LA, Los Vegas, Scottsdale, etc.

[Raul-02]

articles about building an aquaduct

Because of political stupidity, California hasn't had a major water works project in decades. I sort of wonder about the possibility of such a move. I mean the kind of people who are choking CA won't be moved by anything less than children dying of thirst in the SW. And then it'd be grudging and miserly.
I've thought that we in the sodden northeast could easily fill pipelines of water and not miss a bit of it. I have so much water on my property that it is a serious problem. I'd love to sell the water to someone. I offered Nestle an opportunity to take water on whatever terms they'd want; they declined.
Maybe if the SW becomes desperate enough I'll end up with buyers.

 

[alexpops]

Am I the only one surprised that desalination of seawater hasn't become a bigger thing today? I don't know if it happens on a large scale anywhere. Hmm.

Incredibly expensive and energy intensive. Reverse Osmosis is probably the most practical approach, but that takes extremely clean water & high pressure to separate the water from the salt molecules. So long pipes to get away from coastal contamination are necessary to keep from clogging the RO membranes. Slightly less dependant on water quality is vacuum distilling (like done on Cruise ships), but that takes more energy to create the vacuum & heat the seawater. Couple all that with the fact that the nearest "seawater" is the California coast, and you have the problem of tree huggers complaining that the excess salinity from the discharge is affecting the mating habits of the mudboring vomit worm or some other "endangered" species.

UAE & some of the other Arab Oil/Gas exporters do use DeSal on a large scale, but the fuel to produce the electricity to run the pumps is essentially free to them. CA would never allow oil & gas to be used to create the electricity necessary to run large scale DeSal ... besides, they don't have the generating capacity to maintain current (much less projected -- post EV only mandate) demand on the grid. Mexico could certainly take on the project, but they would need to clean up their sewage overflow problems first, & that has always been a low priority for them except around the higher end tourist destinations (Cabo/Acapulco). SO Cal beaches regularly get closed when Tiajuana sewage gets brought up by the tides.

 

[orezok]

I offered Nestle an opportunity to take water on whatever terms they'd want; they declined.

Yeah, I don’t think i would want to drink any water from the chemical waste capital of the world.

 

[Raul-02]

"Yeah, I don’t think i would want to drink any water from the chemical waste capital of the world."
Ohio and western PA have that honor. The really nasty stuff was being rejected by Joizey long long ago and they drove it further west.

But you do what civil engineers say the answer is don't ya?
"The solution to pollution is dilution."
Dilute it enough and nature can handle it.
Dump enough and Nature will learn how to consume it. Organisms that never expressed the capability before are now consuming waste plastics and they are doing it all on their own.

 

[fishheadbob]

I would think that those folks who moved out of the rust belt a few years, decades, or generations ago ought to be packing up relatively soon. Every once in a while some desert state floats the idea of buying up some Great Lakes water and piping it to them. It's a great idea if you don't live in an area dependent on GL water but a tough sell for us locals. With climate change and rising temperatures Southwesterners use increasing amounts of water and electricity, both in very short supply, to combat temperatures well in excess of 110 degrees.
I feel for those people, meanwhile development continues at high speed in areas that can no longer provide the most basic necessity there is.

 

[bcp]

Pay a reward and moving expenses for people to leave.



Bruce

 

[Torvy]

I never understood how downstream people in California had a higher priority to the Colorado than the upstream people. The really should stop allowing more than a trickle out of Lake Mead and Lake Powell until they are filled up.

 

[bcp]

I never understood how downstream people in California had a higher priority to the Colorado than the upstream people. The really should stop allowing more than a trickle out of Lake Mead and Lake Powell until they are filled up.

From:

Sharing Colorado River Water: History, Public Policy and the Colorado River Compact

wrrc.arizona.edu

U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 1922 that the law of prior appropriation applied regardless of state lines. A fast-growing state, i.e. California, could then establish priority use of Colorado River water to the extreme disadvantage of slower growing states in the upper basin.

Prior-appropriation water rights - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Bruce

 

[Oaktree]

Pay a reward and moving expenses for people to leave.

So where you you have them move? Don't want 'em here.

I've thought that we in the sodden northeast could easily fill pipelines of water and not miss a bit of it. I have so much water on my property that it is a serious problem.

While a far cry from the drought that western states are seeing, not all of the northeast is exactly "sodden" either. Snowfall has been well below average the last few years, and we've had drier than normal summers lately.

 

[BravoXray]

Pay a reward and moving expenses for people to leave.



Bruce

Good grief, don't send any of them to Indiana.