Citizens of Louisiana and Mississippi south of the Old River Control Structure dont need all that water. There are at least half a dozen major water pipeline projects under consideration throughout the region, ranging from ambitious to outlandish. I have dystopian nightmares aboutpipelines marching across the landscape, saidglobal water scarcity expert Jay Famiglietti. We've had relatively rich resources for so long,we've never really had to deal withthis before, andwe don't want to change.". Subscribe today to see what all the buzz is about. But the loss of so much water from the. 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. Just this past summer, the idea caused a firestorm of letters to the editor at a California newspaper. Drainage area 171,500 square miles . 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. 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. But water expertssaid it would likely take at least 30 years to clear legal hurdles to such a plan. 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. Gavin Newsom reaffirming his support for the ambitious proposal. On the heels of Arizonas 2021 push for a pipeline feasibility study, former Arizona Gov. Certainly not the surrounding communities. Local hurdles include endangered species protections, wetlands protections, drinking water supply considerations and interstate shipping protections. Yet their persistence in the public sphere illustrates the growing desperation of Western states to dig themselves out of droughts. Follow us on ", But desert defenders pushed back. he said. The . 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. At comment sessions on Colorado's plan, he said, long-distance pipelines wereconstantly suggested by the public. Title: USGS Surface-Water Daily Data for the Nation URL: https://nwis.waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/dv? But there are tons of things that can be done but arent ever done.. 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. 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. Lower Mississippi River flow means less sediment carried down to Louisiana, where it's used for coastal restoration. YouTube. The Unaffiliated is our twice-weekly newsletter on Colorado politics and policy. Water from these and other large rivers pour. There are no easy fixes to a West that has grown and has allocated all of its water theres no silver bullet, she said. Releasing more water downstream would come at the expense of upstream users . About 33% of vegetables and 66% of fruits and nuts are produced in California for consumption for the nation. 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. 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. In any case, Utah rejected a permit for the project in 2020, saying it would jeopardize the states own water rights. 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. [1] "I started withtoilets, I was the toilet queen of L.A.," said Westford. 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 . California Gov. 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. after the growth in California . 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. Seeking answers,The Desert Sun consultedwater experts, conservation groups and government officials for their assessments. 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. Gavin Newsom also touted desalination in adrought resilience plan he announcedlast week, though in brackish inland areas. 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. of Engineers has turned back official requests for more water from the Missouri River to alleviate shortages on the Mississippi. Los Angeles-area water districts have implemented much of what Famiglietti mentioned. Just this past summer, the idea caused a firestorm of letters to the editor at a California newspaper. 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. Power from its hydroelectric dams would boost U.S. electricity supplies. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson), Lawmakers targeting hospital facility fees, Whats Working: How a Denver nonprofit is expanding the benefits of work. 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. The actual costs to build such a pipeline today would likely be orders of magnitude higher, thanks to inflation and inevitable construction snags. Anyone who thinks we can drain the aquifer and survive is grossly misinformed. The pipeline will end in the Rocky Mountain National park. 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. 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. 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.. 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. Under the analyzed scenario, water would be conveyed to Colorados Front Range and areas of New Mexico to help fulfill water needs. To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow ads on Grist. Still, its physically possible. 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. Experts we spoke with agreed the feat would be astronomical. 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. 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. A drive up Interstate 5 shows how muchland has been fallowed due tolack of water. By Brittney J. Miller, The Cedar Rapids Gazette. 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. Photos of snowfall around northern Arizona. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, prodded by members of Congressfrom western states, studied the massive proposal. As zany as the ideas may sound, could anywork, and if so, what would be the costs? Not mentioned was the great grand-daddy of all schemes for re-allocating water, known as the North American Water and Power Authority Plan. Here's How. 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. 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. And several approved diversions draw water from the Great Lakes. In fact, she and others noted, many such ideas have been studied since the 1940s. Yet their persistence in the public sphere illustrates the growing desperation of Western states to dig themselves out of droughts. Million himself, though, is confident that his pipeline will get built, and that it will ensure Fort Collins future. 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. Here are some facts to put perspective to several of the. PROVISIONAL DATA SUBJECT TO REVISION. The idea of a pipeline transecting the continent is not a new idea. But grand ideas for guaranteeing water for the arid Westhave beenfloated for decades. Dothey pay extra for using our water? "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. About 33% of vegetables and 66% of fruits and nuts are produced in California for consumption for the nation. The Western U.S. is experiencing its driest period in more than a thousand years, according to scientists from UCLA and Columbia University. Steps are being taken to address water issues in Buckeye. The idea of drinking even heavily treated liquid wastemay seem unpalatable, but Westfordthinks people will adapt. 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. "I'm an optimist," said Coffey, who said local conservation is key. Haul icebergs from the Arctic to a new southern California port. Each state along the Colorado River basin had the rights to a certain quantity of river water, divided among major users like farms and cities, and the projects were designed to help the states realize those abstract rights. 