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Ah ok, I see your point. But (and getting even more ridiculous here) the water need not necessarily be returned to the ocean. It could be used for instance to
by mythrwy 7y ago
Ah ok, I see your point.
But (and getting even more ridiculous here) the water need not necessarily be returned to the ocean. It could be used for instance to water crops inland or recharge inland aquifers that had previously been depleted.
- chr1 7y agoYes, i think moving water to inland aquifers and dry lake-beds in current deserts should have a significant impact, but unfortunately i have not been able to find a study confirming or disproving this.
- foobar1962 7y agoAustralia has huge problems with salinity, where previously dry areas were deforested and irrigated with water sourced from other areas (like the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area). Saline groundwater rises to the surface and causes the top soil to become irreversibly salty. Re-forestation would solve the problem (deep rooted plants lower the groundwater level) but because the soil is salty, nothing can or will grow there. The areas are now wastelands, good only for salt mining. I remember some research was put into developing salt-tolerant trees specifically to solve the problem, not sure how successful it was.