water pipeline from mississippi river to california

A plan to divert Mississippi flood waters to west is proposed Widespread interest in the plan eventually fizzled. Palm Springs newspaper readers' drought fix: Siphon Mississippi 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 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. By the way, none of this includes the incredible carbon footprints about to be stomped on the environment. 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.. And, here in the land of the midnight 90-degree temperatures, we are building our very own ice hockey rink, because there is more than enough electricity to freeze that body of water and keep the arena cold enough to keep the ice from melting. Ive cowboyed enough in my life to know that you just got to stick to the trail, he said. Doug Ducey signed legislation this past July that invested $1.2 billion to fund projects that conserve water and bring more into the state. 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. pipeline, line of pipe equipped with pumps and valves and other control devices for moving liquids, gases, and slurries (fine particles suspended in liquid). Makes me wonder how this got this far, whose interests are being served and who's benefiting. 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. California Gov. Other forms of augmentation, like desalination, are also gaining popularity on the national scene as possible options. 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. 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. Leading environmental engineering firm to study alternative water Pipeline from Mississippi - Coyote Gulch So moving water that far away to supplement the ColoradoRiver, I don't think is viable. Arizona state legislators asked Congress to consider a pipeline that dumps Mississippi water into the Green River, but there are alternate possibilities. Dothey pay extra for using our water? Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. He said hes open to one but doesnt think its necessary. Too wacky? Moving water from flood to drought - Phys.org This aerial photo of Davenport, Iowa, shows Mississippi River floodwaters in May 2019. She can be reached at jwilson@gannett.com or @janetwilson66 on Twitter. And there are several approved diversions that draw water from the Great Lakes. It's the lowest level since the lake was filled in the. 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. He frames the pipeline as a complement to water-saving policies. Telling stories that matter in a dynamic, evolving state. 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. 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. 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. Could massive water pipelines solve the West's drought crisis? | Grist Most notably, the Mississippi River basin doesnt always have enough water to spare. 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. It was the Bureau of Reclamation. This latest version would curve up through the Wyoming flatlands and back down to Fort Collins, a distance of around 340 miles. Doug Ducey signed legislation this past July that invested $1.2 billion to fund projects that conserve water and bring more into the state. 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. 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 Western U.S. is experiencing its driest period in more than a thousand years, according to scientists from UCLA and Columbia University. 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. Even if the government could clear these hurdles, the odds that Midwestern states would just let their water go are slim. 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. Even smaller projects stand to be derailed by similar hiccups. It might be in the trillions, but it probably does exist.. 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. They also concluded environmental and permitting reviews would take decades. Stories of similar projects often share the same ending, from proposals in Iowa and Minnesota to those between Canada and the United States. after the growth in California . Even at its cheapest, the project would cost about twice as much per acre-foot of water delivered than other solutions like water conservation and reuse. Stories of similar projects often share the same ending, from proposals in Iowa and Minnesota to those between Canada and the United States. It would turn the Southwest into an oasis, and the Great Basin into productive farmland. Conservation alternatives are less palatable than big infrastructure projects, but theyre also more achievable. The main pipeline would span about 1,000 miles from Jackson, Miss., along the southern borders of Colorado and Utah to Lake Powell, at an elevation of about 3,700 feet. 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. When that happens, it wont be just tourists and recreational boaters who will suffer. Why it's a longshot: First, to get across the Continental Divide and into the Colorado River, you'd need an uphill pipeline about 1,000 miles long, which is longer than any other drinking water . The total projected cost of the plan in 1975 was $100 billion or nearly $570billion in today's dollars,comparable to theInterstate Highway System. But, he said, the days of mega-pipelines in the U.S. are likely over due to lack of environmental and political will. 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. Terms of Use | Privacy Policy. 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. Sharing Mississippi River water with California would feed America On the heels of Arizonas 2021 push for a pipeline feasibility study, former Arizona Gov. But Denver officials have expressed skepticism,because Missouri or Mississippi water isof inferior quality to pure mountain water. 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. Mississippi River to Colorado River Solar Powered Pipeline - Halfbakery Talk about a job-creating infrastructure project, which would rivalthe tremendous civilengineering feats our country used to be noted for. But moving water from one drought-impacted area to another is not a solution.. "Arizona really, really wants oceanfront," she chuckled. An in-depth feasibility study specifically on pumping Mississippi River water to the West hasnt been conducted yet to Larsons knowledge. All that snow in Arizona is nice now but officials worry that it could create disastrous flooding and wildfire conditions. 