The Arizona Legislature wants the federal government to study the feasibility of constructing a pipeline . What if our droughts get worse? General Manager Henry Martinez also warned that cutting water to Imperial Valley farmers and nearby Yuma County, Arizona, could lead to a food crisis as well as a water crisis. "Mexico has said it didn't although there has been a recent change ingovernment.". The elephant in the room, according to Fort, is agriculture, which accounts for more than 80 percent of water withdrawals from the Colorado River. Arizona state legislators asked Congress to consider a pipeline that dumps Mississippi water into the Green River, but there are alternate possibilities. Butbig water infrastructure projects aren't just of interest to the general public. But, he said, the days of mega-pipelines in the U.S. are likely over due to lack of environmental and political will. Even if the government could clear these hurdles, the odds that Midwestern states would just let their water go are slim. On the heels of Arizonas 2021 push for a pipeline feasibility study, former Arizona Gov. China, unlike the US, is unencumbered by NEPA, water rights and democratic processes in general. The idea's been dismissed for as long as it's. But interest spans deeper than that. 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. 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. Drought conditions plagued the region throughout 2022, prompting concerns over river navigation. "This sounds outlandish, but we have a massive problem," Paffrath said. Certainly not the surrounding communities. 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 . California uses 34 million acre-feet of water per year for agriculture. About 33% of vegetables and 66% of fruits and nuts are produced in California for consumption for the nation. What goes into the cat-and-mouse game of forecasting Colorados avalanche risks? Since about 1983, Lake Mead has dropped in volume from full capacity at. The project would require more than 300 new dams,canals, pipelines, tunnels, and pumping stations, bans large waterexportsoutside of the area. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), FILE - Dredge Jadwin, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredging vessel, powers south down the Mississippi River Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022, past Commerce, Mo. 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. 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. Known as one of the greenest commercial buildings in the world, since it opened its doors on Earth Day in 2013 the Bullitt Center has been setting a new standard for sustainable design. Just this past summer, the idea caused a firestorm of letters to the editor at a California newspaper. Were not looking for the last dollar out of this project, he told me. Under the analyzed scenario, water would be conveyed to Colorados Front Range and areas of New Mexico to help fulfill water needs. 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 pipeline would provide the Colorado River basin with 600,000 acre-feet of water annually, which could serve roughly a million single-family homes. The idea of diverting water from the Mississippi to the Colorado River basin is an excellent one, albeit also fantastically expensive. Pitt, who was a technical adviser on Reclamation's2012 report,decried ceaselesspipeline proposals. On Tuesday, the Scottsdale City Council agreed on a proposal to treat water and deliver it to the community for three years. A man from Minnesota wrote to the Palm Springs Desert Sun earlier this month and expressed similar sentiments, warning, If California comes for Midwest water, we have plenty of dynamite.. He said hes open to one but doesnt think its necessary. John Neely ofPalm Desert responded: "All of these river cities who refuse to give us their water can stop snowbirding to the desert to use our water. "People are spoiled in the United States. 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. 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. 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.. Runa giant hose from the Columbia River along the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to refill Diamond Valley Reservoir. The driver of the truck was not injured. Letters to the Editor: Antigovernment ideology isnt working for snowed-in mountain towns, Letters to the Editor: Ignore Marjorie Taylor Greene? Similar ideas have been suggested about Great Lakes water. 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. 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. What states in the Southwest have failed to do is curtail growth and agriculture that is, of course, water-driven. Officials imposed the state's first-ever water restrictions on cities and towns, and California farmers are drilling deeper and . Arizonas main active management areas are in Maricopa, Pinal, Pima, and Santa Cruz counties, leaving much of rural Arizona water use unregulated. Answer (1 of 21): Interbasin transfer is something we try to avoid. Environmental writerMarc Reisner said the plan was one of "brutal magnificence" and "unprecedented destructiveness." 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. YouTube star and Democratic political novice Kevin Paffrath proposed the Mississippi River pipeline last week during a debate among candidates seeking to replace Gov. For as long as this idea has been proposed. Water from these and other large rivers pour. Experts say theres a proverbial snowballs chance in August of most of theseschemes being implemented. To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow ads on Grist. Page Contact Information: Missouri Water Data Support Team Page Last Modified: 2023-03-04 08:46:14 EST 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. . All rights reserved. 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 . Just this past summer, the idea caused a firestorm of letters to the editor at a California newspaper. The Unaffiliated is our twice-weekly newsletter on Colorado politics and policy. Subscribe today to see what all the buzz is about. 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. People fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta's Elk Slough near Courtland, California, on Tuesday, March 24, 2020. pipeline, line of pipe equipped with pumps and valves and other control devices for moving liquids, gases, and slurries (fine particles suspended in liquid). The idea of drinking even heavily treated liquid wastemay seem unpalatable, but Westfordthinks people will adapt. Opinion: How has American healthcare gone so wrong? There are no easy fixes to a West that has grown and has allocated all of its water theres no silver bullet, she said. after the growth in California . As an engineer, I can guarantee you that it is doable, Viadero said. Is this a goo. Still, he admits the road hasnt always been easy, and that victory is far from guaranteed. We've had relatively rich resources for so long,we've never really had to deal withthis before, andwe don't want to change.". 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. And several approved diversions draw water from the Great Lakes. 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. 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. Vessels ran aground and had to navigate very carefully. I find it interesting that households have to watch how much water theyare usingfor washing clothes, wateringlawns, washing cars,etc. 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. The sharing of water would greatly contribute to California being able to feed the nation. Stories of similar projects often share the same ending, from proposals in Iowa and Minnesota to those between Canada and the United States. 