Let's Build a Water Pipeline From the Pacific Ocean to Lake Mead

[BoomerD]

As far as growing crops in the right places, the economy of building endless tilt up buildings in the valleys east and south of Seattle with great soils is a fine example. They pave over and concrete all this farmland, when these buildings could go on the glacial till on the surrounding hills.
The farmland is taxed out of reasonable usage. We shoot ourselves in the foot this way over and over.
Sure it cannot compete in productivity with irrigated lands in California, but the water just falls from the sky. WTF?

California has the same problem...building on fertile farm land, taking that land out of production. Many places participate in (and subsidize) keeping land as farmland. Mixed results as participation by the farmers can be spotty.

Williamson Act Program

www.conservation.ca.gov

 

[BoomerD]

If you look into the water use in California, you'd see that a huge part of the water held in reservoirs is simply pumped into the ocean and wasted.

California Releasing Water from Reservoirs, Claiming Drought Conditions – California Globe

californiaglobe.com

Why Does California Let Billions Of Gallons Of Fresh Water Flow Straight Into The Ocean?

A Q&A with Ashoka Fellow and urban water expert Andy Lipkis If you’ve been paying attention, you know that California is in the midst of a severe multi-year drought. Earlier this month, Governor Jerry Brown, standing on a dry Sierra meadow that’s normally buried under many feet of snow this time...

www.forbes.com

yeah, a good part of that is accurate as hell...BUT, the fish require water...can't keep it ALL locked up for farmers to piss away on almonds and other water-hungry crops. (or let folks like the Reznicks control to increase their wealth)

 

[Newbian]

A water pipeline from Minnesota down south to the Colorado river in Colorado. About a 1,200 mile pipeline.

Except Minnesota has had one of the worst droughts for decades in many parts this year so good luck there.

 

[Muse]

Everybody wants some simple cheap amazing solution when its mostly just going to be a combination of storage projects, desalination, and toilet to tap projects that only the places with money can afford.

Waste water recycling is a big thing going forward.

A couple of good books for perspective on where we are with respect to water:

Water 4.0

Cadillac Desert

Of course, addressing the burgeoning global climate crisis is hugely important.

 

[imported_tajmahal]

Except Minnesota has had one of the worst droughts for decades in many parts this year so good luck there.

Droughts are just part of the climate cycle. I first heard the idea of bringing water to California through a Minnesota pipeline in 1975 in an environmental engineering course at the University. Other ideas at the time were icebergs towed up from the Antarctic and wide scale desalinization. Closing on 50 years and some things never change.

 

[dainthomas]

Israel gets most of its potable water from desal. I think it's inevitable that the U.S. southwest (mainly California) will have significant desalination plants.

Ironically, the carbon from these will make climate change (and persistent drought in that area) worse. Unless they're all powered by tidal generators or something.

 

[MtnMan]

Just the energy required to pump any meaning quantity of water 300 miles, and the real biggie, about 1300 feet up hill. Sure won't get it back from hydroelectric power generated by Hoover Dam.

 

[IronWing]

Just the energy required to pump any meaning quantity of water 300 miles, and the real biggie, about 1300 feet up hill. Sure won't get it back from hydroelectric power generated by Hoover Dam.

The Central Arizona Project pumps water 2900 feet uphill over 336 miles. With sufficient federal subsidies, we can achieve the unpossible!

Central Arizona Project - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[BoomerD]

The Central Arizona Project pumps water 2900 feet uphill over 336 miles. With sufficient federal subsidies, we can achieve the unpossible!

Central Arizona Project - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Yep...and...

California Aqueduct - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

and

Delta–Mendota Canal - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[hal2kilo]

As far as growing crops in the right places, the economy of building endless tilt up buildings in the valleys east and south of Seattle with great soils is a fine example. They pave over and concrete all this farmland, when these buildings could go on the glacial till on the surrounding hills.
The farmland is taxed out of reasonable usage. We shoot ourselves in the foot this way over and over.
Sure it cannot compete in productivity with irrigated lands in California, but the water just falls from the sky. WTF?

Yep, from Kent to Puyallup.

 

[MtnMan]

The Central Arizona Project pumps water 2900 feet uphill over 336 miles. With sufficient federal subsidies, we can achieve the unpossible!

Central Arizona Project - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

And you don't see a problem with this?

 

[IronWing]

And you don't see a problem with this?

I’m at the far end of the pipeline.

 

[IronWing]

In reality, it’s an enormous problem. All the CAP bought Arizona is forty years of cancerous growth. Now we’ve blown through that cushion and we’re back to mining groundwater except that now there are millions more people using the water than before the CAP was built.

 

[Ajay]

We already do. We built a very expensive desalinization plant to treat irrigation return water from a subsidized irrigation district so that welfare farmers could continue to grow cattle feed and spectacularly subsidized* cotton in the desert.

