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Everyone in that geographic area. We don’t have any ability to move water across the country at present. Nor should we. There is no reason to build pipelines t

Everyone in that geographic area. We don’t have any ability to move water across the country at present. Nor should we. There is no reason to build pipelines to send fresh water to the desert.

s1artibartfast 4y ago
Why not? It is a hell of a lot cheaper than moving people to the fresh water.
- parkingrift 4y ago
  In the long run it isn’t.
  - s1artibartfast 4y ago
    I don't think that is at all clear. Building a pipeline has a financial and environmental cost, but so does moving 10s of millions of people.
    - elmomle 4y ago
      There are only two sources of water that are "free" (as in not already heavily taxed for human use) and that would really move the needle on the Southwest's water supply: the Canadian Pacific Northwest (Yukon & McKenzie River Watersheds) or, even more quixotic, the Mississippi. To move that water, in either case, you have to maintain a sufficient drop in your canals/pipes to keep water flowing and prevent sediment buildup. This means that building a flat tunnel across 1000 miles, including through mountains (already an obscenely expensive proposition) is out of the question--you have to pump water up to allow it to flow downward. The energy costs--to speak of nothing else--would be incomprehensible. IIRC, damming up every possible spot in North America wouldn't suffice to provide the energy required. More to the point, we've already put way more water in the desert than was ever there naturally, and we've irrigated perhaps 10% of it. People always want more. We've already surpassed the long-term carrying capacity of all watersheds within 500+ miles. If we pump more water in from elsewhere, we're just kicking the real problem down the road and making it worse for a future generation. There will never be enough water. I highly recommend reading Cadillac Desert, it really clarifies this issue.

Everyone in that geographic area. We don’t have any ability to move water across the country at present. Nor should we. There is no reason to build pipelines to send fresh water to the desert.

s1artibartfast 4y ago

Why not? It is a hell of a lot cheaper than moving people to the fresh water.

parkingrift 4y ago
In the long run it isn’t.
- s1artibartfast 4y ago
  I don't think that is at all clear. Building a pipeline has a financial and environmental cost, but so does moving 10s of millions of people.
  - elmomle 4y ago
    There are only two sources of water that are "free" (as in not already heavily taxed for human use) and that would really move the needle on the Southwest's water supply: the Canadian Pacific Northwest (Yukon & McKenzie River Watersheds) or, even more quixotic, the Mississippi. To move that water, in either case, you have to maintain a sufficient drop in your canals/pipes to keep water flowing and prevent sediment buildup. This means that building a flat tunnel across 1000 miles, including through mountains (already an obscenely expensive proposition) is out of the question--you have to pump water up to allow it to flow downward. The energy costs--to speak of nothing else--would be incomprehensible. IIRC, damming up every possible spot in North America wouldn't suffice to provide the energy required. More to the point, we've already put way more water in the desert than was ever there naturally, and we've irrigated perhaps 10% of it. People always want more. We've already surpassed the long-term carrying capacity of all watersheds within 500+ miles. If we pump more water in from elsewhere, we're just kicking the real problem down the road and making it worse for a future generation. There will never be enough water. I highly recommend reading Cadillac Desert, it really clarifies this issue.