We are already in a severe drought. 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. Page Contact Information: Missouri Water Data Support Team Page Last Modified: 2023-03-04 08:46:14 EST . About 60 percent of the region remains in some form of drought, continuing a decades-long spiral into water scarcity. It might be in the trillions, but it probably does exist.. Los Angeles-area water districts have implemented much of what Famiglietti mentioned. Yet some smaller-scale projects have become reality. Certainly not the surrounding communities. Even smaller projects stand to be derailed by similar hiccups. Those will require sacrifices, no doubt but not as many as building a giant pipeline would require, experts said. 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. 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. 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. If a portion of the farmers in the region were to change crops or fallow their fields, the freed-up water could sustain growing cities. he said. There are no easy fixes to a West that has grown and has allocated all of its water theres no silver bullet, she said. Since about 1983, Lake Mead has dropped in volume from full capacity at. Lower Mississippi River flow means less sediment carried down to Louisiana, where its used for coastal restoration. One method for simulating streamflow and base flow, random forest (RF) models, was developed from the data at gaged sites and, in turn, was . Design and build by Upstatement. 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. The 2012 study didn't discount either option but. Other forms of augmentation, like desalination, are also gaining popularity on the national scene as possible options. Who is going to come to the desert and use it? 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. Proponents of these projects argue that they could stabilize western cities for decades to come, connecting populations with unclaimed water rights. 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. after the growth in California . Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. 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. There are at least half a dozen major water pipeline projects under consideration throughout the region, ranging from ambitious to outlandish. . But water expertssaid it would likely take at least 30 years to clear legal hurdles to such a plan. But there are tons of things that can be done but arent ever done.. Heres how that affects Indigenous water rights, Salton Sea public health disaster gets a $250 million shot in the arm. 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. More by The Associated Press, Got a story tip? 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. Most notably, the Mississippi River basin doesn't always have enough water to spare. Thats not to mention the housing development again, for the very wealthy with its own lagoon. Infrastructure is one of the few ways well turn things around to assure that theres some supply.. document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This story is part of the Grist seriesParched, an in-depth look at how climate change-fueled drought is reshaping communities, economies, and ecosystems. 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. "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. You could do it.". 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. Mulroy was the keynote speaker at the convention, held at Mandalay Bay, in Las Vegas, which is one of several that comprises the Chamber of Commerce's . 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. An earlier version of this story misidentified for which agency Jennifer Pitt was a technical adviser. "The desalinationplant Arizona has scoped out would be by far the largest ever in North America,"said Jennifer Pitt, National Audubon Society's Colorado River program director. The only newsroom focused on exploring solutions at the intersection of climate and justice. "Should we move the water to where the food is grown, or is it maybe time to think about moving the food production to the water?" As an engineer, I can guarantee you that it is doable, Viadero said. In fact, she and others noted, many such ideas have been studied since the 1940s. Under the analyzed scenario, water would be conveyed to Colorados Front Range and areas of New Mexico to help fulfill water needs. Absolutely not," said Meena Westford, executive director of Colorado River resource policy for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. By the way, none of this includes the incredible carbon footprints about to be stomped on the environment. Facebook, Follow us on 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Still, its physically possible. Many sawSiefkes' idea and others like it as sheer theft by a region that needs to fix its own woes. Yet some smaller-scale projects have become reality. But the loss of so much water from the. But moving water from one drought-impacted area to another is not a solution.. . Just this past summer, the idea caused a firestorm of letters to the editor at a California newspaper. All rights reserved. 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. 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. Photos of snowfall around northern Arizona. . 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. 10/4/2021. Ive cowboyed enough in my life to know that you just got to stick to the trail, he said. 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. 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. 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. Theyre all such hypocrites. Instead, California is focused on better managing the water we have, improving forecasting, and making our groundwater basins more sustainable.. The Arizona Legislature wants the federal government to study the feasibility of constructing a pipeline . 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 should do everything possible to push conservation, but thats not going to cure the issue, he told Grist. 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. 