America's Most Endangered River

[odanny]

A 22 year megadrought and none of these western states have really done anything, now all of a sudden all seven are going to have to cooperate with one another to reduce usage? That does not sound promising.


The 100-year-old water truce among seven states of the Southwest may be moving toward open hostilities again as the life-giving but drought-decimated Colorado River is at a tipping point, federal officials say. The Colorado is the most endangered river in America, according to the conservation nonprofit American Rivers.

The river basin is at its driest period in 1,200 years, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton told Congress in June. She said the states — including Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico in the upper basin and Arizona, Nevada and California in the lower basin — must agree to conserve 2-million-to-4-million-acre-feet of river water next year to avoid collapse of the river system, including hydropower production on Lake Powell and Lake Mead.

The call to conserve that massive amount of water might be compared to the approximate 3.5 million acre-feet consumed by the four upper basin states each year, according to Andy Mueller, general manager of the Colorado River District. The three lower basin states consume about 8.5 million acre-feet annually, he said.

Colorado River in Peril

gazette.com

 

[MarathonMike]

The drought has been a contributor to the lowering of Lake Meade, Powell and the Colorado River to be sure. But the major contributor has been the expansion of building and agriculture throughout the Southwest most notably California. There is also a LOT of wasted water, commercial buildings with GRASS LAWNS (WHY?) watered every day. Sometimes you can see the water running into the streets. Watering of the thousands of golf courses. This is a huge problem and I see no plan by the Southwestern states to do anything about it.

 

[Meister]

The only upside that I can see from this is that we now know where the mafia dumped the bodies.

 

[odanny]

The drought has been a contributor to the lowering of Lake Meade, Powell and the Colorado River to be sure. But the major contributor has been the expansion of building and agriculture throughout the Southwest most notably California. There is also a LOT of wasted water, commercial buildings with GRASS LAWNS (WHY?) watered every day. Sometimes you can see the water running into the streets. Watering of the thousands of golf courses. This is a huge problem and I see no plan by the Southwestern states to do anything about it.

Las Vegas, believe it or not, has been doing something about it. It's a drop in the bucket, but it's something.

 

[MarathonMike]

This is the most interesting solution I've seen to the Colorado River water shortage problem.

We could fill Lake Powell in less than a year with an aqueduct from Mississippi River

Such a project would be less difficult than other aqueducts and pipelines already built.

www.desertsun.com

 

[MarathonMike]

Las Vegas, believe it or not, has been doing something about it. It's a drop in the bucket, but it's something.

That's good, but there is no leadership on this huge issue. The governors of all states affected have to pull their heads out of the dry dirt and come up with a plan.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

A 22 year megadrought and none of these western states have really done anything, now all of a sudden all seven are going to have to cooperate with one another to reduce usage? That does not sound promising.


The 100-year-old water truce among seven states of the Southwest may be moving toward open hostilities again as the life-giving but drought-decimated Colorado River is at a tipping point, federal officials say. The Colorado is the most endangered river in America, according to the conservation nonprofit American Rivers.

The river basin is at its driest period in 1,200 years, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton told Congress in June. She said the states — including Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico in the upper basin and Arizona, Nevada and California in the lower basin — must agree to conserve 2-million-to-4-million-acre-feet of river water next year to avoid collapse of the river system, including hydropower production on Lake Powell and Lake Mead.

The call to conserve that massive amount of water might be compared to the approximate 3.5 million acre-feet consumed by the four upper basin states each year, according to Andy Mueller, general manager of the Colorado River District. The three lower basin states consume about 8.5 million acre-feet annually, he said.

Colorado River in Peril

gazette.com

Overpopulation is the biggest reason the river cant keep up with demand.
When you build huge cities in the desert this should be expected. And the left refuses to look at desalination plants to make up the difference.

 

[odanny]

This is the most interesting solution I've seen to the Colorado River water shortage problem.

We could fill Lake Powell in less than a year with an aqueduct from Mississippi River

Such a project would be less difficult than other aqueducts and pipelines already built.

www.desertsun.com

I've been saying this before, we build oil pipelines that run across the country, why not do the same with water? Imagine if there was a transport mode for taking floodwaters and connecting them to the Lake Powell or Lake Mead pipelines?

 

[ReinyDays]

Drop a pipeline in behind The Dallas dam and use the almost free hydropower to pump the water up to the High Desert ... call it 300 miles as the carrion crow flies to the South and dump Columbia River water into the Sacramento River headwaters ... then use existing infrastructure in California to pump the water down to the Imperial Valley ...

All that extra water is left in the Colorado so it can run out in the Sea of Cortez and start washing the sea-snakes out into the Pacific ... or let the Mexicans have it ... either way, it's a win/win/win situation ... except for the snakes ...

 

[ding]

I've been saying this before, we build oil pipelines that run across the country, why not do the same with water? Imagine if there was a transport mode for taking floodwaters and connecting them to the Lake Powell or Lake Mead pipelines?

