Large amounts of fossil fuelenergy neededto pump water over the Rockies would increase the very climate change thats exacerbating the 1,200-year drought afflicting the Colorado River in the first place, said Newman, who in his previous job helped the state of Colorado design a long-term water conservation plan. Other forms of augmentation, like desalination, are also gaining popularity on the national scene as possible options. and Renstrom says that unless Utah builds a long-promised pipeline to pump water 140 miles from Lake . Grist is powered by WordPress VIP. 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. The distance between Albuquerque, for example, and the Mississippi River perhaps the closest hypothetical starting point for such a pipeline is about 1,000 miles, crossing at least three. This aerial photo of Davenport, Iowa, shows Mississippi River floodwaters in May 2019. 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. Yes. On the heels of Arizonas 2021 push for a pipeline feasibility study, former Arizona Gov. Janet Wilson is senior environment reporter for The Desert Sun, and co-authors USA Today'sClimate Point newsletter. Local hurdles include endangered species protections, wetlands protections, drinking water supply considerations and interstate shipping protections. But pipelines and other big ideaswill always attract interest, hydrology experts said, because they falsely promise an innovative, easy way out. He said wastewater reuse by area agencies has already swelled from 0.20% in the 1980sto 12% of regional water supply. Thats not to mention the housing development again, for the very wealthy with its own lagoon. Haul icebergs from the Arctic to a new southern California port. The list of projects that run on similarly magical thinking goes on: Utah wants to build a pipeline of its own from Lake Powell to the fast-growing city of St. George, but Lake Powell has almost no water left. The idea of a pipeline transecting the continent is not a new idea. 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. 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. Drought conditions plagued the region throughout 2022, prompting concerns over river navigation. "I'm an optimist," said Coffey, who said local conservation is key. Drought conditions plagued the region throughout 2022, for instance, prompting concerns over river navigation. As part of our commitment to sustainability, in 2021 Grist moved its office headquarters to the Bullitt Center in Seattles vibrant Capitol Hill neighborhood. Another businessman in New Mexico has pushed plans to pump river water 150 miles to the city of Santa Fe, but that water would have to be pumped uphill. She said extensive public education, aided by federal mandates and financial incentives, eventually led toa wholesale transition that saves millions of gallons of water. 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. In any case, Utah rejected a permit for the project in 2020, saying it would jeopardize the states own water rights. 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 mountains are green now but that could be harmful during wildfire season. Meanwhile, a rookie Democrat running for governor in Californias recall election last year proposed declaring a state of emergency in order to build a similar project. Last time I heard, we are still the United States of America.". Posted on: February 7, 2023, 02:30h. Lower Mississippi River flow means less sediment carried down to Louisiana, where it's used for coastal restoration. No one wants to leave the western states without water, said Melissa Scanlan, a freshwater sciences professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. To be talking about pipe dreams when thats not even feasible for decades, if at all Its a disservice, Scanlan said. She and others worked to persuade reluctant consumers, builders and policymakers to ditchwidely usedsix-gallon flush toilets in favor of perfectly effective two-gallon versions. 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. But interest spans deeper than that. 10/4/2021. The hypothetical Mississippi River pipeline, which gained new life last year amid devastating drought conditions, is a case in point. The conceptsfell into a few large categories: pipe Mississippi or Missouri River water to the eastern sideof the Rockies or to Lake Powell on the Arizona-Utah border, bring icebergs in bags, on container ships or via trucks to Southern California, pump water from the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest to California via a subterranean pipeline on the floor of the Pacific Ocean, or replenish the headwaters of the Green River, the main stem of the Colorado River, with water from tributaries. Clouds of birds hundreds of species live in or travel through Louisianas rich Atchafalaya forests each year, said National Audubon Society Delta Conservation Director Erik Johnson. Each edition is filled with exclusive news, analysis and other behind-the-scenes information you wont find anywhere else. document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This story is part of the Grist seriesParched, an in-depth look at how climate change-fueled drought is reshaping communities, economies, and ecosystems. The project would require more than 300 new dams,canals, pipelines, tunnels, and pumping stations, bans large waterexportsoutside of the area. But the idea hasnever completely died. Experts we spoke with agreed the feat would be astronomical. Inspired by Mao Zedong, who in 1952 observed, "The south has plenty of water and the north lacks it, so if possible why not borrow some?" Answer (1 of 21): Interbasin transfer is something we try to avoid. ", But desert defenders pushed back. Opinion: How has American healthcare gone so wrong? 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. The sharing of water would greatly contribute to California being able to feed the nation. We have to conserve water, butnota ridiculous wave parkthat willprobably go bankrupt? We need to protect our water supply, at allcosts, and forgo our financialgains. 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. YouTube, Follow us on Million himself, though, is confident that his pipeline will get built, and that it will ensure Fort Collins future. 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. "To my mind, the overriding fatal flaw for large import schemes is the time required to become operational. he said. All rights reserved. China, unlike the US, is unencumbered by NEPA, water rights and democratic processes in general. Diverting that water also means spreading problems, like pollutants,. 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. Meanwhile, watershed states in the U.S., and even counties havetaken actionto preventsuch schemes. As zany as the ideas may sound, could anywork, and if so, what would be the costs? 