At comment sessions on Colorado's plan, he said, long-distance pipelines wereconstantly suggested by the public. 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. 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. The sharing of water would greatly contribute to California being able to feed the nation. The massive river, with tributaries from Montanato Ohio, is a national artery for shipping goodsout to sea. The mountains are green now but that could be harmful during wildfire season. The . The Associated Press Climate team contributed images and page design. 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. What did Disney actually lose from its Florida battle with DeSantis? 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. Seeking answers,The Desert Sun consultedwater experts, conservation groups and government officials for their assessments. Diverting that water also means spreading problems, like pollutants, excessive nutrients, and invasive species. Millions in the Southwest will literally be left in the dark and blistering heat when theres no longer enough water behind the dam to power the giant electricity-producing turbines. She said extensive public education, aided by federal mandates and financial incentives, eventually led toa wholesale transition that saves millions of gallons of water. This aerial photo of Davenport, Iowa, shows Mississippi River floodwaters in May 2019. 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. Million himself, though, is confident that his pipeline will get built, and that it will ensure Fort Collins future. On the heels of Arizonas 2021 push for a pipeline feasibility study, former Arizona Gov. 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. Do we have the political will? Senior citizens dont go to wave parks. 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. 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. 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 total projected cost of the plan in 1975 was $100 billion or nearly $570billion in today's dollars,comparable to theInterstate Highway System. ", Westford of Southern California's Metropolitan Water District agreed. 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. The Mississippi used to flow through a delta full of bayous, shifting sad bars, And islets. The idea of drinking even heavily treated liquid wastemay seem unpalatable, but Westfordthinks people will adapt. 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. Why not begin a grand national infrastructure project of building a water pipeline from those flooded states to the Southwest? 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. The state should do everything possible to push conservation, but thats not going to cure the issue, he told Grist. Moreover, we need water in our dams for. Weve had a few blizzards along the way, and some gun battles, but it is what it is.. Among its provisions, the law granted the states water infrastructure finance authority to investigate the feasibility of potential out-of-state water import agreements. There are at least half a dozen major water pipeline projects under consideration throughout the region, ranging from ambitious to outlandish. "This sounds outlandish, but we have a massive problem," Paffrath said. He said the most pragmatic approach would only pump Midwest water to the metro Denver area, to substitute forimports to the Front Range on the east side of the Rockies, avoiding "staggering" costs to pump water over the Continental Divide. An acre-foot is enough water to serve about two households for a year, so it could supply water to 150 million customers. But interest spans deeper than that. 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. The water would be drained via a 36 inch pipe already installed four miles west of Sugarloaf Mountain outside Marquette. Why are they so hard to catch? . 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. Here in the scorching Coachella Valley, local governments have approved construction of four surf resorts for the very wealthy. Local hurdles include endangered species protections, wetlands protections, drinking water supply considerations and interstate shipping protections. Makes me wonder how this got this far, whose interests are being served and who's benefiting. The bigger obstacles are fiscal, legal, environmentaland most of all, political. 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. 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 . Anyone who thinks we can drain the aquifer and survive is grossly misinformed. 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. Certainly not the surrounding communities. Page Contact Information: Missouri Water Data Support Team Page Last Modified: 2023-03-04 08:46:14 EST . The ongoing drought in California has hit its fourth year. Whereas I understand water rights, but globalwarming has introduced new priorities. Well, kind of, Letters to the Editor: Shasta County dumps Dominion voting machines at its own peril, Editorial: Bay Area making climate change history by phasing out sales of gas furnaces and water heaters, Column: Mike Lindell is helping a California county dump voting machines. 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. 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 . Amid a major drought in the Western U.S., a proposed solution comes up repeatedly: large-scale river diversions, including pumping Mississippi River water to parched states. If you dont have enough of it, go find more. These canals and pipelines are . 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. In the meantime, researchers encourage more feasible and sustainable options, including better water conservation, water recycling, and less agricultural reliance. Experts we spoke with agreed the feat would be astronomical. But it's doable. Others said the costs of an Arizona-Mexico desalination plant would also likely prove infeasible. Do they thank us for using our water? 