Letters to the Editor: Antigovernment ideology isnt working for snowed-in mountain towns, Letters to the Editor: Ignore Marjorie Taylor Greene? 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. More by The Associated Press, Got a story tip? Diverting that water also means spreading problems, like pollutants, excessive nutrients and invasive species. We can move water, and weve proven our desire to do it. Yes. Wildfire, flooding concerns after massive snowfall in Arizona, Customers will have to ask for water at Nevada restaurants if bill passes, Snow causes semi truck to crash into Arizona DPS Trooper SUV near Williams, A showdown over Colorado River water is setting the stage for a high-stakes legal battle, In Arizona and other western states, pressure to count water lost to evaporation, While the much-needed water has improved conditions in the parched West, Arizona state legislature passed a measure in 2021, RELATED: Phoenix city officials celebrate final pipe installation in the Drought Pipeline Project, the most comprehensive analysis ever undertaken within the Colorado River Basin. By Brittney J. Miller, The Cedar Rapids Gazette. Kaufman is the general manager of Leavenworth Water, which serves 50,000 people in a town that welcomed Lewis and Clark in 1804 during the duo's westward exploration. PROVISIONAL DATA SUBJECT TO REVISION. 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. But the loss of so much water from the. Opinion: California gave up on mandating COVID vaccines for schoolchildren. Yet some smaller-scale projects have become reality. Any water diversion from the Mississippi to Arizona must be pumped about 6,000 feet up, over the Rockies. One benefit would be flood control for the Eastern USA . 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. It might be in the trillions, but it probably does exist.. Each year . 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. Scientists estimate a football field's worth of Louisiana coast is lost every 60 to 90 minutes. Filling Lake Mead with Mississippi River Water No Longer a Pipe Dream. Facebook, Follow us on 1999-2023 Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Heres how that affects Indigenous water rights, Salton Sea public health disaster gets a $250 million shot in the arm. Instagram, Follow us on "I don't think that drought, especially in the era of climate change, is something we can engineer our way out of.". Their technical report, which hasnt been peer-reviewed. 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. China, unlike the US, is unencumbered by NEPA, water rights and democratic processes in general. 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. Absolutely not," said Meena Westford, executive director of Colorado River resource policy for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. But if areas like the Coachella Valley continue to approve surf waveparks and "beachfront" developments in the desert, "we're screwed," he said bluntly. 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. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson), Lawmakers targeting hospital facility fees, Whats Working: How a Denver nonprofit is expanding the benefits of work. Telling stories that matter in a dynamic, evolving state. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. 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. We can move water, and weve proven our desire to do it. USGS 05587500 Mississippi River at Alton, IL. 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 idea's been dismissed for as long as it's. The state also set aside funds in 2018 to study possible imports from the Missouri or Mississippi Rivers, but to date, the study hasnt been done, he said. The Mississippi used to flow through a delta full of bayous, shifting sad bars, And islets. Its largestdam would be 1,700 feet tall, more than twice the height of Hoover Dam. In 1982,efforts were made to revive the plan by a Parsons company engineer, and the Lyndon Larouche movement supported itas recently as 2010. There are no easy fixes to a West that has grown and has allocated all of its water theres no silver bullet, she said. Stories of similar projects often share the same ending, from proposals in Iowa and Minnesota to those between Canada and the United States. But, he said, the days of mega-pipelines in the U.S. are likely over due to lack of environmental and political will. Last time I heard, we are still the United States of America.". Their detractors counter that, in an era of permanent aridification driven by climate change, the only sustainable solution is not to bring in more water, but to consume less of it. Doug Ducey signed legislation this past July that invested $1.2 billion to fund projects that conserve water and bring more into the state. Seeking answers,The Desert Sun consultedwater experts, conservation groups and government officials for their assessments. 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 Associated Press Climate team contributed images and page design. But water expertssaid it would likely take at least 30 years to clear legal hurdles to such a plan. Trans-national pipelines would also impact ecological resources. While the much-needed water has improved conditions in the parched West, experts warn against claiming victory. Would itbe expensive? Infrastructure is one of the few ways well turn things around to assure that theres some supply.. The list of projects that run on similarly magical thinking goes on: Utah wants to build a pipeline of its own from Lake Powell to the fast-growing city of St. George, but Lake Powell has almost no water left. USGS 05587500 Mississippi River at Alton, IL. Follow us on About 33% of vegetables and 66% of fruits and nuts are produced in California for consumption for the nation. 