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. But interest spans deeper than that. The resulting fresh water would bepiped northto the thirsty state. 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. Martinez, an engineer who oversaw the construction of pipelines in the Sierra Nevada for Southern California Edison, agrees a 1,500-mile pipeline from the Mississippicould physically be built. Its largestdam would be 1,700 feet tall, more than twice the height of Hoover Dam. Terms of Use | Privacy Policy. Were not looking for the last dollar out of this project, he told me. In the meantime, researchers encourage more feasible and sustainable options, including better water conservation, water recycling, and less agricultural reliance. It was the Bureau of Reclamation. Follow us on Other forms of augmentation, like desalination, are also gaining popularity on the national scene as possible options. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa Waves of torrential rainfall drenched California into the new year. Page Contact Information: Missouri Water Data Support Team Page Last Modified: 2023-03-04 08:46:14 EST . 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. All it does is cause flooding and massive tax expenditures to repair and strengthen dikes, wrote Siefkes.New Orleans has a problem with that much water anyway, so lets divert 250,000 gallons/secondto Lake Powell, which currently has a shortage of 5.5 trillion gallons. Twitter, Follow us on 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. Pitt, who was a technical adviser on Reclamation's2012 report,decried ceaselesspipeline proposals. 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. Every day, we hear about water conservation, restrictions. Among its provisions, the law granted the states water infrastructure finance authority to investigate the feasibility of potential out-of-state water import agreements. Gavin Newsom reaffirming his support for the ambitious proposal. Conservation alternatives are less palatable than big infrastructure projects, but theyre also more achievable. If we had a big pipeline from Lake Sakakawea, we wouldn't just dump it into Lake Powell. I find it interesting that households have to watch how much water theyare usingfor washing clothes, wateringlawns, washing cars,etc. A 45-mile, $16 billion tunnel that would mark California's largest water project in nearly 50 years took a step closer to reality this week, with Gov. Arizona state legislators asked Congress to consider a pipeline that dumps Mississippi water into the Green River, but there are alternate possibilities. Flooding along the Mississippi River basin appears to have become more frequent in recent years, as has the [] Facebook, Follow us on A pipeline taking water from the Missouri River west makes perfect sense, if you don't care about money, energy, or the environment. 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. California Gov. I can't even imagine what it would all cost. Even if the government could clear these hurdles, the odds that Midwestern states would just let their water go are slim. While the much-needed water has improved conditions in the parched West, experts warn against claiming victory. . 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. Experts say theres a proverbial snowballs chance in August of most of theseschemes being implemented. 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. He said hes open to one but doesnt think its necessary. 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. We've had relatively rich resources for so long,we've never really had to deal withthis before, andwe don't want to change.". 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. 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. 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. Those will require sacrifices, no doubt but not as many as building a giant pipeline would require, experts said. Savor that while your lawns are dying. Do we have the political will? Citizens of Louisiana and Mississippi south of the Old River Control Structure dont need all that water. If you dont have enough of it, go find more. By Brittney J. Miller, The Cedar Rapids Gazette. We want to have more sustainable infrastructure. Trans-national pipelines would also impact ecological resources. I have dystopian nightmares aboutpipelines marching across the landscape, saidglobal water scarcity expert Jay Famiglietti. 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. Design and build by Upstatement. Any water diversion from the Mississippi to Arizona must be pumped about 6,000 feet up, over the Rockies. 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. Pipeline sizes vary from the 2-inch- (5-centimetre-) diameter lines used in oil-well gathering systems to lines 30 feet (9 metres) across in high-volume water and sewage networks. 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. 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. Donate today to keep our climate news free. Twitter, Follow us on 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. Formal large-scale water importation proposals have existed in the United States since at least the 1960s, when an American company devised the North American Water and Power Alliance to redistribute Alaskan water across the continent using reservoirs and canals. What did Disney actually lose from its Florida battle with DeSantis? But interest spans deeper than that. It is time to think outside the box of rain. That project, which also faces heavy headwinds from environmentalists, wouldcost an estimated $12 billion. It is a minimum of 1,067 miles from the Mississippi River to the Colorado River if it could be built in a fairly straight line (St. Louis to Grand Junction, Colorado, based on the route of. Diverting that water also means spreading problems, like pollutants, excessive nutrients and invasive species. "I don't think that drought, especially in the era of climate change, is something we can engineer our way out of.". 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. 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 only newsroom focused on exploring solutions at the intersection of climate and justice. Lake Mead is at its lowest level since it was filled 85 years ago. The federal Water Conservation Bureau gave approval Tuesday to piping 440 billion gallons of water per month to Arizona. 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. People need to focus on their realistic solutions.. Absolutely. Arizona's legislature allocated$1 billion in its last session for water augmentation projectslikea possible desalination plant, and state officials are in discussions with Mexican officials about the idea, saidBuschatzke. Experts say those will require sacrifices but not as many as building a giant pipeline would require. 