Flood waters? Probably makes more sense for desalinization plants. But whether you are taking water at scale from rivers or the ocean, someone's ecosystem will more than likely be adversely affected.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

I've been saying this before, we build oil pipelines that run across the country, why not do the same with water? Imagine if there was a transport mode for taking floodwaters and connecting them to the Lake Powell or Lake Mead pipelines?

So steal water from other states.
You could ask those who live on and depend on water from the Mississippi and ask them how much they'd charge.
The west coast has already stolen enough water.
I'd say fuckem and let them dry up like hillary's pussy but then we'd have even more west coast immigrants than we already have.

 

[MarathonMike]

I've been saying this before, we build oil pipelines that run across the country, why not do the same with water? Imagine if there was a transport mode for taking floodwaters and connecting them to the Lake Powell or Lake Mead pipelines?

Exactly, the classic win-win! You alleviate the disastrous affects of flooding in one area and relieve the disastrous affects of water shortage in another. That would be a brilliant use of taxpayer money as opposed to what the government usually does with it.

 

[odanny]

Flood waters? Probably makes more sense for desalinization plants. But whether you are taking water at scale from rivers or the ocean, someone's ecosystem will more than likely be adversely affected.

True, and that is probably why there has been no serious discussion of doing this. However, if part of the country sees their water table rising to flood levels, year after year, then perhaps this is feasible. Flooding, unlike drought, does not exhibit any type of predictability.

 

[ding]

True, and that is probably why there has been no serious discussion of doing this. However, if part of the country sees their water table rising to flood levels, year after year, then perhaps this is feasible. Flooding, unlike drought, does not exhibit any type of predictability.

Correct. Which is why it would morph into taking water from rivers and not based upon flooding events. Which would be violently opposed by several groups.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Correct. Which is why it would morph into taking water from rivers and not based upon flooding events. Which would be violently opposed by several groups.

The west coast needs desalination plants paid for by their tax payers.
...whats that? You dont have enough taxpayers to foot the bill?
Maybe you should have thought about that before taxing the populace out of existence.

After watching the left coast run off all but the lettuce pickers and taco cart vendors I cant help but think that that's the plan.
They rich want the west coast all for themselves. There wont be a water crisis if they run off the majority of the population.

 

[MarathonMike]

Drop a pipeline in behind The Dallas dam and use the almost free hydropower to pump the water up to the High Desert ... call it 300 miles as the carrion crow flies to the South and dump Columbia River water into the Sacramento River headwaters ... then use existing infrastructure in California to pump the water down to the Imperial Valley ...

All that extra water is left in the Colorado so it can run out in the Sea of Cortez and start washing the sea-snakes out into the Pacific ... or let the Mexicans have it ... either way, it's a win/win/win situation ... except for the snakes ...

Interesting idea!

 

[ReinyDays]

Interesting idea!

We can pump all the water out at John Day dam, more than enough water flowing into the riverbed downstream from there to keep the Portland freak-toids happy ... everyone wins here ... unless Hanford starts leaking plutonium, or worse ...

We pipe crude oil from northern Alberta to the Texas Gulf coast ... we pipe crude oil across the length of Alaska ... we pipe natural gas under the Baltic Sea ... correct me if I'm wrong but it's easier piping water, plus we can use canals ...

 

[evenflow1969]

I've been saying this before, we build oil pipelines that run across the country, why not do the same with water? Imagine if there was a transport mode for taking floodwaters and connecting them to the Lake Powell or Lake Mead pipelines?

No reason it can't be done except most of the flooding is brine water or salt water so back to desalination. Also the cost of it. Maybe we could use that large distance of flow to evaporate the water and recollect it along the way while collecting the left over salt. Costly any way ya look at it. It would create jobs and keep farming going while solving some flooding issues. Some hing to look at.

 

[MarathonMike]

We can pump all the water out at John Day dam, more than enough water flowing into the riverbed downstream from there to keep the Portland freak-toids happy ... everyone wins here ... unless Hanford starts leaking plutonium, or worse ...

We pipe crude oil from northern Alberta to the Texas Gulf coast ... we pipe crude oil across the length of Alaska ... we pipe natural gas under the Baltic Sea ... correct me if I'm wrong but it's easier piping water, plus we can use canals ...

Sounds good to me. Perhaps you can't move quite the volume of water through pipes but I wonder how much water we lose through the Central Az Aqueduct via evaporation.

 

[ReinyDays]

Sounds good to me. Perhaps you can't move quite the volume of water through pipes but I wonder how much water we lose through the Central Az Aqueduct via evaporation.

Depends on how big the pipes are, and how many we'll need ... if we want people from California, New York, Alabama, etc etc moving to Arizona, instead of Oregon ... then Oregon should be ready to ship all the water you'll need there in Phoenix ...

What evaporates always condenses ... somewhere ... someday ...