Bold Plan? Replace the Border Wall with an Energy–Water Corridor
Building solar, wind, natural gas and water infrastructure all along the U.S.–Mexico border would create economic opportunity rather than antagonism
“Here’s an idea: Instead of an endless, inert wall along the U.S.–Mexico border, line the boundary with 2,000 miles of natural gas, solar and wind power plants. Use some of the energy to desalinate water from the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean and ship it through pipelines to thirsty towns, businesses and new farms along the entire border zone. Hire hundreds of thousands of people from both countries to build and run it all. Companies would make money and provide security to safeguard their assets. A contentious, costly no-man’s-land would be transformed into a corridor of opportunity.”
“A consortium of 27 engineers and scientists from a dozen U.S. universities has developed a plan...they delivered it to three U.S. representatives and one senator. “Let’s put the best scientists and engineers together to create a new way to deal with migration, trafficking—and access to water.”
The border region receives boundless solar energy, and has significant natural gas and wind resources. It’s also suffering from extreme drought, and water shortages are predicted to get worse. Farming is exceedingly difficult. And jobs are often scarce—in part because of lack of water and power. If an energy and water corridor were built, the facility owners would protect their properties. Transmission, gas and water lines would be monitored by companies, states and federal agencies, as many elsewhere are now. And the plants could be integrated with security walls or fences.
With water and power, farming and manufacturing could flourish...The “future energy, water, industry and education park,” as the white paper calls it, “will create massive opportunities for employment and prosperity... The border industrial park, as I’ll call it, could work politically, too...Democrats want a Green New Deal. Republicans want border security...Both parties could win. It could be a win–win for the U.S. and Mexico, too. This idea could spark a completely new conversation about the border.”
“Desalination of seawater, a linchpin for the park, is expensive and can also foul the ocean. An enormous amount of saltwater would have to be freshened to fill a 2,000-mile pipeline. The consortium says power could come from wind and solar, strong at the Gulf and Pacific ends of the park. A 600-megawatt power plant (equivalent to a sizeable coal plant or modest nuclear plant) at the Gulf could power enough desalination to provide 2.3 million acre-feet of freshwater annually...enough to supply future needs along the Texas–Mexico border. Solar farms would power water pumps for the pipeline.
Building infrastructure is a big priority in the current Congress, despite its endless bickering, so perhaps a border industrial park could rally legislators. “They just have to think differently about how to solve the border issue...Don’t think of it as a barrier. Think of it as an energy corridor, a water corridor. It can create great opportunity for both countries. It can create peace.”
(via Bold Plan? Replace the Border Wall with an Energy–Water Corridor - Scientific American Blog Network)
El Paso to drink treated sewage water due to climate change drought
“One of its prime sources of water is the Rio Grande. Typically the river can supply as much as half of the city's water needs. But climate change is making that increasingly difficult and is pushing the city to look for new sources of water. Now, El Paso is on track to become the first large city in the United States to treat its sewage water and send it directly back into its taps.
Increasing temperatures will make the dry region even more vulnerable to drought, according to the federal government's most recent national climate assessment. Already challenged with balancing the demands of about 700,000 thirsty El Pasoans along with agriculture and industry needs, El Paso must also face the fact that climate change is literally drying up one of its major sources of water.”
(via El Paso to drink treated sewage water due to climate change drought | CNN)
Utah’s Great Salt Lake has lost half its water, thanks to thirsty humans
“The world’s saltwater lakes are drying up and scientists have long suspected climate change was to blame. Now, a study reveals another potential culprit: thirsty humans. According to more than 170 years of water records and a comparison of how much water flows in and out of the lake, consumption of freshwater is likely to blame for the shrinking of Utah’s Great Salt Lake—and of similar lakes around the world.”
(via Utah’s Great Salt Lake has lost half its water, thanks to thirsty humans | Science Magazine)
Why an Unpopular Idea Could Be the Salton Sea’s Best Solution
“A water pipeline plan dismissed years ago may not be an attractive option to save the beleaguered Salton Sea, but it may be the best way to buy the region more time.