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. 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. 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. About 60% of the region remains in some form of drought, continuing a decades-long spiral into water scarcity. 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. 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. People need to focus on their realistic solutions.. But interest spans deeper than that. 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. That project, which also faces heavy headwinds from environmentalists, wouldcost an estimated $12 billion. Moreover, we need water in our dams for. Not mentioned was the great grand-daddy of all schemes for re-allocating water, known as the North American Water and Power Authority Plan. He said hes open to one but doesnt think its necessary. A Mississippi pipeline to Lake Powell would need to cut across four states, he and Johnson said, including hundreds of miles of wetlands in Louisiana and west Texas. But, as water scarcity in the West gets more desperate, the hurdles could be overcome one day. Most notably, the Mississippi River basin doesnt always have enough water to spare. Drought conditions plagued the region throughout 2022, prompting concerns over river navigation. As an engineer, I can guarantee you that it is doable, Viadero said. Instead, California is focused on better managing the water we have, improving forecasting, and making our groundwater basins more sustainable.. 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. 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. But there are tons of things that can be done but arent ever done.. Your support keeps our unbiased, nonprofit news free. 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 idea of a pipeline transecting the continent is not a new idea. The Colorado River is drying up. Other forms of augmentation, like desalination, are also gaining popularity on the national scene as possible options. 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. Doug Ducey signed legislation this past July that invested $1.2 billion to fund projects that conserve water and bring more into the state. . Take for instance the so-called Water Horse pipeline, a pet project of a Colorado investor and entrepreneur named Aaron Million. 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. If you dont have enough of it, go find more. 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. On the heels of Arizonas 2021 push for a pipeline feasibility study, former Arizona Gov. But we need to know a lot more about it than we currently do.. About 60 percent of the region remains in some form of drought, continuing a decades-long spiral into water scarcity. 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. Were doing everything we can to minimize impacts, maximize benefits, and this project has a lot of benevolence associated with it. In his vision of the Wests future, urban growth will necessitate more big infrastructure projects like his. 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. 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. 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. She said extensive public education, aided by federal mandates and financial incentives, eventually led toa wholesale transition that saves millions of gallons of water. The Western U.S. is experiencing its driest period in more than a thousand years, according to scientists from UCLA and Columbia University. Most notably, the Mississippi River basin doesn't always have enough water to spare. 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. Diverting that water also means spreading problems, like pollutants,. 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. 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. Power from its hydroelectric dams would boost U.S. electricity supplies. Studies and modern-day engineering have proven that such projects are possible but require decades of construction and billions of dollars. California uses 34 million acre-feet of water per year for agriculture. Instagram, Follow us on 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. In the meantime, researchers encourage more feasible and sustainable options, including better water conservation, water recycling, and less agricultural reliance. "I started withtoilets, I was the toilet queen of L.A.," said Westford. Would itbe expensive? 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. The only newsroom focused on exploring solutions at the intersection of climate and justice. So moving water that far away to supplement the ColoradoRiver, I don't think is viable. 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. . 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. Other forms of augmentation, like desalination, are also gaining popularity on the national scene as possible options. 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. Latitude 3853'06", Longitude 9010'51" NAD27. To be talking about pipe dreams when thats not even feasible for decades, if at all Its a disservice, Scanlan said. Donate today to keep our climate news free. Citizens of Louisiana and Mississippi south of the Old River Control Structure dont need all that water. 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. 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? Gavin Newsom reaffirming his support for the ambitious proposal. While the much-needed water has improved conditions in the parched West, experts warn against claiming victory. No one wants to leave the western states without water, said Melissa Scanlan, a freshwater sciences professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Here's How. 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?" The state is expected to lose 10% of its water over the next two decades, reports the . 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. But the idea hasnever completely died. One benefit would be flood control for the Eastern USA . You could do it.". The memorial also suggests that the pipeline could be used as stormwater infrastructure to prevent regular flooding along the . Water thieves abound in dry California. 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. 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. 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. 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 don't think that drought, especially in the era of climate change, is something we can engineer our way out of.". "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. Filling Lake Mead with Mississippi River Water No Longer a Pipe Dream. Photos of snowfall around northern Arizona. Diverting that water also means spreading problems, like pollutants, excessive nutrients, and invasive species. Facebook, Follow us on 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. 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.. 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. Yet their persistence in the public sphere illustrates the growing desperation of Western states to dig themselves out of droughts. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Just this past summer, the idea caused a firestorm of letters to the editor at a California newspaper. 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. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. Much of the sediment it was carrying was dropped in the slow moving water of the Delta. "I'm an optimist," said Coffey, who said local conservation is key. Title: USGS Surface-Water Daily Data for the Nation URL: https://nwis.waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/dv? Still, its physically possible. Anyone who thinks we can drain the aquifer and survive is grossly misinformed.
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