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. 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.. Kaufman is the general manager of Leavenworth Water, which serves 50,000 people in a town that welcomed Lewis and Clark in 1804 during the duo's westward exploration. PROVISIONAL DATA SUBJECT TO REVISION. Runa giant hose from the Columbia River along the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to refill Diamond Valley Reservoir. Instagram, Follow us on The Colorado Sun is a journalist-owned, award-winning news outlet based in Denver that strives to cover all of Colorado so that our state our community can better understand itself. You tellgolf courses how much water they can use, but one of thelargest wave basins in the world is acceptable? WATER WILL SOON be flowing from Lake Superior to the parched American Southwest. 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. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson), Lawmakers targeting hospital facility fees, Whats Working: How a Denver nonprofit is expanding the benefits of work. 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. Don't bother sending notices on conservation; they willbe ignored. She points to her earlyworkfor comparison. Many sawSiefkes' idea and others like it as sheer theft by a region that needs to fix its own woes. 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. Rescue the oceans from the pollution that flood waters pick up and dump into the ocean, creating dead zones. And there are several approved diversions that draw water from the Great Lakes. Pipe water from the plentiful Great Lakes to deserted towns in the West like Phoenix and Las Vegas. All rights reserved. Would itbe expensive? (Unrecognizable. Lake Mead, a lifeline for water in Los Angeles and the West, tips toward crisis, July 11). 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. Take that, Lake Mead. Studies and modern-day engineering have proven that such projects are possible but require decades of construction and billions of dollars. But moving water from one drought-impacted area to another is not a solution.. 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 . 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. A multi-state pipeline could easily require decades before it delivers a drop of water," said Michael Cohen, senior researcher with the Pacific Institute. It might be in the trillions, but it probably does exist.. Its one of dozens of letters the paperhas received proposing or vehemently opposing schemes to fix the crashing Colorado River system, which provides water to nearly 40 million people and farms in seven western states. Arizona and Nevada residents must curb their use of water from the Colorado River, and California could be next. 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. Power from its hydroelectric dams would boost U.S. electricity supplies. The idea of diverting water from the Mississippi to the Colorado River basin is an excellent one, albeit also fantastically expensive. Scientists estimate a football field's worth of Louisiana coast is lost every 60 to 90 minutes. Engineers said the pipelineidea is technically feasible. Historian Ted Steinberg said itsummed up "the sheer arrogance and imperial ambitions of the modern hydraulic West.". So come on out for the plastic Marilyn on our dashboard, and stay for the stupendous waste of water, electricity and clean air. To be talking about pipe dreams, when thats not even feasible for decades, if at all Its a disservice, Scanlan said. "Nebraska wants to build a canal to pull water from the SouthPlatte River in Colorado, and downstream, Colorado wants to take water from the Missouri River and pull it back across Nebraska. 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. But if areas like the Coachella Valley continue to approve surf waveparks and "beachfront" developments in the desert, "we're screwed," he said bluntly. There are at least half a dozen major water pipeline projects under consideration throughout the region, ranging from ambitious to outlandish. He said hes open to one but doesnt think its necessary. Just pump water a few miles from the Mississippi near Des Moines into the Ogallala aquifer. 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. Whereas I understand water rights, but globalwarming has introduced new priorities. The trooper inside suffered minor injuries. The Colorado River is drying up. We can move water, and weve proven our desire to do it. Just this past summer, the idea caused a firestorm of letters to the editor at a California newspaper. 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. "My son will never know what a six-gallon toilet looks like," she said. "People are spoiled in the United States. Then take it out of the southern tip of the aquifer in Southern Colorado. One benefit would be flood control for the Eastern USA . "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 . Photos of snowfall around northern Arizona. "This sounds outlandish, but we have a massive problem," Paffrath said. On the heels of Arizonas 2021 push for a pipeline feasibility study, former Arizona Gov. 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. The most obvious problem with this proposal is its mind-boggling cost. Pat Mulroy, head of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, pitched a bold idea at a US Chamber of Commerce event last week: divert excess Mississippi River water to the west to irrigate crops to reduce pressure on the stressed Colorado River. Gavin Newsom also touted desalination in adrought resilience plan he announcedlast week, though in brackish inland areas. 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. People fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta's Elk Slough near Courtland, California, on Tuesday, March 24, 2020. Do they thank us for using our water? The elephant in the room, according to Fort, is agriculture, which accounts for more than 80 percent of water withdrawals from the Colorado River. He frames the pipeline as a complement to water-saving policies. Amid a major drought in the Western U.S., a proposed solution comes up repeatedly: large-scale river diversions, including pumping Mississippi River water to parched states. When that happens, it wont be just tourists and recreational boaters who will suffer. The diverted flow would require massive water tunnels, since a flow of 250,000. The total projected cost of the plan in 1975 was $100 billion or nearly $570billion in today's dollars,comparable to theInterstate Highway System. 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.
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