Wyoming, the Cowboy State, is at the other end of the Colorado River from the Imperial Valley. Its Green River starts high on the western slopes of the Wind River Mountains, and as the largest tributary to the Colorado River, plays a major role in sending us water 1400 miles away.
In part one of this article, I covered the American West’s water problems, as well as some of the ways they have been solved with big engineering projects so far. Now, with climate change and growth both pushing the limits of water supplies, people are asking for even bigger projects, like a pipeline from the Mississippi River to somewhere in the Colorado River’s basin. Let’s talk about those ideas, even bigger ones, and why none of them might be a good idea.
Arizona state legislators asked Congress to consider a pipeline that dumps Mississippi water into the Green River, but there are alternate possibilities.
The water rights behind the proposed Lake Powell pipeline are not actually coming from the project’s namesake lake, but rather from the major reservoir upstream on the Green River.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
