Do they thank us for using our water? It might be in the trillions, but it probably does exist.. Snowpacks in the Sierra Nevada Mountains have swelled to more than 200 percent of their normal size, and snowfall across the rest of the Colorado River Basin is trending above average, too. Releasing more water downstream would come at the expense of upstream users . What did Disney actually lose from its Florida battle with DeSantis? Gavin Newsom if he's. This would take 254 days to fill.. 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. If we had a big pipeline from Lake Sakakawea, we wouldn't just dump it into Lake Powell. Absolutely not," said Meena Westford, executive director of Colorado River resource policy for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. "My son will never know what a six-gallon toilet looks like," she said. To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow ads on Grist. He said hes open to one but doesnt think its necessary. An earlier version of this story misidentified for which agency Jennifer Pitt was a technical adviser. A drive up Interstate 5 shows how muchland has been fallowed due tolack of water. Yes. 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. Water from these and other large rivers pour. Their technical report, which hasnt been peer-reviewed. 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. 2023 www.desertsun.com. Instagram, Follow us on Every day, we hear about water conservation, restrictions. You could do it.". 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. But interest spans deeper than that. The 2012 study didn't discount either option but. 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. The only newsroom focused on exploring solutions at the intersection of climate and justice. People need to focus on their realistic solutions.. 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 to pump even more water out of the already-depleted Lake Powell. Your support keeps our unbiased, nonprofit news free. and Renstrom says that unless Utah builds a long-promised pipeline to pump water 140 miles from Lake . Gavin Newsom reaffirming his support for the ambitious proposal. Weve had a few blizzards along the way, and some gun battles, but it is what it is.. All rights reserved. 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. 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. The project would require more than 300 new dams,canals, pipelines, tunnels, and pumping stations, bans large waterexportsoutside of the area. Rescue the oceans from the pollution that flood waters pick up and dump into the ocean, creating dead zones. 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.. Page Contact Information: Missouri Water Data Support Team Page Last Modified: 2023-03-04 08:46:14 EST . From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka): Hausler's idea is to bring water from the Mississippi just below its confluence with the Ohio River across Missouri and Kansas into Colorado. And several approved diversions draw water from the Great Lakes. 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. She can be reached at jwilson@gannett.com or @janetwilson66 on Twitter. 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. Do we have the political will? "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. All rights reserved. About 33% of vegetables and 66% of fruits and nuts are produced in California for consumption for the nation. 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. In any case, Utah rejected a permit for the project in 2020, saying it would jeopardize the states own water rights. 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. 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. So come on out for the plastic Marilyn on our dashboard, and stay for the stupendous waste of water, electricity and clean air. 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. "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. [1] Water thieves abound in dry California. Other forms of augmentation, like desalination, are also gaining popularity on the national scene as possible options. Pipe water from the plentiful Great Lakes to deserted towns in the West like Phoenix and Las Vegas. 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.. 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. 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. It's the lowest level since the lake was filled in the. 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. All rights reserved. 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. 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. Steps are being taken to address water issues in Buckeye. 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. It boggles the mind. Others said the costs of an Arizona-Mexico desalination plant would also likely prove infeasible. At comment sessions on Colorado's plan, he said, long-distance pipelines wereconstantly suggested by the public. 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. As an engineer, I can guarantee you that it is doable, Viadero said. My state, your state. Gavin Newsom also touted desalination in adrought resilience plan he announcedlast week, though in brackish inland areas. 00:00 00:00 An unknown error. "Should we move the water to where the food is grown, or is it maybe time to think about moving the food production to the water?" Yahoo, Reddit and ceaseless headlines about a 22-year megadrought and killer flash floods, not to mention dead bodies showing up on Lake Meads newly exposed shoreline, have galvanized reader interest this summer. 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. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. Most notably, the Mississippi River basin doesnt always have enough water to spare. Drought conditions plagued the region throughout 2022, prompting concerns over river navigation. As zany as the ideas may sound, could anywork, and if so, what would be the costs? "Yes, a Superior-Green River pipeline seems unrealistic, even impossible at first glance," Huttner wrote for Minnesota Public Radio. Don't bother sending notices on conservation; they willbe ignored. Snowpacks in the Sierra Nevada Mountains have swelled to more than 200% their normal size, and snowfall across the rest of the Colorado River Basin is trending above average, too. I can't even imagine what it would all cost. 