YouTube star and Democratic political novice Kevin Paffrath proposed the Mississippi River pipeline last week during a debate among candidates seeking to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom if he's. So moving water that far away to supplement the ColoradoRiver, I don't think is viable. But there are tons of things that can be done but arent ever done.. 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. . 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. 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 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. Scientists estimate a football field's worth of Louisiana coast is lost every 60 to 90 minutes. 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. 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. 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. 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, he said, the days of mega-pipelines in the U.S. are likely over due to lack of environmental and political will. All rights reserved. Experts say those will require sacrifices but not as many as building a giant pipeline would require. Twitter, Follow us on Available data for this site Madison County, Illinois. 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. It dawned on Million that Colorado had unclaimed rights to water from the Green, since the river was part of the Colorado River system, and he devised a plan to build a pipeline that would pump water around the Rockies to the city of Fort Collins, where he lives. 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. 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. Stop letting excess water flow out to sea. Officials imposed the state's first-ever water restrictions on cities and towns, and California farmers are drilling deeper and . China, unlike the US, is unencumbered by NEPA, water rights and democratic processes in general. What did Disney actually lose from its Florida battle with DeSantis? 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. 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. But grand ideas for guaranteeing water for the arid Westhave beenfloated for decades. "Yes, a Superior-Green River pipeline seems unrealistic, even impossible at first glance," Huttner wrote for Minnesota Public Radio. Stories of similar projects often share the same ending, from proposals in Iowa and Minnesota to those between Canada and the United States. Just pump water a few miles from the Mississippi near Des Moines into the Ogallala aquifer. Absolutely. Engineers said the pipelineidea is technically feasible. "I think that societally, we want to be more flexible. Under the analyzed scenario, water would be conveyed to Colorados Front Range and areas of New Mexico to help fulfill water needs. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) Waves of torrential rainfall drenched California into the new year. 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. Why not begin a grand national infrastructure project of building a water pipeline from those flooded states to the Southwest? 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. ", But desert defenders pushed back. 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'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. We want to have more sustainable infrastructure. Drought conditions plagued the region throughout 2022, prompting concerns over river navigation. Studies and modern-day engineering have proven that such projects are possible but require decades of construction and billions of dollars. 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. Infrastructure is one of the few ways well turn things around to assure that theres some supply.. My water, your water. It was the Bureau of Reclamation. He said hes open to one but doesnt think its necessary. 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. "We're going to start to see these reservoirs, which nine of them are already filled from the rain water, so then you add on snow melt and we may have some problems with that as far as flooding . Heproposed usingnuclear explosionsto excavate the system's trenches and underground water storage reservoirs. 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. About 60% of the region remains in some form of drought, continuing a decades-long spiral into water scarcity. 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.. 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. While the much-needed water has improved conditions in the parched West, experts warn against claiming victory. 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. Yet some smaller-scale projects have become reality. The massive river, with tributaries from Montanato Ohio, is a national artery for shipping goodsout to sea. Donate today to keep our climate news free. Diverting that water also means spreading problems, like pollutants,. 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. 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. 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. Arizonas main active management areas are in Maricopa, Pinal, Pima, and Santa Cruz counties, leaving much of rural Arizona water use unregulated. It might be in the trillions, but it probably does exist.. Has no one noticed how much hotter the desert is getting, not to mention the increase in fires in our area. Runa giant hose from the Columbia River along the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to refill Diamond Valley Reservoir. The Associated Press Climate team contributed images and page design. The project would require more than 300 new dams,canals, pipelines, tunnels, and pumping stations, bans large waterexportsoutside of the area. This aerial photo of Davenport, Iowa, shows Mississippi River floodwaters in May 2019. 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. 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. Under the analyzed scenario, water would be conveyed to Colorados Front Range and areas of New Mexico to help fulfill water needs. 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. 