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. They also concluded environmental and permitting reviews would take decades. "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. Why not begin a grand national infrastructure project of building a water pipeline from those flooded states to the Southwest? 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 . The mountains are green now but that could be harmful during wildfire season. 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. But pipelines and other big ideaswill always attract interest, hydrology experts said, because they falsely promise an innovative, easy way out. All that snow in Arizona is nice now but officials worry that it could create disastrous flooding and wildfire conditions. The Unaffiliated is our twice-weekly newsletter on Colorado politics and policy. 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. Take that, Lake Mead. Paffrath proposed building a pipeline from the Mississippi River to bring water to drought-stricken California. The state should do everything possible to push conservation, but thats not going to cure the issue, he told Grist. 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. 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. YouTube star and Democratic political novice Kevin Paffrath proposed the Mississippi River pipeline last week during a debate among candidates seeking to replace Gov. 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. He said wastewater reuse by area agencies has already swelled from 0.20% in the 1980sto 12% of regional water supply. Letter writers have asked why a water pipeline is not constructed from the Mississippi River to the Colorado River. Nevertheless, Million hasnt given up, and hes currently working to secure permitting for the fourth iteration of the project. We have already introduced invasive species all over the continentzebra mussels, quagga mussels, grass carp, spiny water flea, lampreys, ru. ", But desert defenders pushed back. 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. There are at least half a dozen major water pipeline projects under consideration throughout the region, ranging from ambitious to outlandish. You should worry, Hidden, illegal casinos are booming in L.A., with organized crime reaping big profits, Look up: The 32 most spectacular ceilings in Los Angeles, Elliott: Kings use their heads over hearts in trading Jonathan Quick, This fabled orchid breeder loves to chat just not about Trader Joes orchids. Inspired by Mao Zedong, who in 1952 observed, "The south has plenty of water and the north lacks it, so if possible why not borrow some?" This would take 254 days to fill.. 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. Million sued, and he says he expects a ruling this year. Makes me wonder how this got this far, whose interests are being served and who's benefiting. 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 . Plus, the federal report found the water would be of much lower quality than other western water sources. 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. The distance between Albuquerque, for example, and the Mississippi River perhaps the closest hypothetical starting point for such a pipeline is about 1,000 miles, crossing at least three. 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. No. Haul icebergs from the Arctic to a new southern California port. Could a water pipeline from the Mississippi River to Arizona be a real solution? Environmental writerMarc Reisner said the plan was one of "brutal magnificence" and "unprecedented destructiveness." Just pump water a few miles from the Mississippi near Des Moines into the Ogallala aquifer. 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. 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. Yet their persistence in the public sphere illustrates the growing desperation of Western states to dig themselves out of droughts. Savor that while your lawns are dying. "Mexico has said it didn't although there has been a recent change ingovernment.". 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. pipeline, line of pipe equipped with pumps and valves and other control devices for moving liquids, gases, and slurries (fine particles suspended in liquid). 2023 www.desertsun.com. Lower Mississippi River flow means less sediment carried down to Louisiana, where its used for coastal restoration. he said. The sharing of water would greatly contribute to California being able to feed the nation. 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 Great Lakes Compact, signed by President George W. Bush in 2008,bans large waterexportsoutside of the areawithout the approval of all eight states bordering them andinput fromOntario and Quebec. Under the analyzed scenario, water would be conveyed to Colorados Front Range and areas of New Mexico to help fulfill water needs. Has no one noticed how much hotter the desert is getting, not to mention the increase in fires in our area. Opinion: How has American healthcare gone so wrong? 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. Yes, it would be hugely expensive. Drought conditions plagued the region throughout 2022, for instance, prompting concerns over river navigation. 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. States wish they wouldnt. Grist is powered by WordPress VIP. Just this past summer, the idea caused a firestorm of letters to the editor at a California newspaper. Studies and modern-day engineering have proven that such projects are possible but would require decades of construction and billions of dollars. Gavin Newsom reaffirming his support for the ambitious proposal. 