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. At one point, activists who opposed the project erected three large billboards warning about the high cost and potential consequences, such as the possibility that drawing down the Green River could harm the rivers fish populations. Since about 1983, Lake Mead has dropped in volume from full capacity at. But moving water from one drought-impacted area to another is not a solution.. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa Waves of torrential rainfall drenched California into the new year. "I think that societally, we want to be more flexible. The basic idea is to take water from the Mississippi River, pump it a thousand miles west, and dump it into the overtaxed Colorado River, which provides water for millions of Arizona residents but has reached historically low levels as its reservoirs dry up. As apractical matter, Famiglietti, a Universityof Saskatchewan hydrology professor who tracks water basins worldwide via NASA satellite data, saidMississippi River states also experiencedry spells, and the watershed, the fourth largest in the world, also ebbs and flows. The total projected cost of the plan in 1975 was $100 billion or nearly $570billion in today's dollars,comparable to theInterstate Highway System. The diverted flow would require massive water tunnels, since a flow of 250,000. Facebook, Follow us on 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. 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. 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. Local hurdles include endangered species protections, wetlands protections, drinking water supply considerations and interstate shipping protections. 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. Engineers said the pipelineidea is technically feasible. Experts say those will require sacrifices but not as many as building a giant pipeline would require. Safety concerns increased in 2020 after a pipeline in Mississippi ruptured in a landslide, releasing a heavier-than-air plume of carbon dioxide that displaced oxygen near the ground. 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 project would require more than 300 new dams,canals, pipelines, tunnels, and pumping stations. Experts say theres a proverbial snowballs chance in August of most of theseschemes being implemented. An in-depth feasibility study specifically on pumping Mississippi River water to the West hasnt been conducted yet to Larsons knowledge. The Western U.S. is experiencing its driest period in more than a thousand years, according to scientists from UCLA and Columbia University. Even at its cheapest, the project would cost about twice as much per acre-foot of water delivered than other solutions like water conservation and reuse. Even if the government could clear these hurdles, the odds that Midwestern states would just let their water go are slim. Twitter, Follow us on Haul icebergs from the Arctic to a new southern California port. Arizona is among six states, that released a letter and a proposed model for how much Colorado River water they could potentially cut to stave off a collapse. But moving water from one drought-impacted area to another is not a solution.. While the much-needed water has improved conditions in the parched West, experts warn against claiming victory. Still, its physically possible. 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. Similar ideas have been suggested about Great Lakes water. What if our droughts get worse? They includegawky pink roseate spoonbills, tiny bright yellow warblers, known as swamp candles because of their bright glow in the humid, green woods, and more. 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 largestdam would be 1,700 feet tall, more than twice the height of Hoover Dam. The actual costs to build such a pipeline today would likely be orders of magnitude higher, thanks to inflation and inevitable construction snags. The water will drain into the headwaters of the Colorado river. China, unlike the US, is unencumbered by NEPA, water rights and democratic processes in general. The federal Bureau of Reclamation has already looked at piping 600,000 acre-feet of water a year from either the Missouri or the Mississippi. But pipelines and other big ideaswill always attract interest, hydrology experts said, because they falsely promise an innovative, easy way out. 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. As an engineer, I can guarantee you that it is doable, Viadero said. Just this past summer, the idea caused a firestorm of letters to the editor at a California newspaper. WATER WILL SOON be flowing from Lake Superior to the parched American Southwest. I find it interesting that households have to watch how much water theyare usingfor washing clothes, wateringlawns, washing cars,etc. The massive river, with tributaries from Montanato Ohio, is a national artery for shipping goodsout to sea. He said hes open to one but doesnt think its necessary. Power from its hydroelectric dams would boost U.S. electricity supplies. YouTube. But the loss of so much water from the. 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. It was the Bureau of Reclamation. Instead, California is focused on better managing the water we have, improving forecasting, and making our groundwater basins more sustainable.. More by The Associated Press, Got a story tip? 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. Answer (1 of 21): Interbasin transfer is something we try to avoid. Flooding along the Mississippi River basin appears to have become more frequent in recent years, as has the [] Last time I heard, we are still the United States of America.". 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. Trans-national pipelines would also impact ecological resources. 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. "Mexico has said it didn't although there has been a recent change ingovernment.". Here are some facts to put perspective to several of the. 