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. We have already introduced invasive species all over the continentzebra mussels, quagga mussels, grass carp, spiny water flea, lampreys, ru. It would turn the Southwest into an oasis, and the Great Basin into productive farmland. Certainly not the surrounding communities. Diverting that water also means spreading problems, like pollutants, excessive nutrients and invasive species. Any water diversion from the Mississippi to Arizona must be pumped about 6,000 feet up, over the Rockies. 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. 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. Power from its hydroelectric dams would boost U.S. electricity supplies. 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. Meanwhile, watershed states in the U.S., and even counties havetaken actionto preventsuch schemes. Mississippi River drought will impact your grocery bill. Is this a goo. Water use has gone down 40% per capita in recent years, said Coffey. Arizona state legislators asked Congress to consider a pipeline that dumps Mississippi water into the Green River, but there are alternate possibilities. Mississippi River drought will impact your grocery bill. To the editor: I'd like to ask if the reader from Chatsworth calling for the construction of a water pipeline from the Mississippi River to Colorado River reservoirs has ever been to . "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. If we had a big pipeline from Lake Sakakawea, we wouldn't just dump it into Lake Powell. Just this past summer, the idea caused a firestorm of letters to the editor at a California newspaper. About 33% of vegetables and 66% of fruits and nuts are produced in California for consumption for the nation. 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. . But interest spans deeper than that. The elephant in the room, according to Fort, is agriculture, which accounts for more than 80 percent of water withdrawals from the Colorado River. I have dystopian nightmares aboutpipelines marching across the landscape, saidglobal water scarcity expert Jay Famiglietti. Not mentioned was the great grand-daddy of all schemes for re-allocating water, known as the North American Water and Power Authority Plan. Email: [email protected] Million himself, though, is confident that his pipeline will get built, and that it will ensure Fort Collins future. These canals and pipelines are . To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow ads on Grist. Among its provisions, the law granted the states water infrastructure finance authority to investigate the feasibility of potential out-of-state water import agreements. Others said the costs of an Arizona-Mexico desalination plant would also likely prove infeasible. Anyone who thinks we can drain the aquifer and survive is grossly misinformed. 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. One method for simulating streamflow and base flow, random forest (RF) models, was developed from the data at gaged sites and, in turn, was . The project would require more than 300 new dams,canals, pipelines, tunnels, and pumping stations. Grist is powered by WordPress VIP. Moreover, we need water in our dams for. A recent edition of The Desert Sun had twoletters objectingto piping water from the Mississippi River to the Colorado River, and on to California. The diverted flow would require massive water tunnels, since a flow of 250,000. Flooding along the Mississippi River basin appears to have become more frequent in recent years, as has the [] Who is going to come to the desert and use it? . Drought conditions plagued the region throughout 2022, prompting concerns over river navigation. The bigger obstacles are fiscal, legal, environmentaland most of all, political. Grab hydrogen and oxygen from the air and make artificialrain. And biologists andenvironmental attorneys saidNew Orleans and the Louisiana coast, along with the interior swamplands, need every drop of muddy Mississippi water. Even if the sticker price werent so prohibitive, there are other obstacles. Yes. 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.. Here in the scorching Coachella Valley, local governments have approved construction of four surf resorts for the very wealthy. The idea of diverting water from the Mississippi to the Colorado River basin is an excellent one, albeit also fantastically expensive. 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. Yet some smaller-scale projects have become reality. Most notably, the Mississippi River basin doesnt always have enough water to spare. 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. "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. 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. Million told Grist that hes secured partial funding for the project from multiple banks and the infrastructure company MasTec, but it remains unclear how much he would have to charge to make the project profitable. In any case, Utah rejected a permit for the project in 2020, saying it would jeopardize the states own water rights. Twitter, Follow us on In 1982,efforts were made to revive the plan by a Parsons company engineer, and the Lyndon Larouche movement supported itas recently as 2010. YouTube. 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. It's the lowest level since the lake was filled in the. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa Waves of torrential rainfall drenched California into the new year. In the 20 years since he first had the idea, Million has suffered a string of regulatory and legal defeats at the hands of state and federal agencies, becoming a kind of bogeyman for conservationists in the process. When finished, the $62 billion project will link Chinas four main rivers and requiresconstruction of three lengthy diversion routes, one using as its basethe1,100-mile longHangzhou-to-Beijing canal, which dates from the 7th century AD. Widespread interest in the plan eventually fizzled. "My son will never know what a six-gallon toilet looks like," she said. Those will require sacrifices, no doubt but not as many as building a giant pipeline would require, experts said. 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. Opinion: How has American healthcare gone so wrong? The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, prodded by members of Congressfrom western states, studied the massive proposal. An earlier version of this story misidentified for which agency Jennifer Pitt was a technical adviser. No. 