4 ms·

Pumping water from the California coast to Nevada is not a good idea. You’re basically describing a hydro plant, in reverse, carrying expensive water.

s0rce 4y ago
Not really much different than pumping Owen's valley water to LA...
- nomel 4y ago
  A quick google search says Owen's valley is at 4k feet, while LA is at 300. I assume that reversing that would be incredibly expensive, considering the 570,000 acre-feet/year that flows is 1.5 trillion lbs of water. So, I think it depends on where it's being pumped from/to.
  - s0rce 4y ago
    There are mountains in the way though.
    - yellowapple 4y ago
      We'll just use the same boring machines we'd use for the long-overdue SF/NY Burrito Pipeline.
sn0wf1re 4y ago
Parts of Nevada are below sea level so the total energy expenditure to move water should be "minimal". This would be after making aqueducts. My thinking is, if the Romans could move water over mountains without pipes, so too can the Americans.
- yellowapple 4y ago
  Which parts of Nevada are below sea level? Lowest point IIRC is around 400ft.
  - thehappypm 4y ago
    Not anywhere near where the people live, that’s for sure. Reno: 4500’ Vegas: 2000’ that’s a huge amount of potential energy to pump water from the sea
    - ac29 4y ago
      Plus the whole Sierra Nevada mountains thing. Between Sacramento and Reno Interstate 80 peaks over 7000 feet.
yellowapple 4y ago
California's existing aqueduct system already moves water over greater distances. If Northern California can supply Southern California's water, then so can Coastal California supply water for Inland California and beyond. Hell... Lake Lahontan. Megalake. Barely alive. Gentlemen, we can refill it. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic lake. Lake Lahontan will be that lake. Better than it was before. Wider. Deeper. Wetter. jazzy intro music
- jdsully 4y ago
  There's the small problem of it being much more difficult for water to go up a mountain than down it.
  - yellowapple 4y ago
    That's where Nevada being a giant blob of untapped geothermal energy (not to mention open desert for solar and nuclear) comes in.
  - bsagdiyev 4y ago
    I mean the aqueduct system already pumps water up 1900 feet over the Tehachapi mountains[0], so that might be hard but feasible. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmonston_Pumping_Plant https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmonston_Pumping_Plant
bcrosby95 4y ago
It also makes no sense because it would be cheaper and easier to just ween California off the Colorado river which already passes through Nevada and other states in the southwest. I think this is the easiest solution to the water problem there. You already effectively have a massive pipeline in the form of a river. Luckily, the state with coastal access has the highest water allocation for it.
- biztos 4y ago
  So we sell them the water from the Colorado river, and use the money to build power plants there, with which we will power our expanded desalination for the benefit of agribusiness foreign and domestic? I mean, it would probably work, right?

s0rce 4y ago

Not really much different than pumping Owen's valley water to LA...

nomel 4y ago
A quick google search says Owen's valley is at 4k feet, while LA is at 300. I assume that reversing that would be incredibly expensive, considering the 570,000 acre-feet/year that flows is 1.5 trillion lbs of water. So, I think it depends on where it's being pumped from/to.
- s0rce 4y ago
  There are mountains in the way though.
  - yellowapple 4y ago
    We'll just use the same boring machines we'd use for the long-overdue SF/NY Burrito Pipeline.

sn0wf1re 4y ago

Parts of Nevada are below sea level so the total energy expenditure to move water should be "minimal". This would be after making aqueducts. My thinking is, if the Romans could move water over mountains without pipes, so too can the Americans.

yellowapple 4y ago
Which parts of Nevada are below sea level? Lowest point IIRC is around 400ft.
- thehappypm 4y ago
  Not anywhere near where the people live, that’s for sure. Reno: 4500’ Vegas: 2000’ that’s a huge amount of potential energy to pump water from the sea
  - ac29 4y ago
    Plus the whole Sierra Nevada mountains thing. Between Sacramento and Reno Interstate 80 peaks over 7000 feet.

yellowapple 4y ago

California's existing aqueduct system already moves water over greater distances. If Northern California can supply Southern California's water, then so can Coastal California supply water for Inland California and beyond. Hell... Lake Lahontan. Megalake. Barely alive. Gentlemen, we can refill it. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic lake. Lake Lahontan will be that lake. Better than it was before. Wider. Deeper. Wetter. jazzy intro music

jdsully 4y ago
There's the small problem of it being much more difficult for water to go up a mountain than down it.
- yellowapple 4y ago
  That's where Nevada being a giant blob of untapped geothermal energy (not to mention open desert for solar and nuclear) comes in.
- bsagdiyev 4y ago
  I mean the aqueduct system already pumps water up 1900 feet over the Tehachapi mountains[0], so that might be hard but feasible. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmonston_Pumping_Plant https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmonston_Pumping_Plant

bcrosby95 4y ago

It also makes no sense because it would be cheaper and easier to just ween California off the Colorado river which already passes through Nevada and other states in the southwest. I think this is the easiest solution to the water problem there. You already effectively have a massive pipeline in the form of a river. Luckily, the state with coastal access has the highest water allocation for it.

biztos 4y ago
So we sell them the water from the Colorado river, and use the money to build power plants there, with which we will power our expanded desalination for the benefit of agribusiness foreign and domestic? I mean, it would probably work, right?