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. Trans-national pipelines would also impact ecological resources. But moving water from one drought-impacted area to another is not a solution.. Water is the new oil: Piping Lake Superior water West? 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. 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. Once again, Arizona hopes to import out-of-state water in face of crisis The Mississippi used to flow through a delta full of bayous, shifting sad bars, And islets. 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 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 should do everything possible to push conservation, but thats not going to cure the issue, he told Grist. Nonetheless, Siefkes trans-basin pipeline proposal went viral, receiving nearly half a million views. There are at least half a dozen major water pipeline projects under consideration throughout the region, ranging from ambitious to outlandish. Lake Superior Water Headed to the Southwest - Word on the Street 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. The delta was tricky for barge traffic and shipping to navigate. Their technical report, which hasnt been peer-reviewed. They also concluded environmental and permitting reviews would take decades. Water from these and other large rivers pour. The project entails the construction of thousands of miles of pipelines and canals, 427 water treatment facilities, countless pumping facilities, and the displacement of 300,000 residents. "This sounds outlandish, but we have a massive problem," Paffrath said. 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. While the much-needed water has improved conditions in the parched West, experts warn against claiming victory. Other legal constraints include the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Protection Act and variousstate environmental laws, said Brent Newman, senior policy director for the National Audubon Society's Delta state programs. More by The Associated Press, Got a story tip? 10/4/2021. Answer (1 of 21): Interbasin transfer is something we try to avoid. The massive river, with tributaries from Montanato Ohio, is a national artery for shipping goodsout to sea. Lower Mississippi River flow means less sediment carried down to Louisiana, where it's used for coastal restoration. In the meantime, researchers encourage more feasible and sustainable options, including better water conservation, water recycling, and less agricultural reliance. How can we bring water from Mississippi river to west, Arizona - Quora An earlier version of this story misidentified for which agency Jennifer Pitt was a technical adviser. Engineers said the pipelineidea is technically feasible. Great Lakes water piped to Southwest 'our future,' says NASA scientist Has no one noticed how much hotter the desert is getting, not to mention the increase in fires in our area. He said a major wastewater reuse project that MWD plans to implement by 2032 could ultimately yield up 150 million gallons of potable water a day from treated waste. Releasing more water downstream would come at the expense of upstream users . 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. 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. 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. 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. But the idea hasnever completely died. Instead, California is focused on better managing the water we have, improving forecasting, and making our groundwater basins more sustainable.. 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. This is the country that built the Hoover Dam, and where Los Angeles suburbs were created by taking water from Owens Lake. Title: USGS Surface-Water Daily Data for the Nation URL: https://nwis.waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/dv? "People are spoiled in the United States. Imagine a Five foot diameter, half burried pipeline covered with photovoltaic cells on the upper half. 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. Skelton: A pipeline to the Mississippi? Silly as the recall - Los 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. 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. Moving water from the Mississippi River to west would require massive 2023 www.desertsun.com. Page Contact Information: Missouri Water Data Support Team Page Last Modified: 2023-03-04 08:46:14 EST Twitter, Follow us on In fact, she and others noted, many such ideas have been studied since the 1940s. We can move water, and weve proven our desire to do it. Drought conditions plagued the region throughout 2022, for instance, prompting concerns over river navigation. . Martinez, an engineer who oversaw the construction of pipelines in the Sierra Nevada for Southern California Edison, agrees a 1,500-mile pipeline from the Mississippicould physically be built. 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. Pipeline from Mississippi - Coyote Gulch 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. Just pump water a few miles from the Mississippi near Des Moines into the Ogallala aquifer. 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. If we had a big pipeline from Lake Sakakawea, we wouldn't just dump it into Lake Powell. Experts we spoke with agreed the feat would be astronomical. The pipeline will end in the Rocky Mountain National park. YouTube. People fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta's Elk Slough near Courtland, California, on Tuesday, March 24, 2020. Why not begin a grand national infrastructure project of building a water pipeline from those flooded states to the Southwest? All rights reserved. Thats not to mention the housing development again, for the very wealthy with its own lagoon. 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. Not mentioned was the great grand-daddy of all schemes for re-allocating water, known as the North American Water and Power Authority Plan. The driver of the truck was not injured. 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. It would carry about 50,000 acre-feet of water per year, much less than the original pipeline plan but still twice Fort Collins current annual usage. Lower Mississippi River flow means less sediment carried down to Louisiana, where its used for coastal restoration. The lawsuit, originally filed in southern Texas' federal courts Jan. 18, was amended to include Idaho on Monday. Donate today to keep our climate news free. About 60% of the region remains in some form of drought, continuing a decades-long spiral into water scarcity. Among its provisions, the law granted the states water infrastructure finance authority to investigate the feasibility of potential out-of-state water import agreements. 