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. This is the country that built the Hoover Dam, and where Los Angeles suburbs were created by taking water from Owens Lake. Widespread interest in the plan eventually fizzled. Here's How. 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.. 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. The Nevada Legislature is considering a bill that, if passed, would require restaurants to only provide water upon customer request. People need to focus on their realistic solutions.. Design and build by Upstatement. John Kaufman, the man who proposed the Missouri River pipeline, wants to see the artificial boundaries expand. An in-depth feasibility study specifically on pumping Mississippi River water to the West hasnt been conducted yet to Larsons knowledge. What states in the Southwest have failed to do is curtail growth and agriculture that is, of course, water-driven. No one wants to leave the western states without water, said Melissa Scanlan, a freshwater sciences professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Would itbe expensive? "The desalinationplant Arizona has scoped out would be by far the largest ever in North America,"said Jennifer Pitt, National Audubon Society's Colorado River program director. 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. Theyre all such hypocrites. Why are they so hard to catch? But Denver officials have expressed skepticism,because Missouri or Mississippi water isof inferior quality to pure mountain water. 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 water will drain into the headwaters of the Colorado river. Lake Mead is at its lowest level since it was filled 85 years ago. When that happens, it wont be just tourists and recreational boaters who will suffer. 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. Subscribe today to see what all the buzz is about. Even smaller projects stand to be derailed by similar hiccups. 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. Follow us on 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. 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. People fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta's Elk Slough near Courtland, California, on Tuesday, March 24, 2020. (Unrecognizable. Lake Mead, a lifeline for water in Los Angeles and the West, tips toward crisis, July 11). 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. 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. 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. Imagine a Five foot diameter, half burried pipeline covered with photovoltaic cells on the upper half. Most notably, the Mississippi River basin doesnt always have enough water to spare. 00:00 00:00 An unknown error. 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 lawsuit, originally filed in southern Texas' federal courts Jan. 18, was amended to include Idaho on Monday. The driver of the truck was not injured. We need to protect our water supply, at allcosts, and forgo our financialgains. Here are some facts to put perspective to several of the. Parsons said theplanwould replenishthe upper Missouri and Mississippi Rivers during dry spells, increase hydropower along the Columbia Riverand stabilize the Great Lakes. By Brittney J. Miller, The Cedar Rapids Gazette. The water pipelines from the Mississippi River in Davenport, Iowa connecting to the headwaters of the Colorado River at the Rocky Mountain National Park. The idea of a pipeline transecting the continent is not a new idea. Similar ideas have been suggested about Great Lakes water. Donate today tohelp keep Grists site and newsletters free. 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. The most obvious problem with this proposal is its mind-boggling cost. So come on out for the plastic Marilyn on our dashboard, and stay for the stupendous waste of water, electricity and clean air. Trans-national pipelines would also impact ecological resources. You tellgolf courses how much water they can use, but one of thelargest wave basins in the world is acceptable? Do they thank us for using our water? 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. The Mississippi used to flow through a delta full of bayous, shifting sad bars, And islets. "I don't think that drought, especially in the era of climate change, is something we can engineer our way out of.". [1] ", Westford of Southern California's Metropolitan Water District agreed. 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. Its largestdam would be 1,700 feet tall, more than twice the height of Hoover Dam. 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. So what are the solutions to the arid West's dilemma, as climate change heats up and California's State Water Project, along with Lake Mead and Lake Powell, shrivels due to reduced snowmelt and rainfall? The ongoing drought in California has hit its fourth year. The idea of a pipeline transecting the continent is not a new idea. There are no easy fixes to a West that has grown and has allocated all of its water theres no silver bullet, she said. A pipeline taking water from the Missouri River west makes perfect sense, if you don't care about money, energy, or the environment. Then take it out of the southern tip of the aquifer in Southern Colorado. 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. and Renstrom says that unless Utah builds a long-promised pipeline to pump water 140 miles from Lake . Physically, some could be achieved. Pitt, who was a technical adviser on Reclamation's2012 report,decried ceaselesspipeline proposals. Makes me wonder how this got this far, whose interests are being served and who's benefiting. 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. As an engineer, I can guarantee you that it is doable, Viadero said. The memorial also suggests that the pipeline could be used as stormwater infrastructure to prevent regular flooding along the . But, as water scarcity in the West gets more desperate, the hurdles could be overcome one day. 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.