Posted on 12/12/2012 4:21:46 PM PST by Uncle Chip
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The federal government isn't going to tap the Missouri River to slake the thirst of a drought-parched Southwest, the government's top water official said Wednesday.
But rising demand and falling supply have water managers in the arid West considering a host of other options to deal with dire projections that the Colorado River — the main water supply for a region larger than the country of France — won't be able over the next 50 years to meet demands of a regional population now about 40 million and growing.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar issued what he termed "a call to action" with a three-year study of the river, its flows and its ability to meet the future needs of city-dwellers, Native Americans, businesses, ranchers and farmers in seven Western states.
"We are in a troubling trajectory in the Colorado River basin, as well as the Rio Grande basin," Salazar told reporters on a conference call outlining the math in the findings of the Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study.
Salazar, who oversees water managers and dam operators at the federal Bureau of Reclamation, dismissed as politically and technically impractical some ideas in the study, including piping water from the nation's heartland or towing Arctic icebergs south to help such thirsty U.S. cities as Denver, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Phoenix. He said he wanted to focus instead on "solutions that are out there that will help us."
"There is no one solution that is going to meet the needs of this challenge," Salazar said. "We need to reduce our demand through conservation. We also need to augment supply with practical measures."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
The only solution is Agenda 21. Read Glenn Beck’s latest book by that name for a realistic portrayal how that will work out.
The best first thing to do is to keep Salazar the hell away from it.
I don't know what you've been smoking but it's legal now in AZ with a prescription.
CHIP,
This is a problem of engineering, not history. Where should these millions of people go? Even the Romans could master remote water supplies, and that was thousands of years ago. I think it would be far cheaper to solve the supply problem than it would be to relocate millions of people. (not that you’re suggesting that, but what are you suggesting?) Should we be taxed higher? Should I not be allowed to golf? Perhaps no plant life in the yard? My kids should never enjoy a pool? Limit my HVAC usage? Let me ask you, what does your particular region lack in natural resources? I am willing to pay the rates required to keep the supply going. Scottsdale is where I live. If they need to build a pipeline, that should be part of or bill instead of half of our police department being paid from that coffer, but moving to Colorado or Mississippi is out of the question.
wrong border...
in my limited understanding, colorado is authorized ~ 3.86 Million acre feet, but usually takes only ~ 2 million acre feet. Thus, the state could just about double its take within the compact. California has been getting a lot of free water - that may be ending.
That would explain this:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2058828/posts
and it ain’t gonna be even as cheap as piping water in from hundreds miles away.
They would have to build a canal, think shovel ready
jobs.
That’s all fine and well but what happens when there is no further supply to pipe in. In years past it might have been just a matter of raising rates and building another canal or pipeline, but what happens when there is no supply to build the pipeline to. The people who live in Washington, Montana, Idaho, Nebraska, Colorado,.... especially in drought years may want to keep their water in state so they can play golf and fish and grow crops and boating. They may not want to sell it to Arizona at any price.
Ken Salazar just made a marine wilderness or some such in one of the bluest parts of CA and I’m sure that he cares less about AZ than he does Marin County CA, which is full of rich Obama donors. Check out what he just did with the oyster company on Drake’s Bay. Took their 100 year old business using false science as a basis.
I’m sure Scottsdale is a much holier place for the enviros than the bay, don’t ya think?
Glen Canyon’s on the Utah/Arizona border.
I bet the "Iceberg Hunters" could do it!
"Ya, all we got to do is figure out how to get dem bergy bits into da boat ya know"
google {two forks dam project} The greenies and anarchists are always there to stop it.
My mistake. I read the question as "Utah/Arizona border".
Then we’ll make a deal with Canada.
Why not — since that’s where all those Canadian snowbirds spend their winters.
Tell them all to bring full canteens when they come.
I’ve heard of a plan (don’t know if it’s actually come to pass or not) to pipe water from the Colorado River watershed to Denver.
Also Arizona cotton farmers don’t want to use CAP water - it’s too expensive.
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