mississippi river

[porthos]

strange question, but, maybe not. read something about diverting water from the mississippi river to the dry west. the drought has been going on for 20+- years. what makes the government think that it will stop. the river is going to flow into the ocean anyway. so, why not use it in the west. i live in the east; so it won't affect me. the cost would be most likely in the billions or more. but, could it be done? one last thing. i belive that california residents are limited to watering their lawns to 3 times a week. how about NOT AT ALL!! anyone that has a green lawn would pay a large fine.

[dverna]

I do not water my lawn. It goes dormant during the dry hot months.

Not sure the elites would want that.

[metricmonkeywrench]

California has resources but chooses to continue to overpopulate and mismanage their own resources. It has gotten so bad at one point they wanted the Federal Government to force surrounding states to give them their water resources. About all of the states declined.

IMHO they should be given nothing ever, and i still have family out there. Their Governor and boot licking administration and happy faces in LA and San Fran just seem to be hell bent on destroying their state to achieve some sort of happy place nirvana.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I have asked the same question for many years. In China an engineer drew just such a plan. They dug canals to send flood water to areas that needed it. We could use billions of dollars we spend on foreign aid that goes to countries that hate us. I have gravel instead of grass.

[trebor44]

The Federal gov't created the current situation in Cali. Cali has plans on the books to steal water from everywhere in the western US and Canada with the aid of the Federal gov't. Water in West has a long and less than nice history. Lots of resource material to be researched if you are willing to read and learn!

[GOPHER SLAYER]

The Federal gov't created the current situation in Cali. Cali has plans on the books to steal water from everywhere in the western US and Canada with the aid of the Federal gov't. Water in West has a long and less than nice history. Lots of resource material to be researched if you are willing to read and learn!

We know about the history of water in California. It has been going on for a very long time. I have seen pictures of National Guard soldiers from Arizona and California armed with machine guns facing each other across the Colorada river. We also know what Mulholland did too the Owens Valley by stealing the water in the Owens Lake. the area became a dust bowl. The water he stole made Los Angelos possible.

[beshears]

California will not build a desalination plant because it would not look nice and they want our water.

[gpidaho]

Many years ago there was a plan to divert Idaho water south to California. Thankfully that failed when they came up against our attorney general and very strong water rights law. Side effect, lots of them moved up here and now some of the best farm land in America is covered by LoCal style subdivisions. Gp

[Handloader109]

Couldn't easily get past the mountains. Ain't their water. They should all have rock yards and zero grass. It's dry here in AR and we aren't trying to steal water that doesn't belong to up...

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[fastdadio]

They're eyeballin the great lakes also...
Whiskey is fer drinking, water is for fightin over.

[baogongmeo]

strange question, but, maybe not. read something about diverting water from the mississippi river to the dry west. the drought has been going on for 20+- years. what makes the government think that it will stop. the river is going to flow into the ocean anyway. so, why not use it in the west. i live in the east; so it won't affect me. the cost would be most likely in the billions or more. but, could it be done? one last thing. i belive that california residents are limited to watering their lawns to 3 times a week. how about NOT AT ALL!! anyone that has a green lawn would pay a large fine.

Is California going to pay for it? Or do you expect the other 49 states to pay almost all of the tab for a project that would be 100s of times larger than when the Panama Canal was built and solely for California's benefit? What about the 1000s of land owners that would have their property taken solely to benefit California? That post was the most retarded thing I've read all day and that's saying something.

[country gent]

Back when most of California was settled trees and vegetation were planted to slow evaporation and help increase rainfall. They tore these out to make room for the super cities and putting it back in the shape it was in. Its now to the point with lack of vegetation that some areas get 1/4" of rain mudslides result. They have made the mess let them fix it.

[farmbif]

who knows what might happen when everyone can no longer get farm raised products as a result of drought and prices for the limited foods that are grown have an effect on your bank account.
california grows a huge percentage of the crops that all of us consume

[farmbif]

I remember my great uncle who traveled all around to see other farms back in the 50's and 60's and I'll never forget how he described the California farmland having loam that was yards deep unlike most of the rest of the country that has loam topsoil that is inches deep. the midwest is the bread basket but California is the vegetable basket of the country

[baogongmeo]

How much agricultural acreage would be lost building this canal for California? Sure doesn't seem fair to the states that are losing acreage as well as mega tax dollars.
Maybe California could be a little more responsible with their water usage... 30 years ago, flying over LA, the number of backyard swimming pools was mind boggling. Isn't a large portion of their vegetable irrigation done by flood irrigation? I would think that has to be wasteful especially in a low humidity environment.