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. Here are some facts to put perspective to several of the. Water is the new oil: Piping Lake Superior water West? Answer (1 of 21): Interbasin transfer is something we try to avoid. The trooper inside suffered minor injuries. Letters to the Editor: Antigovernment ideology isnt working for snowed-in mountain towns, Letters to the Editor: Ignore Marjorie Taylor Greene? Power from its hydroelectric dams would boost U.S. electricity supplies. For one, theres no longer enough unclaimed water to make most pipeline projects cost-effective. The pipeline will end in the Rocky Mountain National park. Butbig water infrastructure projects aren't just of interest to the general public. Heproposed usingnuclear explosionsto excavate the system's trenches and underground water storage reservoirs. 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. Still, its physically possible. The mountains are green now but that could be harmful during wildfire season. In southeastern California,officials at the Imperial Irrigation District, which is entitled toby far the largest share of Colorado River water, say any move to strip theirrights would result in legal challenges that could last years. Experts say theres a proverbial snowballs chance in August of most of theseschemes being implemented. Absolutely not," said Meena Westford, executive director of Colorado River resource policy for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Releasing more water downstream would come at the expense of upstream users . The project would require more than 300 new dams,canals, pipelines, tunnels, and pumping stations, bans large waterexportsoutside of the area. 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?" All three officials said the construction of a45-mile Delta Water Project tunnel to keep supply flowing from the middle of the state to thirsty cities in the south isvital. 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. Arizona Legislators Want to Ship Mississippi River - Planetizen Famiglietti saidit's time for a national water policy, not to figure out where to lay down hundreds of pipesbut to look comprehensively at the intertwining of agriculture and the lion's share ofwater it uses. 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. He said hes open to one but doesnt think its necessary. In fact, she and others noted, many such ideas have been studied since the 1940s. The memorial also suggests that the pipeline could be used as stormwater infrastructure to prevent regular flooding along the . While the much-needed water has improved conditions in the parched West, experts warn against claiming victory. Yet some smaller-scale projects have become reality. Lower Mississippi River flow means less sediment carried down to Louisiana, where its used for coastal restoration. ", Westford of Southern California's Metropolitan Water District agreed. California uses 34 million acre-feet of water per year for agriculture. Lake Mead is at its lowest level since it was filled 85 years ago. of Engineers has turned back official requests for more water from the Missouri River to alleviate shortages on the Mississippi. It might be in the trillions, but it probably does exist.. Pipeline debate at center of California carbon capture plans Letters to the Editor: Really, Californians? Another call for a water Yahoo, Reddit and ceaseless headlines about a 22-year megadrought and killer flash floods, not to mention dead bodies showing up on Lake Meads newly exposed shoreline, have galvanized reader interest this summer. Gavin Newsom if he's. No one wants to leave the western states without water, said Melissa Scanlan, a freshwater sciences professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Experts we spoke with agreed the feat would be astronomical. . Water Piped to Denver Could Ease Stress on River - The New York Times "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. Opinion: How has American healthcare gone so wrong? To the editor: With the threat of brownouts and over-stressed power grids, dwindling water resources in California and the call to reduce consumption by 15%, I want to point out we are not all in this together. Here in the scorching Coachella Valley, local governments have approved construction of four surf resorts for the very wealthy. Its largestdam would be 1,700 feet tall, more than twice the height of Hoover Dam. Pipeline from the Mississippi River to Colorado? - Coyote Gulch "The engineering is feasible. 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. 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. YouTube. We want to have more sustainable infrastructure. While the much-needed water has improved conditions in the parched West, experts warn against claiming victory. 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. Instead, California is focused on better managing the water we have, improving forecasting, and making our groundwater basins more sustainable.. But there are tons of things that can be done but arent ever done.. 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. According to DPS, the driver of the semi-truck lost control of the truck on the icy I-40 freeway near Williams, striking a DPS patrol car parked by the side of the highway. Last time I heard, we are still the United States of America.". 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 state is expected to lose 10% of its water over the next two decades, reports the . 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. 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 . Water from these and other large rivers pour. 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. Diverting that water also means spreading problems, like pollutants, excessive nutrients, and invasive species. 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. Still, its physically possible. Your support keeps our unbiased, nonprofit news free. Letter writers have asked why a water pipeline is not constructed from the Mississippi River to the Colorado River. Pipeline debate at center of California carbon capture plans 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. In 1982,efforts were made to revive the plan by a Parsons company engineer, and the Lyndon Larouche movement supported itas recently as 2010. Subscribe today to see what all the buzz is about. But interest spans deeper than that. Arizona needs water. But a Mississippi pipeline is a pipe dream Arizonas main active management areas are in Maricopa, Pinal, Pima, and Santa Cruz counties, leaving much of rural Arizona water use unregulated. The only newsroom focused on exploring solutions at the intersection of climate and justice. 