The federal Water Conservation Bureau gave approval Tuesday to piping 440 billion gallons of water per month to Arizona. About 33% of vegetables and 66% of fruits and nuts are produced in California for consumption for the nation. But, as water scarcity in the West gets more desperate, the hurdles could be overcome one day. The bigger obstacles are fiscal, legal, environmentaland most of all, political. Other forms of augmentation, like desalination, are also gaining popularity on the national scene as possible options. But there are tons of things that can be done but arent ever done.. It would turn the Southwest into an oasis, and the Great Basin into productive farmland. No one wants to leave the western states without water, said Melissa Scanlan, a freshwater sciences professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Its easy to understand why politicians want to throw their weight behind similar present-day projects, Fort told Grist, but projects of this size just arent practical anymore. Trans-national pipelines would also impact ecological resources. Thats not to mention the housing development again, for the very wealthy with its own lagoon. Infrastructure is one of the few ways well turn things around to assure that theres some supply.. This is the country that built the Hoover Dam, and where Los Angeles suburbs were created by taking water from Owens Lake. 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. Here's How. The delta was tricky for barge traffic and shipping to navigate. 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. Water from these and other large rivers pour. Last time I heard, we are still the United States of America.". 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. Nonetheless, Siefkes trans-basin pipeline proposal went viral, receiving nearly half a million views. and Renstrom says that unless Utah builds a long-promised pipeline to pump water 140 miles from Lake . Just this past summer, the idea caused a firestorm of letters to the editor at a California newspaper. 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. In the meantime, researchers encourage more feasible and sustainable options, including better water conservation, water recycling, and less agricultural reliance. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa Waves of torrential rainfall drenched California into the new year. The water pipelines from the Mississippi River in Davenport, Iowa connecting to the headwaters of the Colorado River at the Rocky Mountain National Park. "The engineering is feasible. My state, your state. 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. 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. He said wastewater reuse by area agencies has already swelled from 0.20% in the 1980sto 12% of regional water supply. He raised the possibility that policymakers will seek to build a 900-mile pipeline from Lake Superior to the Green River watershed in southwest Wyoming. Drought conditions plagued the region throughout 2022, for instance, prompting concerns over river navigation. My water, your water. She can be reached at jwilson@gannett.com or @janetwilson66 on Twitter. But, he said, the days of mega-pipelines in the U.S. are likely over due to lack of environmental and political will. Studies and modern-day engineering have proven that such projects are possible but require decades of construction and billions of dollars. 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. 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. 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. If officials approve this, the backlash willresult in everyone using as much water as wecare to. 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. 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. 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. Mississippi River drought will impact your grocery bill. Most notably, the Mississippi River basin doesnt always have enough water to spare. There are at least half a dozen major water pipeline projects under consideration throughout the region, ranging from ambitious to outlandish. Just pump water a few miles from the Mississippi near Des Moines into the Ogallala aquifer. The mountains are green now but that could be harmful during wildfire season. As part of our commitment to sustainability, in 2021 Grist moved its office headquarters to the Bullitt Center in Seattles vibrant Capitol Hill neighborhood. Releasing more water downstream would come at the expense of upstream users . YouTube, Follow us on (Unrecognizable. Lake Mead, a lifeline for water in Los Angeles and the West, tips toward crisis, July 11). Each year worsens our receipt of rain and snow. The water would be drained via a 36 inch pipe already installed four miles west of Sugarloaf Mountain outside Marquette. The Nevada Legislature is considering a bill that, if passed, would require restaurants to only provide water upon customer request. The hypothetical Mississippi River pipeline, which gained new life last year amid devastating drought conditions, is a case in point. 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 . Senior citizens dont go to wave parks. 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. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. Each edition is filled with exclusive news, analysis and other behind-the-scenes information you wont find anywhere else. An acre-foot is enough water to serve about two households for a year, so it could supply water to 150 million customers. 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. California Gov. What goes into the cat-and-mouse game of forecasting Colorados avalanche risks? In the meantime, researchers encourage more feasible and sustainable options, including better water conservation, water recycling, and less agricultural reliance. 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. 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. "Sometimes there is a propensity in areas like Louisiana or the Southwest, where we've had such success in our engineering marvels, to engineer our way out of everything," Newman said. 1999-2023 Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. "To my mind, the overriding fatal flaw for large import schemes is the time required to become operational. The sharing of water would greatly contribute to California being able to feed the nation. Hydrologic Unit Code 07110009. 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. Drought conditions plagued the region throughout 2022, for instance, prompting concerns over river navigation. Local hurdles include endangered species protections, wetlands protections, drinking water supply considerations and interstate shipping protections. 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. 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. Experts we spoke with agreed the feat would be astronomical. What states in the Southwest have failed to do is curtail growth and agriculture that is, of course, water-driven. The state also set aside funds in 2018 to study possible imports from the Missouri or Mississippi Rivers, but to date, the study hasnt been done, he said. But moving water from one drought-impacted area to another is not a solution.. 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. You couldbuild a pipeline from the Mississippi or Missouri Rivers. 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.

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