3 ms·

because piping water from a non-renewable lake to a desert is beyond stupid. no need to subsidize building megacities in arid regions

mc32 7y ago
I don’t think it'd be so much (the draught from the lakes) that the St Lawrence becomes a dry wash. Even if parts of Calif are a desert, they become a fertile deserts with water. I imagine some revenue sharing scheme could entice some of the states to send some water.
- notfromhere 7y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea People can't drink money.
  - mc32 7y ago
    I know that you’re saying but the Great Lakes basin is not arid like the Aral Sea -whose tributaries were tapped for irrigation. The Great Lakes “overflow” into the st Lawrence which discharges about 7000 m3/sec. at the Ontario outflow.
    - notfromhere 7y ago
      If California gets great lakes water, every single southwestern state will also ask for it. The intelligent solution is "dont build megacities in the middle of the desert beyond their ability to sustain themselves" rather than "lets invest tons of money into piping fresh water several thousand miles and not address the initial root cause"
      - mc32 7y ago
        Whether people live in CA of the Midwest, water will be consumed. They might even consume less in the arid areas if water has rationing policies. The main obstacle would be infrastructure but it’s not too complicated. It would need lots of pumps to get over the Rockies but it’s doable.
- OrangeMango 7y ago
  > I imagine some revenue sharing scheme could entice some of the states to send some water. No need, there is a loophole. Bottled water companies are allowed to pull as much water from the watershed as they want and export it. Michigan charges a $200 per year permit fee. The water bottles are limited in size to be less than 5.7 gallons (21.5 liters). Nestle bottles 5+ million bottles of water per day and sends it where ever they choose. Someone could build a railroad loop at the edge of the watershed and have a circular train with millions of 5.7 gallon containers. Fill them up on one side, dump them into a pipeline system on the other. $200 per year.
deleted 7y ago
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mc32 7y ago

I don’t think it'd be so much (the draught from the lakes) that the St Lawrence becomes a dry wash. Even if parts of Calif are a desert, they become a fertile deserts with water. I imagine some revenue sharing scheme could entice some of the states to send some water.

notfromhere 7y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea People can't drink money.
- mc32 7y ago
  I know that you’re saying but the Great Lakes basin is not arid like the Aral Sea -whose tributaries were tapped for irrigation. The Great Lakes “overflow” into the st Lawrence which discharges about 7000 m3/sec. at the Ontario outflow.
  - notfromhere 7y ago
    If California gets great lakes water, every single southwestern state will also ask for it. The intelligent solution is "dont build megacities in the middle of the desert beyond their ability to sustain themselves" rather than "lets invest tons of money into piping fresh water several thousand miles and not address the initial root cause"
    - mc32 7y ago
      Whether people live in CA of the Midwest, water will be consumed. They might even consume less in the arid areas if water has rationing policies. The main obstacle would be infrastructure but it’s not too complicated. It would need lots of pumps to get over the Rockies but it’s doable.
OrangeMango 7y ago
> I imagine some revenue sharing scheme could entice some of the states to send some water. No need, there is a loophole. Bottled water companies are allowed to pull as much water from the watershed as they want and export it. Michigan charges a $200 per year permit fee. The water bottles are limited in size to be less than 5.7 gallons (21.5 liters). Nestle bottles 5+ million bottles of water per day and sends it where ever they choose. Someone could build a railroad loop at the edge of the watershed and have a circular train with millions of 5.7 gallon containers. Fill them up on one side, dump them into a pipeline system on the other. $200 per year.

deleted 7y ago

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