Colorado and the West is running out of water . . . (Denver: neighborhoods, new construction)

[Shuffler]

Originally Posted by kerrymac

Um how about we lay some pipes down like a Alaska pipe line but for water.
I am sure there are states around colorado that have "to much water" so maybe a smarter person then I can come up with a answer. Cause it seem to me in a world were we can do almost anything we put our minds to I think we can come up with a pipeline solution, no?
I mean there seems to be snow everywere so snow melt and goes somewere under ground, find it !

so rather than save money and learn to conserve and live with less, we waste money on projects that ensure continued misallocation and waste of natural resources? Good plan!

snowmelt/runoff patterns are changing because of air pollution and human activity. Seems that particles in the air blow through the mountains and settle on the snowpack, which darkens it and makes it absorb sunlight and thus evaporate more quickly and greatly diminishes the runoff as a result.

[kerrymac]

Good to know because thats were I am looking to move

[McGowdog]

Originally Posted by Shuffler

One of many last hurrahs for the Bush administration...slipping this type of thing under the radar at the last minute...

BLM allows oil shale demonstration in West - The Denver Post

What a waste.

And now I just heard that Sea Ice levels for the year 2008 ended right at the same point it was in 1979. What would old ManBearPig-"I'm Serial!" say about this? Wouldn't it be nice to tell Saudi Arabia to take a hike? I say let's do it. Somebody ramrod this project. What the heck. Maybe we'll see that Commercial that mimics the Wizard of Oz when everything goes from black and white to color!

We're outta the woods, we're outta the woods!

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by kerrymac

Um how about we lay some pipes down like a Alaska pipe line but for water.
I am sure there are states around colorado that have "to much water" so maybe a smarter person then I can come up with a answer. Cause it seem to me in a world were we can do almost anything we put our minds to I think we can come up with a pipeline solution, no?
I mean there seems to be snow everywere so snow melt and goes somewere under ground, find it !

And who is going to pay for it? The broke Federal government? How 'bout the broke states? How 'bout the mostly broke Americans who already hate taxes?

Get real, people. This is the kind of inane mindset that has gotten this country into the hell of mess that it's in.

Oh, and somebody from Staten Island--nearly surrounded by water--is now opining about Western water issues. Come spend over four decades living with and working with those issues in the arid West--then espouse an informed and intelligent opinion.

[Josseppie]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

And who is going to pay for it? The broke Federal government? How 'bout the broke states? How 'bout the mostly broke Americans who already hate taxes?

Get real, people. This is the kind of inane mindset that has gotten this country into the hell of mess that it's in.

Oh, and somebody from Staten Island--nearly surrounded by water--is now opining about Western water issues. Come spend over four decades living with and working with those issues in the arid West--then espouse an informed and intelligent opinion.

That post was a little late lol I already asked who would pay for it.

[McGowdog]

If you're going to pump water from point A to B, I'd study the possibility of tapping into the water that feeds the Missouri and the Mississippi prior to and during their flood season and use that water way up in the headwaters and somehow fill the aquafers and reservoirs in the arid West.

But it's kind of hard to pump water uphill. And you can't rollerskate on a buffalo herd.

Flashforward to Joss: Not what I was talking about. Pumping water uphill for 35 miles is feasible, doable. Try doing that across a couple states. That would be an accomplishment. Maybe use giant wind towers to both generate electricity AND pump that water West! That's it!

[Josseppie]

The springs is finding that out with the SDS.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by McGowdog

If you're going to pump water from point A to B, I'd study the possibility of tapping into the water that feeds the Missouri and the Mississippi prior to and during their flood season and use that water way up in the headwaters and somehow fill the aquafers and reservoirs in the arid West.

But it's kind of hard to pump water uphill. And you can't rollerskate on a buffalo herd.

Your ideas are not wacky. Either tap those sources or tap into some of Canada's water, gee, they only have 20% of all the fresh water in the world. I'm sure a deal can be made, and it would be a swell "made in America" public works project during the coming depression. Solutions are everywhere, we should be in the White House. I think moving water around is a fine way to solve problems; we've been doing it since the Roman times and BTW, the old Roman aqueducts still stand today and some are still in use. How's THAT for good public works. Those old Roman taxpayers got THEIR money's worth, ehh.

[Josseppie]

My thoughts on water availability is this.

The future is being able to use ocean water, right now its to expensive to get salt out of the ocean due to how much energy the process takes. That will change once we develop fusion power, then we will have all the cheap energy we need to take the salt out of water. Then places like California, Oregon, Arizona etc. can use ocean water freeing up more water for in land states.

Fusion is not that far away, only about 30-50 years. They are building a major facility in Europe now, look at this news report:

"France gets nuclear fusion plant

France will get to host the project to build a 10bn-euro (£6.6bn) nuclear fusion reactor, in the face of strong competition from Japan. The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (Iter) will be the most expensive joint scientific project after the International Space Station."

The link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4629239.stm

On Modern Marvels they talked about it and according to scientists it could be ready for mass use 20 years after this one is operational. Once that problem is solved then humans will have plenty of water for the next 1000 years and longer!

[Idunn]

Las Vegas, NV presently has such an idea. They need more water (or at least want it) and see no reason why the rural residents of northern Nevada and Utah shouldn't provide it:
Utahns opposed to Las Vegas water grab

Those residents like things the way they are and, aside from their livelihoods, would not like to see the resultant environmental effects this would cause. This in part a matter of proportion, but Las Vegas wants a lot of water and the Owens Valley of California testament to what the greed of another large city, Las Angeles, CA, brought about.

In short, all is entwined, one thing influences another. Not that mankind may not make certain adjustments in the natural order which will have little negative effect, perhaps even positive. But this requires a sense of balance and proportion. Not the white man's strengths, as he leans more towards avarice and greed. They usually say they love their children, but leave them a hell of an inheritance.

This world could be and is a bountiful cornucopia. In comparison to any other planet we know of near us, she stands alone resplendent. In wisdom and a proper order and balance she would maintain us in prosperity and happiness for ages beyond imagining. At the moment though she is as a young maiden alone on a wind swept plain with an army of rapacious Mongols descending upon her.