Water from the Great Lakes or Pacific NW

[wildeyes]

So true Dean

 

[johnr]

Removing salt from ocean water is the easiest and cheapest way.

The world is something like 80% water, seems we should not ever be running out of it. How difficult can salt removal be when we can take a shit in the toilet, and turn that shit water into beer?

Someone must be holding out on us? am I wrong?

Not a water expert, but not a retard either(well maybe I am, would I really know if I was one?)

 

[Allen]

too expensive

I think it would be cheaper to find a way to use sea water. Haven't we figured out a way to filter/purify ocean water yet? Can't you distill it? Seems like it would be cheaper than piping over the Rockies.

Desalination of water is very expensive compared to pretty much everything else. Very energy intensive.

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been pondering this for a few years since the big drought infiltrated the SW. but, has anyone ever heard of or had any discussions regarding the possibility of piping water from the great lakes or the pacific NW to other parts of the country. i know it wouldn't be an easy or cheap endeavor. but, the amount of freshwater in those lakes and in the NW is almost incomprehensible. given the role water plays in our survival and even the economic security of this country, i think a good argument could be made that it would be money well spent. maybe get great lakes water to the great plains and Pacific NW water to california?

costs would likely be in the hundreds of billions initially and probably tens of millions each year to pump it uphill in various places. but, it doesn't seem completely out of the question in my mind. we pump oil all over the place.

just for discussions sake... thoughts?

Costs are astronomical no matter how you shake it. The NW water supply to California is the brainchild of William Shatthimself. He is already trying to raise money, I think around $4 billion to give to California to make it happen. Stranger things have happened, but given the plight of the salmon stocks that depend on the NW rivers and the highly desired nature of keeping salmon a viable commercial AND sport fishery, this ain't happening anytime soon.

The other idea in your post comes from a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers idea back in the 70s or 80s. Take water from the Great Lakes and place it into the Mississippi River, let it flow down to St. Louis (??) and then canal it out to the Colorado River to make use of the existing infrastructure for water supply to Vegas and California. That got shelved a long, long time ago. Fraught with environmental concerns like ANS.

I will say this though, water has always moved in the direction of a decrease in head (this makes it very much unmanly). The one thing that has been known to overcome this fundamental physical property of water is the power of money. So in some respects, it is well known in both scientific and lay communities that it takes copious quantities of money to provide more head which in turn gets water to where you want it.

We can let guywhofishes or weedy go into the details on this, if they so choose.

 

[Captain Ahab]

enough dynamite and California and mexico could become their own island. oh and lets keep our water

Losing Pelosi would about cover the collateral damage. If Reid was over for tea and crumpets, it would definitely be covered.

 

[NJL]

Sorry, but i have little empathy for those that built in harsh environments and then bitch and moan when things get bad. The drought stricken areas of Cali were built in arid climates at best, desert at worst. They then proceeded to drain any underground reserves they had to grow crops not meant for that area, have lush green lawns, and support an ever growing population of sheeple. So i say, let them lie in the bed they made.

 

[dean nelson]

Desalination of water is very expensive compared to pretty much everything else. Very energy intensive.

So is Bakken oil....but eventually cheap water will go the way of cheap oil and desalination will become economically viable compared to traditional sources.

 

[lunkerslayer]

https://kfgo.com/2021/08/03/385671/
They are talking about the freshwater pipeline again in the local news
With North Dakota in the midst of a prolonged dry spell not seen in years, officials are promoting a decades-long idea of piping Missouri River water across the state to central and eastern North Dakota to combat future drought conditions there, especially in Fargo.

A groundbreaking is planned Tuesday near Carrington to mark the start of pipeline construction for the Red River Valley Water Supply Project, a more than $1 billion project that still faces huge funding and legal hurdles before even a drop of water from the river can be tapped for emergencies during an extended drought.

According to Kimberly Cook, a spokeswoman for the project, the project would draw water from the Missouri River south of Washburn, where it would be sent 167 miles through a 72-inch diameter buried steel pipe, at a rate of more than 74,000 gallons a minute. It would empty near Cooperstown into the Sheyenne River and ultimately spill into the north-flowing Red River.

The North Dakota Legislature this year appropriated $50 million toward the project and $30 million two years ago. The money has allowed some work to be done at the intake structure near Washburn, the discharge structure near Cooperstown, and a little more than a mile of pipeline placement south of Carrington.

