Facebook, Follow us on The Arizona Legislature wants the federal government to study the feasibility of constructing a pipeline . As an engineer, I can guarantee you that it is doable, Viadero said. To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow ads on Grist. Here's How. Widespread interest in the plan eventually fizzled. 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. 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. 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. Letters to the Editor: Antigovernment ideology isnt working for snowed-in mountain towns, Letters to the Editor: Ignore Marjorie Taylor Greene? The memorial also suggests that the pipeline could be used as stormwater infrastructure to prevent regular flooding along the . In northwestern Iowa, a river has repeatedly been pumped dry by a rural water utility that sells at least a quarter of the water outside the state. He said hes open to one but doesnt think its necessary. Great Lakes water piped to Southwest 'our future,' says NASA scientist But if areas like the Coachella Valley continue to approve surf waveparks and "beachfront" developments in the desert, "we're screwed," he said bluntly. Local hurdles include endangered species protections, wetlands protections, drinking water supply considerations and interstate shipping protections. 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. 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 . The . In the meantime, researchers encourage more feasible and sustainable options, including better water conservation, water recycling, and less agricultural reliance. 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. Butbig water infrastructure projects aren't just of interest to the general public. Just this past summer, the idea caused a firestorm of letters to the editor at a California newspaper. 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. 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. Each year . Pipelines usually consist of sections of pipe made of . The Abandoned Plan That Could Have Saved America From Drought Water Pipeline: From Mississippi River To The West? - YouTube 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. 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. Water thieves abound in dry California. Twitter, Follow us on Instagram, Follow us on How can we bring water from Mississippi river to west, Arizona - Quora When that happens, it wont be just tourists and recreational boaters who will suffer. "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 . Meanwhile, a rookie Democrat running for governor in Californias recall election last year proposed declaring a state of emergency in order to build a similar project. Pumping Mississippi River water west: solution or pipe dream? Run a pipeline a few hundred miles to the San Juan River in Pagosa Springs CO which drains into Lake Powell and you are good to go. The sharing of water would greatly contribute to California being able to feed the nation. To the editor: The states near the Gulf of Mexico are often flooded with too much water, while the Southwest is suffering a long-term drought. Engineers said the pipelineidea is technically feasible. She said extensive public education, aided by federal mandates and financial incentives, eventually led toa wholesale transition that saves millions of gallons of water. That project, which also faces heavy headwinds from environmentalists, wouldcost an estimated $12 billion. 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. But the idea hasnever completely died. Moving water from the Mississippi River to west would require massive The only newsroom focused on exploring solutions at the intersection of climate and justice. But Denver officials have expressed skepticism,because Missouri or Mississippi water isof inferior quality to pure mountain water. So moving water that far away to supplement the ColoradoRiver, I don't think is viable. Los Angeles-area water districts have implemented much of what Famiglietti mentioned. In the meantime, researchers encourage more feasible and sustainable options, including better water conservation, water recycling, and less agricultural reliance. In any case, Utah rejected a permit for the project in 2020, saying it would jeopardize the states own water rights. Since about 1983, Lake Mead has dropped in volume from full capacity at. About 60 percent of the region remains in some form of drought, continuing a decades-long spiral into water scarcity. About 33% of vegetables and 66% of fruits and nuts are produced in California for consumption for the nation. These canals and pipelines are . 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. 00:00 00:00 An unknown error. 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. Makes me wonder how this got this far, whose interests are being served and who's benefiting. While the much-needed water has improved conditions in the parched West, experts warn against claiming victory. 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. Diverting that water also means spreading problems, like pollutants, excessive nutrients, and invasive species. 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. 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. We have already introduced invasive species all over the continentzebra mussels, quagga mussels, grass carp, spiny water flea, lampreys, ru. Citizens of Louisiana and Mississippi south of the Old River Control Structure dont need all that water. Heproposed usingnuclear explosionsto excavate the system's trenches and underground water storage reservoirs. 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. You tellgolf courses how much water they can use, but one of thelargest wave basins in the world is acceptable? 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. Letter writers have asked why a water pipeline is not constructed from the Mississippi River to the Colorado River. She can be reached at jwilson@gannett.com or @janetwilson66 on Twitter. Pipeline from Mississippi - Coyote Gulch Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Unrecognizable. Lake Mead, a lifeline for water in Los Angeles and the West, tips toward crisis. The state should do everything possible to push conservation, but thats not going to cure the issue, he told Grist. Column: Building a pipeline to the Mississippi? An idea as harebrained The trooper inside suffered minor injuries. "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. Above, the droughts effects can be seen at a marina on June 29. But interest spans deeper than that. 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. Other forms of augmentation, like desalination, are also gaining popularity on the national scene as possible options. Why are they so hard to catch? But interest spans deeper than that. Ultimately the rising environmental movement squelched it the project woulddestroyvast wildlife habitats in Canada and the American West,submergewild rivers in Idaho and Montana,and requirethe relocation of hundreds of thousands of people. Most notably, the Mississippi River basin doesn't always have enough water to spare. If you dont have enough of it, go find more. Savor that while your lawns are dying. People need to focus on their realistic solutions.. 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. Anyone who thinks we can drain the aquifer and survive is grossly misinformed. Pipeline debate at center of California carbon capture plans People fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta's Elk Slough near Courtland, California, on Tuesday, March 24, 2020. 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. 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. 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. 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. Western Water Woes - Is Big Infrastructure the Way to Go? 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. California uses 34 million acre-feet of water per year for agriculture. Title: USGS Surface-Water Daily Data for the Nation URL: https://nwis.waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/dv? . Pumping Mississippi River water west: solution or dream? Politics are an even bigger obstacle for making multi-state pipelines a reality. Arizona Legislators Want to Ship Mississippi River - Planetizen He said hes open to one but doesnt think its necessary. 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. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, prodded by members of Congressfrom western states, studied the massive proposal. Petition End Floods in America by Creating a Pipeline Network to