Imagine if the state would have built reservoirs to capture run-off from rain and snowmelt. Hell, Sacramento has levees to keep it from being flooded like NOLA. Naw, lets just let all this water flow out into the ocean, even though we need it.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

The Mississippi River? Dang that's a long way to dig a canal or run a pipeline.
Why doesn't CA just make the water? I mean, it just hydrogen and oxygen, how hard could it be to make?

[porthos]

a lot of coments but nothing about how fesable the project would be.

[Mal Paso]

At the shooting range this morning I brought up getting rid of sacramento but quickly agreed that LA and san francisco had to go too. Lots of different people here, different situations. We pump our own water and after treatment it goes back in the ground.

DO NOT SEND WATER! Did you NEVER SEE GREMLINS?

[farmbif]

all I know for sure is the broccoli I got at Walmart today came from California , and I can't grow broccoli that is as good, so keep it coming if you can. I wouldn't want to try and tell California how to manage water the same way it would not be right for Californians to tell us what to do with the Cherokee forest or the smokies here in tenneseee or the water in the Tennessee river or its tributaries

[MaLar]

I do not water my lawn. It goes dormant during the dry hot months.

Not sure the elites would want that.

Not many people know that they see their lawn turn brown and water even more. Not knowing it's a waste. When the weather cools the green grass comes back.

[megasupermagnum]

The Mississippi River? Dang that's a long way to dig a canal or run a pipeline.
Why doesn't CA just make the water? I mean, it just hydrogen and oxygen, how hard could it be to make?

They don't even have to do that much. All they have to do is get the salt out of their ocean water. But no, all they have is a bunch of crying about how expensive and bad for the environment desalination plants are while completely ignoring the fact that they live in a barren pit themselves. I've seen the Colorado river at various points from the headwaters to Yuma, AZ. The first time I went to Yuma I didn't even realize it was a river. I thought it was a drainage ditch. California can cry me a river, it's absolutely embarrassing they have been allowed to rape this country as bad as they have.

[rancher1913]

a lot of coments but nothing about how fesable the project would be.

really. unless you start way up north you will not have enough elevation to flow to california. without gravity flow you would need massive pumps that require massive amounts of electricity (thats the stuff we already are short on). lastly who is going to fund this folly, dang sure wont be california.

we grew everything that california grows in almost every state, just california was cheaper so the other states stopped trying to compete. we could very easily go back to other states growing actual food again.

colorado already pipes water from the colorado river to denver, it flows through a huge tunnel and dumps into the big thompson, and california can go suck a lemon if they think they can take that back.

[megasupermagnum]

really. unless you start way up north you will not have enough elevation to flow to california. without gravity flow you would need massive pumps that require massive amounts of electricity (thats the stuff we already are short on). lastly who is going to fund this folly, dang sure wont be california.

we grew everything that california grows in almost every state, just california was cheaper so the other states stopped trying to compete. we could very easily go back to other states growing actual food again.

colorado already pipes water from the colorado river to denver, it flows through a huge tunnel and dumps into the big thompson, and california can go suck a lemon if they think they can take that back.

Not even that would work. The Mississippi in Minnesota is tiny. Those pigs would have the headwaters in Itasca dry in a day. I don't think the river gets over about 8 or 10 feet deep anywhere in the state I've seen. Lake Pepin is deeper, but doesn't really count. It isn't until you get to Missouri that the river gets big.

[jsizemore]

If the water gets diverted to Cal, how do the commodities grown along the Mississippi get to the La. delta?

[shaggybull]

We just finished what the "State" calls water adjudication lasted 41 years they gave the water to tribe outside of irrigation season. 75% of the watershed is off the reservation, but they get all the water. We have two creeks that won't see water again until next year one is 8 miles long the other 14. The riparian zone along both creeks are dying.

[Thundarstick]

Most of the water in the Mississippi River comes from the Missouri, and Ohio Rivers. The Missouri River supplies the mud, and guess where that delta dirt started is journey from?

Build a couple of nuclear power plants to power desalination plants and let the water flow!