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 . About 33% of vegetables and 66% of fruits and nuts are produced in California for consumption for the nation. What did Disney actually lose from its Florida battle with DeSantis? 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. Pipeline sizes vary from the 2-inch- (5-centimetre-) diameter lines used in oil-well gathering systems to lines 30 feet (9 metres) across in high-volume water and sewage networks. Mississippi River drought will impact your grocery bill. Water Piped to Denver Could Ease Stress on River - The New York Times Proponents of these projects argue that they could stabilize western cities for decades to come, connecting populations with unclaimed water rights. It boggles the mind. 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. 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. Yet some smaller-scale projects have become reality. Each year . (Unrecognizable. Lake Mead, a lifeline for water in Los Angeles and the West, tips toward crisis, July 11). and Renstrom says that unless Utah builds a long-promised pipeline to pump water 140 miles from Lake . "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 . Grab hydrogen and oxygen from the air and make artificialrain. of Engineers has turned back official requests for more water from the Missouri River to alleviate shortages on the Mississippi. YouTube, Follow us on 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. An in-depth feasibility study specifically on pumping Mississippi River water to the West hasnt been conducted yet to Larsons knowledge. Were not looking for the last dollar out of this project, he told me. Widespread interest in the plan eventually fizzled. Let's be really clear here. Arizona state legislators asked Congress to consider a pipeline that dumps Mississippi water into the Green River, but there are alternate possibilities. These realities havent stopped the Wests would-be water barons from dreaming. But Westford and her colleague Brad Coffey, water resources manager,said desalination is needed in the Golden State. Yet their persistence in the public sphere illustrates the growing desperation of Western states to dig themselves out of droughts. 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. 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. 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. Just this past summer, the idea caused a firestorm of letters to the editor at a California newspaper. Even if the government could clear these hurdles, the odds that Midwestern states would just let their water go are slim. Do they thank us for using our 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. California uses 34 million acre-feet of water per year for agriculture. Water use has gone down 40% per capita in recent years, said Coffey. after the growth in California . WATER WILL SOON be flowing from Lake Superior to the parched American Southwest. The idea's been dismissed for as long as it's. To the editor: While theres no question that the receding waters of Lake Mead are having a detrimental effect on recreation and tourism, the real looming catastrophe is that if the water level of the nations largest reservoir continues to fall and hits a certain level, the hydroeclectic power plant at Hoover Dam will have to shut down. Seeking answers,The Desert Sun consultedwater experts, conservation groups and government officials for their assessments. 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. Similar ideas have been suggested about Great Lakes water. 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. 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. Flooding along the Mississippi River basin appears to have become more frequent in recent years, as has the [] Simulation of monthly mean and monthly base flow of streamflow using By Brittney J. Miller, The Cedar Rapids Gazette. The Associated Press Climate team contributed images and page design. But interest spans deeper than that. Studies and modern-day engineering have proven that such projects are possible but would require decades of construction and billions of dollars. Million himself, though, is confident that his pipeline will get built, and that it will ensure Fort Collins future. Then take it out of the southern tip of the aquifer in Southern Colorado. Siphon off a big portion, and youd be swapping oneecological catastrophe for another, said Audubons Johnson. 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. It's the lowest level since the lake was filled in the. Could a water pipeline from the Mississippi River to Arizona be a real solution? 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. 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.. 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. Any water diversion from the Mississippi to Arizona must be pumped about 6,000 feet up, over the Rockies. By the way, none of this includes the incredible carbon footprints about to be stomped on the environment. 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. A multi-state pipeline could easily require decades before it delivers a drop of water," said Michael Cohen, senior researcher with the Pacific Institute. But the loss of so much water from the. The only newsroom focused on exploring solutions at the intersection of climate and justice. Among its provisions, the law granted the states water infrastructure finance authority to investigate the feasibility of potential out-of-state water import agreements. On the heels of Arizonas 2021 push for a pipeline feasibility study, former Arizona Gov. Some plans call for a connection to. 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.. But moving water from one drought-impacted area to another is not a solution.. 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. Is pumping Mississippi River water west a solution or pipe dream? 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. The Western U.S. is experiencing its driest period in more than a thousand years, according to scientists from UCLA and Columbia University. On the heels of Arizonas 2021 push for a pipeline feasibility study, former Arizona Gov. You couldbuild a pipeline from the Mississippi or Missouri Rivers. It willtake liquid sewage, treat it, and either percolate it back into area groundwater, or, if California law is changed,pipe itto water tanks across the basin. This aerial photo of Davenport, Iowa, shows Mississippi River floodwaters in May 2019. 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.. 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 . Pumping Mississippi River water west: solution or pipe dream? The resulting fresh water would bepiped northto the thirsty state. Environmental writerMarc Reisner said the plan was one of "brutal magnificence" and "unprecedented destructiveness." He said hes open to one but doesnt think its necessary. 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.