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. 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. "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 . All rights reserved. Either way, most of these projects stand little chance of becoming reality theyre ideas from a bygone era, one that has more in common with the world of Chinatown than the parched west of the present. Nonetheless, Siefkes trans-basin pipeline proposal went viral, receiving nearly half a million views. It is a minimum of 1,067 miles from the Mississippi River to the Colorado River if it could be built in a fairly straight line (St. Louis to Grand Junction, Colorado, based on the route of. 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. 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 . 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. Diverting that water also means spreading problems, like pollutants, excessive nutrients, and invasive species. The drought is so critical that this recent rainfall is a little like finding a $20 bill when youve lost your job and youre being evicted from your house, said Rhett Larson, a professor of water law at Arizona State University. Many sawSiefkes' idea and others like it as sheer theft by a region that needs to fix its own woes. Donate today tohelp keep Grists site and newsletters free. 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. This is the country that built the Hoover Dam, and where Los Angeles suburbs were created by taking water from Owens Lake. Drought conditions plagued the region throughout 2022, prompting concerns over river navigation. 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. In the meantime, researchers encourage more feasible and sustainable options, including better water conservation, water recycling, and less agricultural reliance. Most notably, the Mississippi River basin doesnt always have enough water to spare. While the much-needed water has improved conditions in the parched West, experts warn against claiming victory. Moreover, we need water in our dams for hydroelectric power as well as for drinking and irrigation, so we would power the Hoover, Glen Canyon and Parker dams. 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. 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. But Westford and her colleague Brad Coffey, water resources manager,said desalination is needed in the Golden State. This summer, as seven states and Mexico push to meet a Tuesday deadline to agree on plans to shore up the Colorado River and itsshrivelingreservoirs, retired engineer Don Siefkes of San Leandro, California,wrote a letter to The Desert Sun with what he said was asolution to the West's water woes: build an aqueduct from the Old River Control Structure to Lake Powell, 1,489 miles west, to refill the Colorado River system with Mississippi River water. 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.. Historian Ted Steinberg said itsummed up "the sheer arrogance and imperial ambitions of the modern hydraulic West.". 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. You could do it.". Arizona, which holds "junior"rights to Colorado River water, meaning it has already been forced to make cuts and might be legally required to make far larger reductions, wants to build a bi-national desalination plant at the Sea of Cortez, which separates Baja California from the Mexican mainland. People need to focus on their realistic solutions.. I have dystopian nightmares aboutpipelines marching across the landscape, saidglobal water scarcity expert Jay Famiglietti. One method for simulating streamflow and base flow, random forest (RF) models, was developed from the data at gaged sites and, in turn, was . Meanwhile, watershed states in the U.S., and even counties havetaken actionto preventsuch schemes. 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. 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. Tribes in the Colorado River Basin are fighting for their water. Power from its hydroelectric dams would boost U.S. electricity supplies. A federal report from a decade ago pegged an optimistic cost estimate for a similar pipeline at $14 billion and said the project would take 30 years to build; a Colorado rancher who championed the idea around the same time, meanwhile, estimated its costs at $23 billion. Mississippi River drought will impact your grocery bill. 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. 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. He said hes open to one but doesnt think its necessary. Their technical report, which hasnt been peer-reviewed, calculated that a pipe for moving this scale of water would need to be 88 feet in diameter around twice the length of a semi-trailer or a 100-foot-wide channel thats 61 feet deep. "Recently I have noticed several letters to the editor in your publication that promoted taking water from the Mississippi River or the Great Lakes and diverting it to California via pipeline or . 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. Drainage area 171,500 square miles . Steps are being taken to address water issues in Buckeye. By the way, none of this includes the incredible carbon footprints about to be stomped on the environment. As recently as 2021, the Arizona state legislature urged Congress to fund a technological and feasibility study of a diversion dam and pipeline scheme to harvest floodwater from the Mississippi River to replenish the Colorado River. So moving water that far away to supplement the ColoradoRiver, I don't think is viable. 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.
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