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There's already a big "grid" in place in the western US: the Colorado River. A first pass solution could be to desalinate on the coast and then pump up to Lake

There's already a big "grid" in place in the western US: the Colorado River. A first pass solution could be to desalinate on the coast and then pump up to Lake Meade to meet all of California's use. Then upper basin states could remove more water, no longer being required to give California their 4 million acre-feet. But the amounts of energy required to do that would be insane.

niftich 7y ago
Top users of California's allocation of Colorado River water are [1]: ~61% Imperial Irrigation District; ~20% Metropolitan Water District of Southern California; ~8% Palo Verde Irrigation District; ~8% Coachella Valley Water District; Out of these, only the Palo Verde Irrigation District is inside the Colorado River basin. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has access to the coastline, so it can mix in desalinated water directly. It currently mixes in local water sources and water delivered from Northern California [2]. The Imperial and Coachella valleys require an interbasin transfer in either case, but despite the presence of canals and pipelines from the lower Colorado River to these sites, supplying them with additional water from the coast would require significantly less infrastructure than pumping said coastal water all the way up to Lake Mead. [1] https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4000/4200Rpts/DecreeRpt/2018/2018.pdf https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4000/4200Rpts/DecreeRpt/2018... [2] http://www.mwdh2o.com/AboutYourWater/Sources%20Of%20Supply/Pages/default.aspx http://www.mwdh2o.com/AboutYourWater/Sources%20Of%20Supply/P...
AnimalMuppet 7y ago
Desalination usually happens on the coast. Pumping water from their to Lake Mead, to let it run down the Colorado to be pumped to LA seems really inefficient. Why not just pump it from the desalination plant to LA? But as an overall plan, it's not so nuts (except for the energy cost, and the hundreds of miles of aqueducts that need to be built). The point about the upper states getting water out of this is a valid one, and Lake Mead supplies Arizona as well as California. One downside to this plan: You'd kill the Grand Canyon.

niftich 7y ago

Top users of California's allocation of Colorado River water are [1]: ~61% Imperial Irrigation District; ~20% Metropolitan Water District of Southern California; ~8% Palo Verde Irrigation District; ~8% Coachella Valley Water District; Out of these, only the Palo Verde Irrigation District is inside the Colorado River basin. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has access to the coastline, so it can mix in desalinated water directly. It currently mixes in local water sources and water delivered from Northern California [2]. The Imperial and Coachella valleys require an interbasin transfer in either case, but despite the presence of canals and pipelines from the lower Colorado River to these sites, supplying them with additional water from the coast would require significantly less infrastructure than pumping said coastal water all the way up to Lake Mead. [1] https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4000/4200Rpts/DecreeRpt/2018/2018.pdf https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4000/4200Rpts/DecreeRpt/2018... [2] http://www.mwdh2o.com/AboutYourWater/Sources%20Of%20Supply/Pages/default.aspx http://www.mwdh2o.com/AboutYourWater/Sources%20Of%20Supply/P...

AnimalMuppet 7y ago

Desalination usually happens on the coast. Pumping water from their to Lake Mead, to let it run down the Colorado to be pumped to LA seems really inefficient. Why not just pump it from the desalination plant to LA? But as an overall plan, it's not so nuts (except for the energy cost, and the hundreds of miles of aqueducts that need to be built). The point about the upper states getting water out of this is a valid one, and Lake Mead supplies Arizona as well as California. One downside to this plan: You'd kill the Grand Canyon.