And several approved diversions draw water from the Great Lakes. [1] All rights reserved. The diverted flow would require massive water tunnels, since a flow of 250,000. 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. The water pipelines from the Mississippi River in Davenport, Iowa connecting to the headwaters of the Colorado River at the Rocky Mountain National Park. Instagram, Follow us on Instagram, Follow us on 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. People need to focus on their realistic solutions.. Water use has gone down 40% per capita in recent years, said Coffey. 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. Instead, California is focused on better managing the water we have, improving forecasting, and making our groundwater basins more sustainable.. Almost two decades ago, when Million was working on a masters thesis, he happened upon a map that showed the Green River making a brief detour into Colorado on its way through Utah. 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. Design and build by Upstatement. It might be in the trillions, but it probably does exist.. A multi-state pipeline could easily require decades before it delivers a drop of water," said Michael Cohen, senior researcher with the Pacific Institute. 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. Haul icebergs from the Arctic to a new southern California port. and Renstrom says that unless Utah builds a long-promised pipeline to pump water 140 miles from Lake . 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. 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. The ongoing drought in California has hit its fourth year. Do they thank us for using our water? "Arizona really, really wants oceanfront," she chuckled. 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. A pipeline taking water from the Missouri River west makes perfect sense, if you don't care about money, energy, or the environment. All rights reserved. The water would be drained via a 36 inch pipe already installed four miles west of Sugarloaf Mountain outside Marquette. Theyre all such hypocrites. Donate today to keep our climate news free. Studies and modern-day engineering have proven that such projects are possible but require decades of construction and billions of dollars. Many sawSiefkes' idea and others like it as sheer theft by a region that needs to fix its own woes. It is time to think outside the box of rain. 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. But, he said, the days of mega-pipelines in the U.S. are likely over due to lack of environmental and political will. An acre-foot is enough water to serve about two households for a year, so it could supply water to 150 million customers. So come on out for the plastic Marilyn on our dashboard, and stay for the stupendous waste of water, electricity and clean air. 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. In the meantime, researchers encourage more feasible and sustainable options, including better water conservation, water recycling, and less agricultural reliance. 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. 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. 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. pipeline, line of pipe equipped with pumps and valves and other control devices for moving liquids, gases, and slurries (fine particles suspended in liquid). 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. But interest spans deeper than that. And there are several approved diversions that draw water from the Great Lakes. Most notably, the Mississippi River basin doesn't always have enough water to spare. "I'm an optimist," said Coffey, who said local conservation is key. 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. The idea of diverting water from the Mississippi to the Colorado River basin is an excellent one, albeit also fantastically expensive. 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. Donate today tohelp keep Grists site and newsletters free. In the meantime, researchers encourage more feasible and sustainable options, including better water conservation, water recycling, and less agricultural reliance. Yet some smaller-scale projects have become reality. . Officials imposed the state's first-ever water restrictions on cities and towns, and California farmers are drilling deeper and . Here's How. The Mississippi used to flow through a delta full of bayous, shifting sad bars, And islets. Email: newsroom@coloradosun.com The Arizona Legislature wants the federal government to study the feasibility of constructing a pipeline . 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. In 1982,efforts were made to revive the plan by a Parsons company engineer, and the Lyndon Larouche movement supported itas recently as 2010. 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. 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. 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. 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. The most obvious problem with this proposal is its mind-boggling cost. 00:00 00:00 An unknown error. 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. There are at least half a dozen major water pipeline projects under consideration throughout the region, ranging from ambitious to outlandish. But there are tons of things that can be done but arent ever done.. Politics are an even bigger obstacle to making multi-state pipelines a reality. Lower Mississippi River flow means less sediment carried down to Louisiana, where its used for coastal restoration. he said. Stories of similar projects often share the same ending, from proposals in Iowa and Minnesota to those between Canada and the United States. Ive cowboyed enough in my life to know that you just got to stick to the trail, he said. I have dystopian nightmares aboutpipelines marching across the landscape, saidglobal water scarcity expert Jay Famiglietti. You tellgolf courses how much water they can use, but one of thelargest wave basins in the world is acceptable? The only newsroom focused on exploring solutions at the intersection of climate and justice. 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. But, as water scarcity in the West gets more desperate, the hurdles could be overcome one day. My state, your state. Facebook, Follow us on We want to have more sustainable infrastructure. 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. Experts we spoke with agreed the feat would be astronomical. Famiglietti saidit's time for a national water policy, not to figure out where to lay down hundreds of pipesbut to look comprehensively at the intertwining of agriculture and the lion's share ofwater it uses. Widespread interest in the plan eventually fizzled. Drought conditions plagued the region throughout 2022, for instance, prompting concerns over river navigation. The idea's been dismissed for as long as it's. "I think that societally, we want to be more flexible. 10/4/2021. The Southern Delivery System in the nearby Arkansas River Basin pipes water from Pueblo County more than 60 miles north to Colorado Springs, Fountain and Security. 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. The Nevada Legislature is considering a bill that, if passed, would require restaurants to only provide water upon customer request. Proponents of these projects argue that they could stabilize western cities for decades to come, connecting populations with unclaimed water rights. More by The Associated Press, Got a story tip? USGS 05587500 Mississippi River at Alton, IL. One method for simulating streamflow and base flow, random forest (RF) models, was developed from the data at gaged sites and, in turn, was . Others said the costs of an Arizona-Mexico desalination plant would also likely prove infeasible. Each year . Page Contact Information: Missouri Water Data Support Team Page Last Modified: 2023-03-04 08:46:14 EST But there are tons of things that can be done but arent ever done.. 