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. 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. Can Water Megaprojects Save The US Desert West? (Part 2) 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. 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 . 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. Drought conditions plagued the region throughout 2022, for instance, prompting concerns over river navigation. She said extensive public education, aided by federal mandates and financial incentives, eventually led toa wholesale transition that saves millions of gallons of water. Water use has gone down 40% per capita in recent years, said Coffey. Those will require sacrifices, no doubt but not as many as building a giant pipeline would require, experts said. 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. Coffey said the project isn't really a pipeline, but more "a bypass for an aging 60-year-old"system. 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. A drive up Interstate 5 shows how muchland has been fallowed due tolack of water. More by The Associated Press, Got a story tip? Instagram, Follow us on Water pipeline not feasible - Las Vegas Sun Newspaper Siphon off a big portion, and youd be swapping oneecological catastrophe for another, said Audubons Johnson. We are already in a severe drought. We can move water, and weve proven our desire to do it. Since about 1983, Lake Mead has dropped in volume from full capacity at. 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. Posted on: February 7, 2023, 02:30h. That project, which also faces heavy headwinds from environmentalists, wouldcost an estimated $12 billion. Petition End Floods in America by Creating a Pipeline Network to Savor that while your lawns are dying. Physically, some could be achieved. 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. Could a water pipeline from the Mississippi River to Arizona be a real Reader support helps sustain our work. Plus, the federal report found the water would be of much lower quality than other western water sources. Among its provisions, the law granted the states water infrastructure finance authority to investigate the feasibility of potential out-of-state water import agreements. I find it interesting that households have to watch how much water theyare usingfor washing clothes, wateringlawns, washing cars,etc. What goes into the cat-and-mouse game of forecasting Colorados avalanche risks? 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. Hydrologic Unit Code 07110009. Booming Utah metro wants to pipe in water from Lake Powell so it can Most notably, the Mississippi River basin doesn't always have enough water to spare. "Yes, a Superior-Green River pipeline seems unrealistic, even impossible at first glance," Huttner wrote for Minnesota Public Radio. Just this past summer, the idea caused a firestorm of letters to the editor at a California newspaper. Tribes in the Colorado River Basin are fighting for their water. But the loss of so much water from the. 1999-2023 Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. 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. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson), Lawmakers targeting hospital facility fees, Whats Working: How a Denver nonprofit is expanding the benefits of work. The idea of diverting water from the Mississippi to the Colorado River basin is an excellent one, albeit also fantastically expensive. 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. In the meantime, researchers encourage more feasible and sustainable options, including better water conservation, water recycling, and less agricultural reliance. Yes, it would be hugely expensive. All rights reserved. The diverted flow would require massive water tunnels, since a flow of 250,000. Canadian water for California's drought? - High Country News Steps are being taken to address water issues in Buckeye. But we need to know a lot more about it than we currently do.. The conceptsfell into a few large categories: pipe Mississippi or Missouri River water to the eastern sideof the Rockies or to Lake Powell on the Arizona-Utah border, bring icebergs in bags, on container ships or via trucks to Southern California, pump water from the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest to California via a subterranean pipeline on the floor of the Pacific Ocean, or replenish the headwaters of the Green River, the main stem of the Colorado River, with water from tributaries. Some plans call for a connection to. Anyone who thinks we can drain the aquifer and survive is grossly misinformed. after the growth in California . This is the country that built the Hoover Dam, and where Los Angeles suburbs were created by taking water from Owens Lake. Studies and modern-day engineering have proven that such projects are possible but would require decades of construction and billions of dollars. 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. Flooding along the Mississippi River basin appears to have become more frequent in recent years, as has the [] The river's web, if some have their way, could become even larger. Haul icebergs from the Arctic to a new southern California port. The California Aqueduct carries about 13,000 cubic feet per second through the Central Valley; the Colorado River atLees Ferry runs about 7,000 to 14,000 cfs; the Mississippi at Vicksburg varies from 400,000 to 1.2 million cfs. "To my mind, the overriding fatal flaw for large import schemes is the time required to become operational. 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. Every day, we hear about water conservation, restrictions. Scientists estimate a football field's worth of Louisiana coast is lost every 60 to 90 minutes. But it's doable. "I don't think that drought, especially in the era of climate change, is something we can engineer our way out of.". Mississippi River drought will impact your grocery bill. 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.

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