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. 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. Drought conditions plagued the region throughout 2022, prompting concerns over river navigation. 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. In 2012, the U.S. Department of the Interiors Bureau of Reclamation completed the most comprehensive analysis ever undertaken within the Colorado River Basin at the time, which analyzed solutions to water supply issues including importing water from the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. "I'm an optimist," said Coffey, who said local conservation is key. You tellgolf courses how much water they can use, but one of thelargest wave basins in the world is acceptable? Above, the droughts effects can be seen at a marina on June 29. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa Waves of torrential rainfall drenched California into the new year. 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. 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. 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. Experts say those will require sacrifices but not as many as building a giant pipeline would require. Yet their persistence in the public sphere illustrates the growing desperation of Western states to dig themselves out of droughts. 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. 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. Twitter, Follow us on Last time I heard, we are still the United States of America.". But in the face of continuing, ever-worsening drought and ongoing growth of the cities of the desert Southwest, is there a better idea out there? Absolutely. Its one of dozens of letters the paperhas received proposing or vehemently opposing schemes to fix the crashing Colorado River system, which provides water to nearly 40 million people and farms in seven western states. 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. . Most recently, in 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation produced a report laying out a potentially grim future for the Colorado River, and had experts evaluate 14 big ideas commonly touted as potential solutions. 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. 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. I have dystopian nightmares aboutpipelines marching across the landscape, saidglobal water scarcity expert Jay Famiglietti. There are no easy fixes to a West that has grown and has allocated all of its water theres no silver bullet, she said. Infrastructure is one of the few ways well turn things around to assure that theres some supply.. 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. Each year worsens our receipt of rain and snow. Gavin Newsom also touted desalination in adrought resilience plan he announcedlast week, though in brackish inland areas. We have already introduced invasive species all over the continentzebra mussels, quagga mussels, grass carp, spiny water flea, lampreys, ru. In the meantime, researchers encourage more feasible and sustainable options, including better water conservation, water recycling, and less agricultural reliance. YouTube, Follow us on Widespread interest in the plan eventually fizzled. 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. and planned for completion in 2050, it willdivert 44.8 billion cubic metersof water annually to major cities and agricultural and industrial centers in the parchednorth. Physically, some could be achieved. Pipe water from the plentiful Great Lakes to deserted towns in the West like Phoenix and Las Vegas. Even smaller projects stand to be derailed by similar hiccups. An in-depth feasibility study specifically on pumping Mississippi River water to the West hasnt been conducted yet to Larsons knowledge. No one wants to leave the western states without water, said Melissa Scanlan, a freshwater sciences professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 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. 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. Still, its physically possible. The pipeline will end in the Rocky Mountain National park. The federal Water Conservation Bureau gave approval Tuesday to piping 440 billion gallons of water per month to Arizona. 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. It might be in the trillions, but it probably does exist.. Vessels ran aground and had to navigate very carefully. Much of the sediment it was carrying was dropped in the slow moving water of the Delta. This story is a product of theMississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an editorially independent reporting network based at the University ofMissouri School of Journalismin partnership withReport For Americaand theSociety of Environmental Journalists, funded by the Walton Family Foundation. YouTube star and Democratic political novice Kevin Paffrath proposed the Mississippi River pipeline last week during a debate among candidates seeking to replace Gov. Some plans call for a connection to. To Larsons knowledge, an in-depth feasibility study specifically on pumping Mississippi River water to the West hasnt been conducted yet. 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. 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. 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. To be talking about pipe dreams when thats not even feasible for decades, if at all Its a disservice, Scanlan said. Drought conditions plagued the region throughout 2022, for instance, prompting concerns over river navigation. Arizonas main active management areas are in Maricopa, Pinal, Pima, and Santa Cruz counties, leaving much of rural Arizona water use unregulated. 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.
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