Yuma Area Office | Lower Colorado Region | Bureau of Reclamation

www.usbr.gov

*US cotton subsidies are so bad, the Brazilian government filed a complaint against the US with the WTO. Rather than scale back the handouts to US cotton farmers, the US settled the complaint by agreeing to subsidize Brazilian cotton farmers as well.

Our gov't is truly effed in the head. So what's going on, the the Agri-business conglomerates have golden hammers hanging over all the (male) congress critters? Give us the gold or lose your balls?
Freaking A.

Also, no more 'Almond' milk for me. A gallon of water to make one almond - now that's nuts!

 

[IronWing]

The almond growers on the west side of the Central Valley planted hundreds (thousands?) of acres of trees knowing damn well that there was no water available to keep them alive. Then they plastered I-5 with “Save Our Farms “ signs in attempt to convince folks that they were being abused by the evil water czars. Now there are hundreds of acres of dead almond trees lining I-5.

 

[uclaLabrat]

The almond growers on the west side of the Central Valley planted hundreds (thousands?) of acres of trees knowing damn well that there was no water available to keep them alive. Then they plastered I-5 with “Save Our Farms “ signs in attempt to convince folks that they were being abused by the evil water czars. Now there are hundreds of acres of dead almond trees lining I-5.

Those signs piss me the fuck off mile after mile..."is GROWING FOOD WASTING WATER? End the congress mandated supply cuts!"

Fuck you Timmy, you don't need to grow 40 billion almonds at a gallon each. I'd personally rather have salmon in the rivers, thanks. Coal roll me one more time and bitch about regulation, I'll vote for more cause you're a twat.

 

[imported_tajmahal]

The almond growers on the west side of the Central Valley planted hundreds (thousands?) of acres of trees knowing damn well that there was no water available to keep them alive. Then they plastered I-5 with “Save Our Farms “ signs in attempt to convince folks that they were being abused by the evil water czars. Now there are hundreds of acres of dead almond trees lining I-5.

Part of the reason they planted orchards is because the State Water Boards prioritized trees over crops. They would supply orchards with water, but not annual crops. Farmers did what they were told and planted long term orchards and lost them when water was cut to them also.

 

[imported_tajmahal]

Those signs piss me the fuck off mile after mile..."is GROWING FOOD WASTING WATER? End the congress mandated supply cuts!"

Fuck you Timmy, you don't need to grow 40 billion almonds at a gallon each. I'd personally rather have salmon in the rivers, thanks. Coal roll me one more time and bitch about regulation, I'll vote for more cause you're a twat.

Too bad there are now countless striped bass in the Sacramento River (an artificially introduced species) that are eating all the salmon fry.

 

[uclaLabrat]

Too bad there are now countless striped bass in the Sacramento River (an artificially introduced species) that are eating all the salmon fry.

*WHOOSH*

 

[conehead433]

Apparently the idea of draining Lake Powell had been suggested in order to fill Lake Mead quite some time ago.
"The date is Feb. 9, 1997, and the man responsible for one of the most egregious environmental follies in human history is sitting at a restaurant in Boyce, Virginia, with the leader of the movement seeking to undo his mistake. Of the hundreds of dams Floyd Dominy green lit during his decade running the Bureau of Reclamation, none are as loathed as his crown jewel, the Glen Canyon Dam. In 1963, Dominy erected the 710-foot (216-meter) tall monument to himself out of ego and concrete, deadening the Colorado River just upstream of the Grand Canyon, drowning more than 250 square miles (648 square kilometers) in the heart of the Colorado Plateau, and inventing Lake Powell in the middle of a sun-baked desert."
Seems kind of stupid as this would probably only help for a year or maybe just part of a year. I have actually been to Lake Powell and it is a beautiful place.

MSN

 

[K1052]

Apparently the idea of draining Lake Powell had been suggested in order to fill Lake Mead quite some time ago.
"The date is Feb. 9, 1997, and the man responsible for one of the most egregious environmental follies in human history is sitting at a restaurant in Boyce, Virginia, with the leader of the movement seeking to undo his mistake. Of the hundreds of dams Floyd Dominy green lit during his decade running the Bureau of Reclamation, none are as loathed as his crown jewel, the Glen Canyon Dam. In 1963, Dominy erected the 710-foot (216-meter) tall monument to himself out of ego and concrete, deadening the Colorado River just upstream of the Grand Canyon, drowning more than 250 square miles (648 square kilometers) in the heart of the Colorado Plateau, and inventing Lake Powell in the middle of a sun-baked desert."
Seems kind of stupid as this would probably only help for a year or maybe just part of a year. I have actually been to Lake Powell and it is a beautiful place.

MSN

It seems like just a matter of time (and not much at that) before Powell goes under minimum power pool and likely stays there since they'll have to open the riverworks valves to maintain any downstream flow. Upstream releases are only delaying the inevitable a tiny bit.