Backers have set a goal of completing the project by the end of the decade.
Does anyone think this has a chance and maybe this is the reason why Hoeven and Cramer votes yes on the infrastructure bill? Hmmm deep thoughts

 

[Mr. Stevenson]

Isn't this what happened prior to 2011? I'm thinking de-sal plants pumping into the Great Lakes and additional pipeline offshoots. Might save Obama's house and restore the Salton Sea.

 

[Allen]

At $25 million a year, this won't be finished anytime soon. Even if the State is able to negotiate the legal hurdles.

 

[NDSportsman]

Meanwhile Fargo residents continue to waste water for green lawns during a drought......;:;banghead

 

[guywhofishes]

my lawn might be pretty much dead

 

[martinslanding]

Meanwhile Fargo residents continue to waste water for green lawns during a drought......;:;banghead

... but if my lawn is green, then it doesn't look like a drought

 

[snow1]

lake superior is so polluted since the 70's,"taconite mining" tailing's pumped into this beautiful lake for many years not fit for human consumption to this day,but this is from my older generation,as far as our young snowflakes go,bet they are loading water jugs daily,as the crystal blue lake superior water looks so pristine,lot's of history regarding lake superior water shed,most of which forgotten.

 

[Duckslayer100]

Meanwhile Fargo residents continue to waste water for green lawns during a drought......;:;banghead

Speak for yourself. One stray spark and my whole yard will go up in flames.

 

[snow1]

Speak for yourself. One stray spark and my whole yard will go up in flames.

Ageed slayer,mine is dryer than a popcorn fart too,not sure if it will make a come back,but the crab grass is a healthy lime green ...

 

[Traxion]

Cali would have plenty of water if they just let agriculture die....

This is the elephant in the room nobody is talking about, or not enough. 70% of the water going to Arizona gets used for agriculture. Add in ridiculous subsidies for crops like cotton and they end up watering the desert to grow crops where there should be none. Maybe I should plant some citrus trees, irrigate like crazy, and then setup up huge gas heaters in the winter to keep them growing? It just doesn't make sense, but we reward it. Add in residential sprawl in arid areas and you have a totally human caused water shortage. Areas like St. George UT are growing at a crazy pace and have no water. But they have golf courses like crazy that have to stay green! It's tough to say "no" in America to someone's livelihood, but some has to start. It's like a spending account, if you are overspending what you are putting in you will eventually run out. We somehow haven't figured that out with water.

 

[zoops]

Real bad part is we can't just print more water...

 

[Migrator Man]

lake superior is so polluted since the 70's,"taconite mining" tailing's pumped into this beautiful lake for many years not fit for human consumption to this day,but this is from my older generation,as far as our young snowflakes go,bet they are loading water jugs daily,as the crystal blue lake superior water looks so pristine,lot's of history regarding lake superior water shed,most of which forgotten.

Tell that to Bemt Paddle Brewing, they brag about using water from Lake Superior……

 

[ORCUS DEMENS]

A while back someone tried to sneak a pipeline in from I believe Lake Michigan. He got caught and they shut him down. Besides invasives and pollution, the Great Lakes watershed is now covered under an International Agreement like the Souris/Mouse River. Water can only leave the watershed under agreement of all parties to that compact. So good luck trying to have water diverted from that watershed. Arid and Semi Arid areas have seen population booms over the last one hundred years. This coincides with the wettest hundred years in these regions. There will be a population migration out of these regions as the resources can not support the populations. These areas already have some of the highest recycling rates of sanitary sewage to near potable water and they still do not have enough.

 

[Lycanthrope]

Meanwhile Fargo residents continue to waste water for green lawns during a drought......;:;banghead

Putting water on your lawn is no more a waste than breathing oxygen, actually less, because the water still remains water after you put it on the lawn. Only time it would be wasteful is if there was a limited amount available, meaning, you are taking water away from someone that wants to drink it or bathe with it, but in the case of fargo and bismarck, we have essentially unlimited supplies of water, constrained only by our mechanical ability to process it, which of course takes some resources, but the water isnt the limiting factor in that equation...

Sorry for the rant, but when people complain about wasting water, it sets me off a bit!