Letters to the Editor: Antigovernment ideology isnt working for snowed-in mountain towns, Letters to the Editor: Ignore Marjorie Taylor Greene? 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. This story is a product of theMississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an editorially independent reporting network based at the University ofMissouri School of Journalismin partnership withReport For Americaand theSociety of Environmental Journalists, funded by the Walton Family Foundation. 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. Yet their persistence in the public sphere illustrates the growing desperation of Western states to dig themselves out of droughts. 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. 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. The federal Water Conservation Bureau gave approval Tuesday to piping 440 billion gallons of water per month to Arizona. 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. The California water wars of the early twentieth century are summed up in a famous line from the 1974 film Chinatown: Either you bring the water to L.A., or you bring L.A. to the water. Nearly a hundred years have elapsed since the events the film dramatizes, but much of the West still approaches water the same way. 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 . The Nevada Legislature is considering a bill that, if passed, would require restaurants to only provide water upon customer request. It was the Bureau of Reclamation. A drive up Interstate 5 shows how muchland has been fallowed due tolack of water. Pitt, who was a technical adviser on Reclamation's2012 report,decried ceaselesspipeline proposals. Widespread interest in the plan eventually fizzled. Absolutely not," said Meena Westford, executive director of Colorado River resource policy for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. 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. There are no easy fixes to a West that has grown and has allocated all of its water theres no silver bullet, she said. Two hundred miles north of New Orleans, in the heart of swampy Cajun country, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1963 cut a rogue arm of the Mississippi River in half with giant levees to keep the main river intact and flowing to the Gulf of Mexico. I find it interesting that households have to watch how much water theyare usingfor washing clothes, wateringlawns, washing cars,etc. Lower Mississippi River flow means less sediment carried down to Louisiana, where its used for coastal restoration. The idea of diverting water from the Mississippi to the Colorado River basin is an excellent one, albeit also fantastically expensive. 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. Page Contact Information: Missouri Water Data Support Team Page Last Modified: 2023-03-04 08:46:14 EST . Take for instance the so-called Water Horse pipeline, a pet project of a Colorado investor and entrepreneur named Aaron Million. The 800-mile system of pipelines, ditches and reservoirs would cost an estimated $23 billion and could provide 1 million acre-feet of water a year to Colorado. In 1964, a California engineering company proposed diverting flows from the Yukon and Mackenzie River watersheds, shared by Canada and the U.S., all the way to southern California and into Mexico. It might be in the trillions, but it probably does exist.. Anyone who thinks we can drain the aquifer and survive is grossly misinformed. Lower Mississippi River flow means less sediment carried down to Louisiana, where its used for coastal restoration. 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. The Associated Press Climate team contributed images and page design. 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. Could a water pipeline from the Mississippi River to Arizona be a real solution? Lake Mead is at its lowest level since it was filled 85 years ago. Studies and modern-day engineering have proven that such projects are possible but would require decades of construction and billions of dollars. 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. So moving water that far away to supplement the ColoradoRiver, I don't think is viable. 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. 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. One benefit would be flood control for the Eastern USA . About 33% of vegetables and 66% of fruits and nuts are produced in California for consumption for the nation. Your support keeps our unbiased, nonprofit news free. "Mexico has said it didn't although there has been a recent change ingovernment.". The project would require more than 300 new dams,canals, pipelines, tunnels, and pumping stations. Stories of similar projects often share the same ending, from proposals in Iowa and Minnesota to those between Canada and the United States. When that happens, it wont be just tourists and recreational boaters who will suffer. Still, its physically possible. About 33% of vegetables and 66% of fruits and nuts are produced in California for consumption for the nation. Nevertheless, Million hasnt given up, and hes currently working to secure permitting for the fourth iteration of the project. 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. 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. Drought looms over midterm elections in the arid West, From lab to market, bio-based products are gaining momentum, The hazards of gas stoves were flagged by the industry and hidden 50 years ago, How Alaskas coastal communities are racing against erosion, Construction begins on controversial lithium mine in Nevada. My water, your water. after the growth in California . The project would require more than 300 new dams,canals, pipelines, tunnels, and pumping stations, bans large waterexportsoutside of the area. 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. 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. But interest spans deeper than that. Even smaller projects stand to be derailed by similar hiccups. Tribes in the Colorado River Basin are fighting for their water. Trans-national pipelines would also impact ecological resources. Each year . 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.. 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. 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. A Kansas groundwater management agency, for instance, received a permit last year to truck 6,000 gallons of Missouri River water into Kansas and Colorado in hopes of recharging an aquifer. The diverted flow would require massive water tunnels, since a flow of 250,000. Asked about a Mississippi River pipeline or other new infrastructure to rescue the Colorado River, federal and state officials declined to respondor said there was no realistic chance such a major infrastructure project is in the offing. Diverting that water also means spreading problems, like pollutants, excessive nutrients and invasive species. 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. Gavin Newsom also touted desalination in adrought resilience plan he announcedlast week, though in brackish inland areas. Last time I heard, we are still the United States of America.". Other forms of augmentation, like desalination, are also gaining popularity on the national scene as possible options. 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. Heres how that affects Indigenous water rights, Salton Sea public health disaster gets a $250 million shot in the arm. Makes me wonder how this got this far, whose interests are being served and who's benefiting. Their detractors counter that, in an era of permanent aridification driven by climate change, the only sustainable solution is not to bring in more water, but to consume less of it. Design and build by Upstatement. Seeking answers,The Desert Sun consultedwater experts, conservation groups and government officials for their assessments. Even if the government could clear these hurdles, the odds that Midwestern states would just let their water go are slim. 