TAKE A HIGHLY mineralized, terminal lake that is below sea level and is shrinking because its traditional water sources are being diverted. Add the historic and environmental importance of the lake and decades of jealousy, grievance and distrust between countries in the vicinity. Then figure in the quenchless thirst of nearby agriculture and growing populations.That is the recipe for a problem with no reasonable solution.In the Middle East it is called the Dead Sea. In the Far West it’s the Salton Sea.”
[I]n the California desert about 40 miles (65km) north of the border with Mexico. In its current form it is just over a century old and is actually a giant mistake. It became a monument to engineering arrogance when canal promoters accidentally diverted the Colorado River. They filled an ancient valley and created the “Sea.”...It sounds like a lake no one could love and no one would want to save...What flows into the Salton, stays in the Salton. So, why should anyone care?
Most of California’s wetlands were lost to development or agriculture. Its intermittent lakes (like Tulare in central California) disappeared. And the Salton Sea became an important migratory bird stop along the Pacific Flyway. In addition, were the Salton to dry up, it would set loose clouds of noxious dust on Southern California.”
”Perhaps it is time to revisit what previously appeared to be an unrealistic fantasy. When all else fails, what remains may be the answer. The pluses are the inexhaustible supply of water and tides that would help propel the seawater on its way downhill to the Salton Sea. Since there is a drop of 220 feet, most of the conveyance could be accomplished by gravity or siphon (much like L.A.’s aqueduct from the Owens Valley). With sea levels rising because of climate change, the differential might be even more advantageous later in this century.
Lastly, and most importantly, the salt content of seawater dictates that a simple transfer from sea to lake could only produce a benefit for a portion of this century. True, seawater may initially be sweeter than lake water, but every ton of salt transferred to the Salton Sea will stay there when the water evaporates...Who knows what may change by 2075 or 2100?...The only thing that is clear is that the more attractive proposals appear to be dead in the water, and the water is drying at an alarming rate.”
(via Why an Unpopular Idea Could Be the Salton Sea’s Best Solution | News Deeply)
10 questions about the 11 proposals to save the Salton Sea
“Less than fifteen miles from where [Ariana Grande will take] stage at the Coachella Music Festival, the Salton Sea is in crisis. As evaporation causes the sea's shoreline to recede, more of the toxic chemical matter previously embedded in the water is being exposed and swept up into the atmosphere by desert winds. To combat the sea's shrinkage, and the public health and environmental disasters it is causing, experts over the past thirty years have suggested importing water from elsewhere to raise or maintain the water level. But because of the high potential price tag, "Sea to Sea" projects, as they're called, haven't made much headway. Until now, that is. California's Natural Resource Agency is considering proposals that could revive an idea once thought of as impossible... All the submissions proposed importing water to cover more of the sea's toxic dust-ridden playa, but beyond that, ideas varied on what kind of infrastructure is needed and how it should be funded.”
(via 10 questions about the 11 proposals to save the Salton Sea | The Desert Sun)
Deadline for funding of California water projects
“The California Water Commission, whose eight members are appointed by the governor... — four new dams and four groundwater storage proposals. Among the proposed awards is $1 billion for Sites Reservoir in Northern California. Total project cost is estimated at $5.2 billion...The money comes from Proposition 1, a state water bond approved by voters in November 2014. It is believed to be the largest state commitment to build new dams in California since 1960, when Brown’s father, Pat Brown, was governor.That year, Gov. Pat Brown convinced voters to pass a ballot measure with the same name, Proposition 1, which provided $1.75 billion to construct Oroville Dam and much of the State Water Project.
Underground storage is often cheaper than new above-ground reservoirs and comes without evaporation problems. It also avoids environmental battles that arise when new dams are proposed to block rivers, which can kill salmon and other fish and wildlife... “People think of reservoirs when they think of water storage. You can look at them and see them when they are full or empty...Groundwater is abstract. But there is 25 times as much room in groundwater basins as in all the existing reservoirs in California.”
