont need all that water. I can't even imagine what it would all cost. No one wants to leave the western states without water, said Melissa Scanlan, a freshwater sciences professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The Arizona Legislature wants the federal government to study the feasibility of constructing a pipeline . To the editor: With the threat of brownouts and over-stressed power grids, dwindling water resources in California and the call to reduce consumption by 15%, I want to point out we are not all in this together. Arizonas main active management areas are in Maricopa, Pinal, Pima, and Santa Cruz counties, leaving much of rural Arizona water use unregulated. Who is going to come to the desert and use it? As western states grew over the twentieth century, the federal government helped them build several massive water diversion projects that would hydrate their growing urban populations: The Central Arizona Project aqueduct brought water from the Colorado River to Phoenix, for instance, and the Big Thompson system piped water across the Colorado Rockies to Denver. But moving water from one drought-impacted area to another is not a solution.. As recently as 2021, the Arizona state legislature urged Congress to fund a technological and feasibility study of a diversion dam and pipeline scheme to harvest floodwater from the Mississippi River to replenish the Colorado River. 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. My water, your water. 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. To the editor: The states near the Gulf of Mexico are often flooded with too much water, while the Southwest is suffering a long-term drought. Arizona state legislators asked Congress to consider a pipeline that dumps Mississippi water into the Green River, but there are alternate possibilities. The letter and others with an array of ideasgenerated hugeinterest from readers around the country and debate about whether the conceptsare technically feasible, politically possible orenvironmentally wise. The hypothetical Mississippi River pipeline, which gained new life last year amid devastating drought conditions, is a case in point. Its largestdam would be 1,700 feet tall, more than twice the height of Hoover Dam. "Mexico has said it didn't although there has been a recent change ingovernment.". The total projected cost of the plan in 1975 was $100 billion or nearly $570billion in today's dollars,comparable to theInterstate Highway System. 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. We want to have more sustainable infrastructure. Democrat recall candidate Kevin Paffrath wants filter systems | The We can move water, and weve proven our desire to do it. 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. People need to focus on their realistic solutions.. Proponents of these projects argue that they could stabilize western cities for decades to come, connecting populations with unclaimed water rights. 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 . Doug Ducey signed legislation this past July that invested $1.2 billion to fund projects that conserve water and bring more into the state. 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. While the much-needed water has improved conditions in the parched West, experts warn against claiming victory. Lake Superior Water Headed to the Southwest - Word on the Street Is sending Mississippi water to West feasible? Experts weigh in Twitter, Follow us on Here in the scorching Coachella Valley, local governments have approved construction of four surf resorts for the very wealthy. One method for simulating streamflow and base flow, random forest (RF) models, was developed from the data at gaged sites and, in turn, was . Colorado River crisis: Can water be piped from Mississippi, Missouri? As zany as the ideas may sound, could anywork, and if so, what would be the costs? Opinion: California gave up on mandating COVID vaccines for schoolchildren. Weve had a few blizzards along the way, and some gun battles, but it is what it is.. 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. It might be in the trillions, but it probably does exist.. Diverting that water also means spreading problems, like pollutants,. About 33% of vegetables and 66% of fruits and nuts are produced in California for consumption for the nation. The Abandoned Plan That Could Have Saved America From Drought Infrastructure is one of the few ways well turn things around to assure that theres some supply.. The California Aqueduct carries about 13,000 cubic feet per second through the Central Valley; the Colorado River atLees Ferry runs about 7,000 to 14,000 cfs; the Mississippi at Vicksburg varies from 400,000 to 1.2 million cfs. Pipeline from the Mississippi River to Colorado? - Coyote Gulch Great Lakes water piped to Southwest 'our future,' says NASA scientist
Schrade Ferro Rod Fire Striker,
Oktoberfest Munich 2022 Dates,
Articles W