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. Just this past summer, the idea caused a firestorm of letters to the editor at a California newspaper. 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 . The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, prodded by members of Congressfrom western states, studied the massive proposal. Pipe water from the plentiful Great Lakes to deserted towns in the West like Phoenix and Las Vegas. He raised the possibility that policymakers will seek to build a 900-mile pipeline from Lake Superior to the Green River watershed in southwest Wyoming. On Tuesday, the Scottsdale City Council agreed on a proposal to treat water and deliver it to the community for three years. For decades, key stewards of the river have ignored the massive water loss, instead allocating Arizona, California, Nevada and Mexico their share of the river without subtracting whats evaporated. The Associated Press Climate team contributed images and page design. At comment sessions on Colorado's plan, he said, long-distance pipelines wereconstantly suggested by the public. Experts say theres a proverbial snowballs chance in August of most of theseschemes being implemented. 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. "My son will never know what a six-gallon toilet looks like," she said. Yes, it would be hugely expensive. Similar ideas have been suggested about Great Lakes water. Latitude 3853'06", Longitude 9010'51" NAD27. One benefit would be flood control for the Eastern USA . 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. But we need to know a lot more about it than we currently do.. 1999-2023 Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. 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. I have dystopian nightmares aboutpipelines marching across the landscape, saidglobal water scarcity expert Jay Famiglietti. 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. Under the analyzed scenario, water would be conveyed to Colorados Front Range and areas of New Mexico to help fulfill water needs. 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. Gavin Newsom if he's. 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. The Mississippi used to flow through a delta full of bayous, shifting sad bars, And islets. 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. Flooding along the Mississippi River basin appears to have become more frequent in recent years, as has the [] 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. In any case, Utah rejected a permit for the project in 2020, saying it would jeopardize the states own water rights. 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. 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. He said wastewater reuse by area agencies has already swelled from 0.20% in the 1980sto 12% of regional water supply. Million sued, and he says he expects a ruling this year. 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. My water, your water. States have [historically] been very successful in getting the federal government to pay for wasteful, unsustainable, large water projects, said Denise Fort, a professor emerita at the University of New Mexico who has studied water infrastructure. He frames the pipeline as a complement to water-saving policies. No, lets talk about her, Desperate mountain residents trapped by snow beg for help; We are coming, sheriff says, Newsom, IRS give Californians until October to file tax returns, 15 arrested across L.A. County in crackdown on fraudulent benefit cards, Calmes: Heres what we should do about Marjorie Taylor Greene, Column: Did the DOJ just say Donald Trump can be held accountable for Jan. 6? The 800-mile system of pipelines, ditches and reservoirs would cost an estimated $23 billion and could provide 1 million acre-feet of water a year to Colorado. You tellgolf courses how much water they can use, but one of thelargest wave basins in the world is acceptable? 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. No one wants to leave the western states without water, said Melissa Scanlan, a freshwater sciences professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 2023 www.desertsun.com. Letter writers have asked why a water pipeline is not constructed from the Mississippi River to the Colorado River. The driver of the truck was not injured. Famiglietti also said while oil companies are willing to spend millions because their product yields high profits per gallon, that's not the case with water, typically considered a public resource. Even if the government could clear these hurdles, the odds that Midwestern states would just let their water go are slim. Let's be really clear here. Major projects to restore the coast and save brown pelicans and other endangered species are now underway, and Mississippi sediment delivery is at the heart of them. 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. Steps are being taken to address water issues in Buckeye. 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. Lower Mississippi River flow means less sediment carried down to Louisiana, where it's used for coastal restoration. 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. We want to have more sustainable infrastructure. USGS 05587500 Mississippi River at Alton, IL. About 33% of vegetables and 66% of fruits and nuts are produced in California for consumption for the nation. But, as water scarcity in the West gets more desperate, the hurdles could be overcome one day. Makes me wonder how this got this far, whose interests are being served and who's benefiting. But interest spans deeper than that. John Kaufman, the man who proposed the Missouri River pipeline, wants to see the artificial boundaries expand. In the meantime, researchers encourage more feasible and sustainable options, including better water conservation, water recycling, and less agricultural reliance. "I don't think that drought, especially in the era of climate change, is something we can engineer our way out of.". Butbig water infrastructure projects aren't just of interest to the general public. "I think that societally, we want to be more flexible. 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. And there are several approved diversions that draw water from the Great Lakes. Moreover, we need water in our dams for. But it's doable. 