1999-2023 Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Talk about a job-creating infrastructure project, which would rivalthe tremendous civilengineering feats our country used to be noted for. 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. 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 . But there are tons of things that can be done but arent ever done.. YouTube star and Democratic political novice Kevin Paffrath proposed the Mississippi River pipeline last week during a debate among candidates seeking to replace Gov. 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. Were not looking for the last dollar out of this project, he told me. The water would be drained via a 36 inch pipe already installed four miles west of Sugarloaf Mountain outside Marquette. Other forms of augmentation, like desalination, are also gaining popularity on the national scene as possible options. All rights reserved. The trooper inside suffered minor injuries. So moving water that far away to supplement the ColoradoRiver, I don't think is viable. The water, more than 44 million gallons a day, would come from 115 wells drilled between 1,000 and 5,000 feet deep in Beryl-Enterprise, a basin where the state has restricted use of shallow groundwater due to over-extraction. "I think that societally, we want to be more flexible. And there are several approved diversions that draw water from the Great Lakes. 2023 www.desertsun.com. 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. Buying land to secure water rights would cost a chunk of cash, too, which leads to an even larger obstacle for such proposals: the legal and political hoops. 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 . Last time I heard, we are still the United States of America.". Diverting that water also means spreading problems, like pollutants, excessive nutrients and invasive species. Arizonas main active management areas are in Maricopa, Pinal, Pima, and Santa Cruz counties, leaving much of rural Arizona water use unregulated. An acre-foot is enough water to serve about two households for a year, so it could supply water to 150 million customers. It's the lowest level since the lake was filled in the. 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. It's 2011 and the technology exists to build a series of water pipelines across the US, to channel flood water to holding tanks in other areas, and to supply water to drought stricken areas. The only newsroom focused on exploring solutions at the intersection of climate and justice. 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?" But pipelines and other big ideaswill always attract interest, hydrology experts said, because they falsely promise an innovative, easy way out. Moreover, we need water in our dams for. Tina Peters convicted of government obstruction charge, acquitted of obstructing a police officer, (720) 263-2338 Call, text, Signal or WhatsApp, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. 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. Senior citizens dont go to wave parks. It boggles the mind. Any water diversion from the Mississippi to Arizona must be pumped about 6,000 feet up, over the Rockies. Most notably, the Mississippi River basin doesn't always have enough water to spare. A 45-mile, $16 billion tunnel that would mark California's largest water project in nearly 50 years took a step closer to reality this week, with Gov. He said wastewater reuse by area agencies has already swelled from 0.20% in the 1980sto 12% of regional water supply. Email: newsroom@coloradosun.com China, unlike the US, is unencumbered by NEPA, water rights and democratic processes in general. Runa giant hose from the Columbia River along the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to refill Diamond Valley Reservoir. It was the Bureau of Reclamation. This is the country that built the Hoover Dam, and where Los Angeles suburbs were created by taking water from Owens Lake. Telling stories that matter in a dynamic, evolving state. We can move water, and weve proven our desire to do it. 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. Coffey said the project isn't really a pipeline, but more "a bypass for an aging 60-year-old"system. Thats not to mention the housing development again, for the very wealthy with its own lagoon. 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. But the idea hasnever completely died. Each year worsens our receipt of rain and snow. Proponents of these projects argue that they could stabilize western cities for decades to come, connecting populations with unclaimed water rights. Drop us a note at tips@coloradosun.com. 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. Pitt, who was a technical adviser on Reclamation's2012 report,decried ceaselesspipeline proposals. On the heels of Arizonas 2021 push for a pipeline feasibility study, former Arizona Gov. All that snow in Arizona is nice now but officials worry that it could create disastrous flooding and wildfire conditions. . The federal Water Conservation Bureau gave approval Tuesday to piping 440 billion gallons of water per month to Arizona. 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. The idea's been dismissed for as long as it's. 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. 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 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. The snowbirds commonly stay here for at least six months. Mississippi River drought will impact your grocery bill. No. Page Contact Information: Missouri Water Data Support Team Page Last Modified: 2023-03-04 08:46:14 EST Here are some facts to put perspective to severalof the opinions already expressed here: An aqueduct running from thelower Mississippi to the Colorado River (via the San Juan River tributary, at Farmington, New Mexico), with the same capacity as the California Aqueduct, would roughly double the flow of thelatter while taking merely 1-3% of the formers flow. Experts say theres a proverbial snowballs chance in August of most of theseschemes being implemented. Meanwhile, watershed states in the U.S., and even counties havetaken actionto preventsuch schemes. Water thieves abound in dry California. The river's web, if some have their way, could become even larger. 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. 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. 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.. "To my mind, the overriding fatal flaw for large import schemes is the time required to become operational. It is time to think outside the box of rain. You couldbuild a pipeline from the Mississippi or Missouri Rivers. This aerial photo of Davenport, Iowa, shows Mississippi River floodwaters in May 2019. One benefit would be flood control for the Eastern USA . To be talking about pipe dreams, when thats not even feasible for decades, if at all Its a disservice, Scanlan said. The state should do everything possible to push conservation, but thats not going to cure the issue, he told Grist. 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. He said hes open to one but doesnt think its necessary. Nevertheless, Million hasnt given up, and hes currently working to secure permitting for the fourth iteration of the project. Experts say those will require sacrifices but not as many as building a giant pipeline would require. 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. 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. 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. 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.