[baogongmeo]

If the water gets diverted to Cal, how do the commodities grown along the Mississippi get to the La. delta?

Come on man... Here's the deal...California is what's important not the rest of the country!

[Bmi48219]

They knew 40 years ago they were drying up the aquifers. Just kept developing more tracts and drilling deeper. The developers lied, bribed and blackmailed to keep going.
Now they want everyone else to pay to fix the problem.
California needs to start sleeping in the bed they made.

[GregLaROCHE]

California will not build a desalination plant because it would not look nice and they want our water.

Plans for building one are already in the works. They have no choice. It or they would be a lot cheaper than making water run uphill.

[bedbugbilly]

I thought there was a mass migration go Kalifornians from the elite Socialist Republik of Kalifornia . . . common sense says less population of sheep willing to follow a Judas Goat equals less consumption of water which, in turn, equals less need. Besides, getting the water from the Mississippi to the far west would require building "pipelines" and we all know that pipelines are "taboo".

[MUSTANG]

California has resources but chooses to continue to overpopulate and mismanage their own resources. It has gotten so bad at one point they wanted the Federal Government to force surrounding states to give them their water resources. About all of the states declined.

IMHO they should be given nothing ever, and i still have family out there. Their Governor and boot licking administration and happy faces in LA and San Fran just seem to be hell bent on destroying their state to achieve some sort of happy place nirvana.


And at the same time California was/is again diverting fresh water to run to the Ocean to address Greenies concerns about small Dace, Shad and other fish.

P.S. In the Muddy River behind the house we have Moapa Dace Fish. It's endangered!! Only difference between it and other Dace Fish in the West is it has one more Dorsal Spine than the other do!.

[trebor44]

California produce was 'cheaper' because agri-business was HEAVILY subsidized with low cost water provided by the Federal/State government aka the taxpayer. Don't fool yourself that the food comes only from Cali, check the point of origin not the company brand!

[MUSTANG]

Correct, the Fed/State Governments paid some fantastic amounts for "Water Impoundment and Diversion" from the early 1900's to now. Farmers benefitted immensely and were encouraged to "Claim" and settle lands in the west as these dams/diversions occurred. The truth is though; that the Dams and Diversions were because off massive flooding issues; not farming - that was a secondary benefit from the programs. We had a President who's ascendancy came from his advocacy of and oversight of Flood Control Programs in the west - His Name was Hoover. The Demi-God Roosevelt hated Hoover with a passion; refused to let the Name "Hoover Dam" be used.

[ebb]

The Glades in florida can produce good vegetables, but the ground to do it on is being used to grow sugar cane. Federal government give a big subsidy to make it all possible. All this has been going on since the 60s to put Fedel castro out of business. It hasn't worked but still they pay and good food is not produced.

[Eddie17]

Have you tried growing you own?

[popper]

california grows a huge percentage of the crops that all of us consume
Yup, when all the Okies went west. Most of Ca was previously DESERT!

[Hogtamer]

Geology and geography agree: Southern California has been and remains part of the desert southwest.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

strange question, but, maybe not. read something about diverting water from the mississippi river to the dry west. the drought has been going on for 20+- years. what makes the government think that it will stop. the river is going to flow into the ocean anyway. so, why not use it in the west. i live in the east; so it won't affect me. the cost would be most likely in the billions or more. but, could it be done? one last thing. i belive that california residents are limited to watering their lawns to 3 times a week. how about NOT AT ALL!! anyone that has a green lawn would pay a large fine.


a lot of coments but nothing about how fesable the project would be.

Feasible? Absolutely NOT!

But, originally you asked, "could it be done?"
well, yes, it could, I mean we put men on the Moon ...allegedly.

[quilbilly]

It is wayyyy too late for this kind of thing! According to tree ring data, there have been several droughts like this that have lasted over 75 years during the last several thousand years with the most recent about 500 years ago. That drought lowered Lake Tahoe over 150 feet feet below current level and actually allowed a forest to grow at that level (the dead forest is still there and has been researched). Upon seeing the research on that sunken forest, the California water resources agency speculated in a Sacramento Bee article that there would only be enough water per year in California to support a population of 10 million, less than 1/3 of today. The next shoe to drop will be in about 14 months when Lake Mead drops so far that it will no longer prodruce electricity for the SW or drinking water for Las Vegas. On the upside, those droughts apparently make the PacNW wetter and cooler leading to much better conditions for salmon.