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 . Today, any water pipeline could cost from $10 billion to $20 billion with another $30 billion in improvements just to get the water to thirsty people and farms. The state is expected to lose 10% of its water over the next two decades, reports the . But the idea hasnever completely died. To be talking about pipe dreams when thats not even feasible for decades, if at all Its a disservice, Scanlan said. 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. Mississippi River drought will impact your grocery bill. Do they thank us for using our water? An in-depth feasibility study specifically on pumping Mississippi River water to the West hasnt been conducted yet to Larsons knowledge. 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. Plus, the federal report found the water would be of much lower quality than other western water sources. The mountains are green now but that could be harmful during wildfire season. Grist is powered by WordPress VIP. Physically, some could be achieved. Stories of similar projects often share the same ending, from proposals in Iowa and Minnesota to those between Canada and the United States. Paffrath proposed building a pipeline from the Mississippi River to bring water to drought-stricken California. continue to approve surf waveparks and "beachfront" developments in the desert, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. 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. 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. For one, theres no longer enough unclaimed water to make most pipeline projects cost-effective. 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. Runa giant hose from the Columbia River along the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to refill Diamond Valley Reservoir. YouTube star and Democratic political novice Kevin Paffrath proposed the Mississippi River pipeline last week during a debate among candidates seeking to replace Gov. It's the lowest level since the lake was filled in the. 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. 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. Drought conditions plagued the region throughout 2022, for instance, prompting concerns over river navigation. Why are they so hard to catch? 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. ", But desert defenders pushed back. All that snow in Arizona is nice now but officials worry that it could create disastrous flooding and wildfire conditions. 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. 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. Each edition is filled with exclusive news, analysis and other behind-the-scenes information you wont find anywhere else. 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. Fueled by Google and other search engines, more than 3.2 millionpeople have read the letters, an unprecedented number for the regional publication's opinion content. Some plans call for a connection to. Arizona, for instance, has invested millions of dollars in wastewater recycling while other communities have paid to fix leaky pipes, making their water delivery systems more efficient. 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. Your support keeps our unbiased, nonprofit news free. If officials approve this, the backlash willresult in everyone using as much water as wecare to. Pipelines usually consist of sections of pipe made of . Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. 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. Yes. PROVISIONAL DATA SUBJECT TO REVISION. As part of our commitment to sustainability, in 2021 Grist moved its office headquarters to the Bullitt Center in Seattles vibrant Capitol Hill neighborhood. "Yes, a Superior-Green River pipeline seems unrealistic, even impossible at first glance," Huttner wrote for Minnesota Public Radio. All rights reserved. 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. Engineers said the pipelineidea is technically feasible. But Denver officials have expressed skepticism,because Missouri or Mississippi water isof inferior quality to pure mountain water. and Renstrom says that unless Utah builds a long-promised pipeline to pump water 140 miles from Lake . 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. 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. Posted on: February 7, 2023, 02:30h. Most notably, the Mississippi River basin doesnt always have enough water to spare. Just this past summer, the idea caused a firestorm of letters to the editor at a California newspaper. What did Disney actually lose from its Florida battle with DeSantis? The Nevada Legislature is considering a bill that, if passed, would require restaurants to only provide water upon customer request. [1] Each year . 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.. Improved simulations of streamflow and base flow for selected sites within and adjacent to the Mississippi River Alluvial Plain area are important for modeling groundwater flow because surface-water flows have a substantial effect on groundwater levels. Here are some facts to put perspective to several of the. No. But moving water from one drought-impacted area to another is not a solution.. These realities havent stopped the Wests would-be water barons from dreaming. "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 . If you dont have enough of it, go find more. 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. 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. The sharing of water would greatly contribute to California being able to feed the nation. Weve had a few blizzards along the way, and some gun battles, but it is what it is.. 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 basic idea is to take water from the Mississippi River, pump it a thousand miles west, and dump it into the overtaxed Colorado River, which provides water for millions of Arizona residents but has reached historically low levels as its reservoirs dry up. 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. "I started withtoilets, I was the toilet queen of L.A.," said Westford.