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. Still, its physically possible. The snowbirds commonly stay here for at least six months. Why are they so hard to catch? An additional analysis emerged a decade later when Roger Viadero, an environmental scientist and engineer at Western Illinois University, and his graduate students assessed proposals suggested in last summers viral editorials. 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. There are at least half a dozen major water pipeline projects under consideration throughout the region, ranging from ambitious to outlandish. The mountains are green now but that could be harmful during wildfire season. Experts say theres a proverbial snowballs chance in August of most of theseschemes being implemented. At comment sessions on Colorado's plan, he said, long-distance pipelines wereconstantly suggested by the public. Still, he admits the road hasnt always been easy, and that victory is far from guaranteed. Famiglietti also said while oil companies are willing to spend millions because their product yields high profits per gallon, that's not the case with water, typically considered a public resource. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa Waves of torrential rainfall drenched California into the new year. Politics are an even bigger obstacle for making multi-state pipelines a reality. after the growth in California . Million himself, though, is confident that his pipeline will get built, and that it will ensure Fort Collins future. Here are some facts to put perspective to several of the. As an engineer, I can guarantee you that it is doable, Viadero said. Donate today tohelp keep Grists site and newsletters free. 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. Opinion: How has American healthcare gone so wrong? Many sawSiefkes' idea and others like it as sheer theft by a region that needs to fix its own woes. California uses 34 million acre-feet of water per year for agriculture. and Renstrom says that unless Utah builds a long-promised pipeline to pump water 140 miles from Lake . Facebook, Follow us on Don't bother sending notices on conservation; they willbe ignored. The other alternatives have political costs, and they have costs that are maybe more likely to be borne locally, including by farmers and other large water users, she said. Yet some smaller-scale projects have become reality. The Mississippi used to flow through a delta full of bayous, shifting sad bars, And islets. We can move water, and weve proven our desire to do it. If a portion of the farmers in the region were to change crops or fallow their fields, the freed-up water could sustain growing cities. As the largest single contractor of the SWP and a major supporter of Southern California water conservation and recycling programs, Metropolitan seeks feasible alternatives to convey Colorado River Aqueduct supplies or Diamond Valley Lake storage from the eastern portion of its service area or purified water from Pure Water Southern California . He said the most pragmatic approach would only pump Midwest water to the metro Denver area, to substitute forimports to the Front Range on the east side of the Rockies, avoiding "staggering" costs to pump water over the Continental Divide. The sharing of water would greatly contribute to California being able to feed the nation. Arizonas main active management areas are in Maricopa, Pinal, Pima, and Santa Cruz counties, leaving much of rural Arizona water use unregulated. 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. 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. All three officials said the construction of a45-mile Delta Water Project tunnel to keep supply flowing from the middle of the state to thirsty cities in the south isvital. He said hes open to one but doesnt think its necessary. . Here's How. Pipe water from the plentiful Great Lakes to deserted towns in the West like Phoenix and Las Vegas. A multi-state pipeline could easily require decades before it delivers a drop of water," said Michael Cohen, senior researcher with the Pacific Institute. Mulroy was the keynote speaker at the convention, held at Mandalay Bay, in Las Vegas, which is one of several that comprises the Chamber of Commerce's . Heproposed usingnuclear explosionsto excavate the system's trenches and underground water storage reservoirs. The Colorado River's 1922 compact allocated about 23% of the Upper Basin's water to Utah, and the state uses about 72% of that water. Buying land to secure water rights would also cost a chunk of cash, which leads to an even larger obstacle for such proposals: the legal and political hoops. Paffrath proposed building a pipeline from the Mississippi River to bring water to drought-stricken California. The elephant in the room, according to Fort, is agriculture, which accounts for more than 80 percent of water withdrawals from the Colorado River. But Westford and her colleague Brad Coffey, water resources manager,said desalination is needed in the Golden 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. Above, the droughts effects can be seen at a marina on June 29. 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 . The idea of diverting water from the Mississippi to the Colorado River basin is an excellent one, albeit also fantastically expensive. Drop us a note at tips@coloradosun.com. By Brittney J. Miller, The Cedar Rapids Gazette. 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. Releasing more water downstream would come at the expense of upstream users . 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. Absolutely. "We do not expect to see (carbon capture and storage) happen at a large scale unless we are able to address that pipeline issue," said Rajinder Sahota, deputy executive officer for climate change . Is this a goo. Infrastructure is one of the few ways well turn things around to assure that theres some supply.. We can move water, and weve proven our desire to do it. No one wants to leave the western states without water, said Melissa Scanlan, a freshwater sciences professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. USGS 05587500 Mississippi River at Alton, IL. 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. What goes into the cat-and-mouse game of forecasting Colorados avalanche risks? All rights reserved. Trans-national pipelines would also impact ecological resources. The Unaffiliated is our twice-weekly newsletter on Colorado politics and policy. 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. The state is expected to lose 10% of its water over the next two decades, reports the . Just this past summer, the idea caused a firestorm of letters to the editor at a California newspaper. While the much-needed water has improved conditions in the parched West, experts warn against claiming victory. 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. 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. The idea of drinking even heavily treated liquid wastemay seem unpalatable, but Westfordthinks people will adapt. But interest spans deeper than that. Dothey pay extra for using our water? Do we have the political will? She said extensive public education, aided by federal mandates and financial incentives, eventually led toa wholesale transition that saves millions of gallons of water. A Canadian entrepreneur's plan published in 1991 diverted water from eastern British Columbia to the Columbia River, then envisioned a 300-mile pipeline from the river through Oregon to a reservoir near Alturas, California. 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. Your support keeps our unbiased, nonprofit news free. The Western U.S. is experiencing its driest period in more than a thousand years, according to scientists from UCLA and Columbia University.

Joel Myers Blenko Bookends, Dismissed From Chamberlain College Of Nursing, Maison A Vendre En Haiti Thomassin, Articles W