[MUSTANG]

Porthos:

It is possible - Desirable; no.

Diversion of water could at times impact the Barge Traffic on the Mississippi; particularly as it gets into the New Orleans Region (New Orleans is not at the mouth of the Mississippi; rather it is about 50 miles above the mouth).

Diversion of the Mississippi would require one of two options. (a) Damming the Mississippi or (b) Pumps extracting water and pushing it up hill, across the Delta/Great Plains/Texas Hill Country & Rockies, and also the Sierras if California is to get it's "Fair Share". They barely win the battle with Levy's on the Mississippi; a dam would not cut it. (b) We have a country complaining about Hydrocarbon and Nuclear based power - how is a photovoltaic or wind array going to pan out for pumping that water over those distances & elevations? (Maybe we could just use the power from the Tesla my wife gave back to son #2 in the San Francisco area after trying it during the winter. After all, the electric cars are going to solve it all too).

Possible - yes. Prudent - no. Better options - Yes. (Can you say U-Haul).

[MaryB]

Reduce Mississippi River flow and it will silt up so bad barge traffic can't move. Plus the river delta in Louisiana would start to erode away without the silt deposition. They are seeing this already from digging barge canals that shifted where the silt went and now some outer barrier islands are eroding away and during a hurricane they help moderate storm surge...

[quilbilly]

These extreme droughts seem to be the result of cooler than normal ocean temperatures at the Equator of the Pacific and we are currently in the third extreme year of such a cycle. It is an extreme La Nina cycle although in the last week, conditions on the Equator have improved slightly but that won't matter until this fall to S. California. Indicators elsewhere in the world seems to lead to another couple years of SW drought at least. For the record as a former fish biologist, I follow ocean conditions year around to project future salmon returns to Washington, Oregon, and S. British Columbia to assist my customers planning future business moves. Knowing the natural history of salmon related to tree rings and ancient pollen from swamps helps keep things in perspective. Don't ask me how this stuff works. I am not an astro physicist, just an old, broke down fish biologist.

[Thundarstick]

California produce was 'cheaper' because agri-business was HEAVILY subsidized with low cost water provided by the Federal/State government aka the taxpayer. Don't fool yourself that the food comes only from Cali, check the point of origin not the company brand!

Rite here in West Tennessee! https://pictsweetfarms.com/

[Bmi48219]

Every geographic area has limiting climactic and /or geographic conditions. Hawaii has volcanoes, Florida has hurricanes, NOLA is built in a bowl, DC is built on a swamp, Tornado Alley, etc.
All of which are beyond the abilities of mankind to mitigate. Ignoring these conditions for fun and profit is bound to have an ultimate cost.
Adequate fresh water has been a known issue for California for seven decades. Yet state, county and municipal authorities continue to permit development knowing the well is dry. It’s one thing for the government to provide emergency aid after a catastrophe. Quite another to expect the national population to make lifelong installment payments bankrolling a guaranteed regional loser forever.

We live in Florida. We, (our HO insurance provider, and tax assessor) are well aware of the risks. I understand there are areas of volcanic activity in Hawaii where building is not permitted or, if it is, HO insurance is not available. Having known for decades how scarce water is, what would be unreasonable about taxing property in arid zones to fund a means of mitigating water shortages?
The devastation of Dust Storms in the 1930s (which incidentally sparked a massive migration to California) resulted in Soil Conservation Acts. Federal money was spent but in the end mandatory agricultural changes (an expense born by local farmers) were pushed out to prevent a reoccurrence. As others have stated plenty of Federal money has been spent on supplying water for California, but the problem is worse because development is allowed to continue.
The cost of living and / or operating a business in California should include the cost of supplying water consumed. If produce prices rise because of it there are other states that grow produce.

[fastdadio]

Boycotting Kali produce for years has been no problem for my household. Just read the labels and decide where you want to spend your money.

[baogongmeo]

I read on another forum that Cali has a plan in the works to tax the water people pump out of their privately owned wells.

[Winger Ed.]

I read on another forum that Cali has a plan in the works to tax the water people pump out of their privately owned wells.

They must have people out there that stay up at night trying to figure out how to pay for all the free stuff the govt. gives away.

[Bmi48219]

They must have people out there that stay up at night trying to figure out how to pay for all the free stuff the govt. gives away.

While they’re watering their lawns.