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.. Heproposed usingnuclear explosionsto excavate the system's trenches and underground water storage reservoirs. Runa giant hose from the Columbia River along the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to refill Diamond Valley Reservoir. Twitter, Follow us on The elephant in the room, according to Fort, is agriculture, which accounts for more than 80 percent of water withdrawals from the Colorado River. 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 flow. Arizona, which holds "junior"rights to Colorado River water, meaning it has already been forced to make cuts and might be legally required to make far larger reductions, wants to build a bi-national desalination plant at the Sea of Cortez, which separates Baja California from the Mexican mainland. We can move water, and weve proven our desire to do it. . Diverting that water also means spreading problems, like pollutants,. 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. Above, the droughts effects can be seen at a marina on June 29. Last updated on: February 10, 2023, 10:54h. People fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta's Elk Slough near Courtland, California, on Tuesday, March 24, 2020. and Renstrom says that unless Utah builds a long-promised pipeline to pump water 140 miles from Lake . "I started withtoilets, I was the toilet queen of L.A.," said Westford. 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. Plus, the federal report found the water would be of much lower quality than other western water sources. 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. (Unrecognizable. Lake Mead, a lifeline for water in Los Angeles and the West, tips toward crisis, July 11). 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. Tina Peters convicted of government obstruction charge, acquitted of obstructing a police officer, (720) 263-2338 Call, text, Signal or WhatsApp, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. Since about 1983, Lake Mead has dropped in volume from full capacity at. To be talking about pipe dreams, when thats not even feasible for decades, if at all Its a disservice, Scanlan said. 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. Wildfire, flooding concerns after massive snowfall in Arizona, Customers will have to ask for water at Nevada restaurants if bill passes, Snow causes semi truck to crash into Arizona DPS Trooper SUV near Williams, A showdown over Colorado River water is setting the stage for a high-stakes legal battle, In Arizona and other western states, pressure to count water lost to evaporation, While the much-needed water has improved conditions in the parched West, Arizona state legislature passed a measure in 2021, RELATED: Phoenix city officials celebrate final pipe installation in the Drought Pipeline Project, the most comprehensive analysis ever undertaken within the Colorado River Basin. The water, more than 44 million gallons a day, would come from 115 wells drilled between 1,000 and 5,000 feet deep in Beryl-Enterprise, a basin where the state has restricted use of shallow groundwater due to over-extraction. Filling Lake Mead with Mississippi River Water No Longer a Pipe Dream. Mississippi River drought will impact your grocery bill. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Moreover, we need water in our dams for hydroelectric power as well as for drinking and irrigation, so we would power the Hoover, Glen Canyon and Parker dams. 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. 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. That project, which also faces heavy headwinds from environmentalists, wouldcost an estimated $12 billion. But interest spans deeper than that. The driver of the truck was not injured. As part of our commitment to sustainability, in 2021 Grist moved its office headquarters to the Bullitt Center in Seattles vibrant Capitol Hill neighborhood. 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. Still, its physically possible. About 60 percent of the region remains in some form of drought, continuing a decades-long spiral into water scarcity. Drought conditions plagued the region throughout 2022, prompting concerns over river navigation. What goes into the cat-and-mouse game of forecasting Colorados avalanche risks? John Kaufman, the man who proposed the Missouri River pipeline, wants to see the artificial boundaries expand. 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. 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. There are no easy fixes to a West that has grown and has allocated all of its water theres no silver bullet, she said. As an engineer, I can guarantee you that it is doable, Viadero said. The project would require more than 300 new dams,canals, pipelines, tunnels, and pumping stations. The Arizona state legislature allocated seed money toward a study of a thousand-mile pipeline that would do exactly this last year, and the states top water official says hes spoken to officials in Kansas about participating in the project. The Old River Control Structure, as it was dubbed, is also the linchpin of massive but delicate locks and pulsed flows that feed the largest bottomland hardwood forests and wetlands in the United States, outstripping thebetter-known Okefenokee Swamp that straddles Georgia and Florida. 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. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Unrecognizable. Lake Mead, a lifeline for water in Los Angeles and the West, tips toward crisis. While the much-needed water has improved conditions in the parched West, experts warn against claiming victory. The only newsroom focused on exploring solutions at the intersection of climate and justice. About 33% of vegetables and 66% of fruits and nuts are produced in California for consumption for the nation. "To my mind, the overriding fatal flaw for large import schemes is the time required to become operational. Would itbe expensive? Answer (1 of 21): Interbasin transfer is something we try to avoid. Newsom said the state must capture 100 million metric tons of carbon each year by 2045 about a quarter of what the state now emits annually. I find it interesting that households have to watch how much water theyare usingfor washing clothes, wateringlawns, washing cars,etc. 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. 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.. If you dont have enough of it, go find more. 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. About 60% of the region remains in some form of drought, continuing a decades-long spiral into water scarcity. The sharing of water would greatly contribute to California being able to feed the nation. Local hurdles include endangered species protections, wetlands protections, drinking water supply considerations and interstate shipping protections. An earlier version of this story misidentified for which agency Jennifer Pitt was a technical adviser. States have [historically] been very successful in getting the federal government to pay for wasteful, unsustainable, large water projects, said Denise Fort, a professor emerita at the University of New Mexico who has studied water infrastructure. 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. . They also concluded environmental and permitting reviews would take decades. One proposed solution to the Colorado River Basin's water scarcity crisis has come up again and again: large-scale river diversions, including pumping Mississippi River water to the parched West .
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