(via Deadline for funding of California water projects | Daily Democrat)
One border crisis averted? How Juárez and El Paso became sister cities.
“As water scarcity fuels conflicts around the world, sister cities along the US-Mexican border have found mutual success by working together rather than turning against each other...With surface water from the Rio Grande becoming increasingly unreliable – due in large part to climate change...”The aquifer doesn’t recognize borders...so both sides have to come up with solutions to better manage and share the resources.”
“[F]ree water...Water is a human right, but every human right is linked to a responsibility...It is impossible to keep giving away money, because sooner or later we are going to pay the consequences.” Like El Paso, Juárez has seen almost nonstop growth in recent years. JMAS water connections have increased from about 235,000 to 465,000 in 20 years...while El Paso’s groundwater extractions have steadily declined since 1990, they have continued to increase south of the border.”
(via One border crisis averted? How Juárez and El Paso became sister cities. | CS Monitor)
New Pipeline Will Bring Desalinated Water to Israel's Only Freshwater Lake
“A new pipeline and additional desalination plants will introduce fresh water into Lake Kinneret...The desalination plants that have been built along the Mediterranean shore, and those that are slated to be built, should supply the required quantity of water.The infusion of water flowing into the Kinneret will help stabilize the lake’s ecosystem... “Lake Kinneret...will fill up again when there is a rainy year, and then they will open the Degania Dam again,” enabling water to flow into the Jordan River”
(via New Pipeline Will Bring Desalinated Water to Israel's Only Freshwater Lake | Haaretz)
‘Nothing will stand in way of Red Sea-Dead Sea water desalination project’
“The government will "go ahead" with implementing water desalination projects and will "not wait for anyone", Prime Minister Hani Mulki said on Wednesday. Mulki stressed the importance of guaranteeing justice in water distribution to all areas of the Kingdom and of safeguarding water resources...The premier also highlighted the importance of expanding desalination projects to cope with increasing demands on water, citing the successful project implemented in Aqaba...Under the first phase, a total of 300mcm of water will be pumped each year, eventually transferring up to 2 billion cubic metres of seawater per year from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, according to the Ministry of Water and Irrigation...water will be desalinated every year, while the seawater will be pumped out from an intake located in the north of the Gulf of Aqaba. In November last year, Israeli media reports claimed that Israel had told Jordan that a joint agreement for the construction of a pipeline transferring water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea would "not go ahead" until Israel would be allowed to reopen its embassy in Amman.”
(via ‘Nothing will stand in way of Red Sea-Dead Sea water desalination project’ | The Jordan Times)
With increasing population growth comes ever increasing demands for water power and food. These factors as well as climate change and drought have resulted in ecological damage to salt lakes and rivers as water levels decline. The problems faced in the southwestern United States is no unique and many other places face similar challenges, such as the Red Sea and Dead Sea area of the Mediterranean Sea.
I propose the idea that two Energy-Water Corridors could be built in southwestern United States, providing clean water and power for the states of California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Texas. One hybrid pipeline/wall could be built along the the US-Mexico border stretching from the Pacific Ocean bordering Tijuana, Mexico to the Rio Grande River in El Paso, Texas, (the Salton Sea could be replenished by desalination plants) The second could be built from the Pacific Ocean near San Luis Obispo to LA via Las Vegas ending near the Great Salt Lake, Utah, (Lake Mead and the Great Salt Lake could be replenished by desalination plants.)
No physical walls would be needed for most of the Rio Grande River, since it is a physical barrier and in most cases would be difficult to build a wall along following the curvy path of the river. Thus the length of the Border Wall could be reduced by half, to approx. 1,100 miles of Hybrid Desalination Pipeline/Wall.
The ocean pipelines and renewable energy plants and desalination plants would provide clean water and power as well as aid in conservation efforts restoring the Great Salt Lake and the Salton Sea as well as provide water for Lake Mead, the Colorado River and the Rio Grande River communities. The Border Pipeline/Wall could also be a project shared by the US and Mexico providing both nations with water and power.