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. Arizonas main active management areas are in Maricopa, Pinal, Pima, and Santa Cruz counties, leaving much of rural Arizona water use unregulated. By the way, none of this includes the incredible carbon footprints about to be stomped on the environment. Reader support helps sustain our work. continue to approve surf waveparks and "beachfront" developments in the desert, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. YouTube star and Democratic political novice Kevin Paffrath proposed the Mississippi River pipeline last week during a debate among candidates seeking to replace Gov. Each year worsens our receipt of rain and snow. 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. For one, theres no longer enough unclaimed water to make most pipeline projects cost-effective. 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. Studies and modern-day engineering have proven that such projects are possible but would require decades of construction and billions of dollars. Makes me wonder how this got this far, whose interests are being served and who's benefiting. But we need to know a lot more about it than we currently do.. But interest spans deeper than that. 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. He frames the pipeline as a complement to water-saving policies. Lake Mead is at its lowest level since it was filled 85 years ago. Much of the sediment it was carrying was dropped in the slow moving water of the Delta. We have to conserve water, butnota ridiculous wave parkthat willprobably go bankrupt? 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. 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.. Then take it out of the southern tip of the aquifer in Southern Colorado. 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. My water, your water. But, he said, the days of mega-pipelines in the U.S. are likely over due to lack of environmental and political will. Arizona and Nevada residents must curb their use of water from the Colorado River, and California could be next. For decades, key stewards of the river have ignored the massive water loss, instead allocating Arizona, California, Nevada and Mexico their share of the river without subtracting whats evaporated. 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. So moving water that far away to supplement the ColoradoRiver, I don't think is viable. 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. 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. 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. Historian Ted Steinberg said itsummed up "the sheer arrogance and imperial ambitions of the modern hydraulic West.". 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. Proponents of these projects argue that they could stabilize western cities for decades to come, connecting populations with unclaimed water rights. No. Siphon off a big portion, and youd be swapping oneecological catastrophe for another, said Audubons Johnson. The state should do everything possible to push conservation, but thats not going to cure the issue, he told Grist. The trooper inside suffered minor injuries. 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. Drainage area 171,500 square miles . Letter writers have asked why a water pipeline is not constructed from the Mississippi River to the Colorado River. 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. 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. In fact, she and others noted, many such ideas have been studied since the 1940s. 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. California Gov. On the heels of Arizonas 2021 push for a pipeline feasibility study, former Arizona Gov. Million himself, though, is confident that his pipeline will get built, and that it will ensure Fort Collins future. 2023 www.desertsun.com. Last updated on: February 10, 2023, 10:54h. after the growth in California . Drought conditions plagued the region throughout 2022, for instance, prompting concerns over river navigation. The Colorado River is drying up. 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. We need to protect our water supply, at allcosts, and forgo our financialgains. Heres how that affects Indigenous water rights, Salton Sea public health disaster gets a $250 million shot in the arm. Yet some smaller-scale projects have become reality. Among its provisions, the law granted the states water infrastructure finance authority to investigate the feasibility of potential out-of-state water import agreements. 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. PROVISIONAL DATA SUBJECT TO REVISION. Ive cowboyed enough in my life to know that you just got to stick to the trail, he said. Seeking answers,The Desert Sun consultedwater experts, conservation groups and government officials for their assessments. 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. As part of our commitment to sustainability, in 2021 Grist moved its office headquarters to the Bullitt Center in Seattles vibrant Capitol Hill neighborhood. People need to focus on their realistic solutions.. Parsons said theplanwould replenishthe upper Missouri and Mississippi Rivers during dry spells, increase hydropower along the Columbia Riverand stabilize the Great Lakes. Pipelines usually consist of sections of pipe made of . 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. 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. 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. States wish they wouldnt. 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. 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. 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. 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. Savor that while your lawns are dying. A water pipeline like Millions would help, if he could wave a magic wand and build it, but Fort believes the present scramble over the Colorado River will likely make such projects impossible to realize. (Unrecognizable. Lake Mead, a lifeline for water in Los Angeles and the West, tips toward crisis, July 11). While the much-needed water has improved conditions in the parched West, experts warn against claiming victory. But the idea hasnever completely died. 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. . Lower Mississippi River flow means less sediment carried down to Louisiana, where its used for coastal restoration. The driver of the truck was not injured.