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A solution to California's Water Crisis AND lack of jobs!


fredinno

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They could build a big dome over SF Bay and heat up the inside to the point where the water boils. Collect the water vapour through a funnel and re-condense it in some SF Bay-sized water bottle for whoever needs it. Although there is life in the bay, it very likely exists elsewhere and should be easy to transport to a safe place while this thing is being used.

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As long as they aren't touching the Great Lakes...

(Some people here in Michigan are convinced the rest of the country wants nothing more than to drain "our" lakes, ignoring the logistics involved in moving that much water across the country. Although, compared to this idea, the Lakes would be easier.)

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Environmentally a terrible idea, and according to the wikipedia page it would have required "six new nuclear power plants" to pump the water over the Rockies.

Desalinization plants would likely be cheaper and more environmentally friendly, especially since much of the infrastructure could be built in desert areas.

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Environmentally a terrible idea, and according to the wikipedia page it would have required "six new nuclear power plants" to pump the water over the Rockies.

Desalinization plants would likely be cheaper and more environmentally friendly, especially since much of the infrastructure could be built in desert areas.

Well desalination would require quite a bit more than six more reactors, though you could potentially have a system where you desalinate in off peak hours using baseload power sources, such as nuclear reactors, which would be preferable to much anything else as it would yield both energy and water, admittedly at a cost potentially greater than transporting it from that region.

However, desalination, unlike transportation, would make it impossible for drought to damage California again, and make us independent of much of the water cycle.

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CREATE A GIANT CANAL SYSTEM DIRECTING WATER FROM CANADA AND ALASKA TO THE SOUTH!!!

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/03/ComparisonGCNA-NAWAPA1.gif

Kerbal Style:D

No, this was seriously proposed in the '50s.

Maybe this should be revived....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Water_and_Power_Alliance

But they'll just dump it into the ocean like they're already doing

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Ah, the wonderful world of insane continental-scale engineering projects :D

For a similar "lolwut"-experience, try the Atlantropa Project. TL;DR: dam up the Strait of Gibraltar to drain so much of the Mediterranean Sea that Europe and Africa would essentially become a single common continent (along with irrigating the Sahara desert using the Congo river as a side project, for good measure).

I actually have an original issue of the engineer's book on the topic, with which he sought to pitch his idea to the German national socialist party back then. It's even hand-signed, not many of those exist anymore :) It is a very interesting read, giving much insight into how the people thought about geopolitical issues back then (unsurprisingly it's very racist towards African people), and what they thought about how technology would shape our future. I can tell you this much - whatever image you have in your head right now of the proposed Gibraltar dam, it's wrong. Even after you read this sentence and readjusted your idea, you still have no idea of the scale. It would make the Three Gorges Dam look like a garden fence gate next to a mountain range by comparison. If that doesn't get your inner nerd going, I don't know what will :P

Edited by Streetwind
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Well desalination would require quite a bit more than six more reactors, though you could potentially have a system where you desalinate in off peak hours using baseload power sources, such as nuclear reactors, which would be preferable to much anything else as it would yield both energy and water, admittedly at a cost potentially greater than transporting it from that region.

However, desalination, unlike transportation, would make it impossible for drought to damage California again, and make us independent of much of the water cycle.

They'de just plant more almond trees and make more golf courses. Californians have yet to realize deserts really don't mind being deserted.:~o

Cheaper just to greenhouse all the high water use crops and then scavenge the water from them.

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Ah, the wonderful world of insane continental-scale engineering projects :D

For a similar "lolwut"-experience, try the Atlantropa Project. TL;DR: dam up the Strait of Gibraltar to drain so much of the Mediterranean Sea that Europe and Africa would essentially become a single common continent (along with irrigating the Sahara desert using the Congo river as a side project, for good measure).

I actually have an original issue of the engineer's book on the topic, with which he sought to pitch his idea to the German national socialist party back then. It's even hand-signed, not many of those exist anymore :) It is a very interesting read, giving much insight into how the people thought about geopolitical issues back then (unsurprisingly it's very racist towards African people), and what they thought about how technology would shape our future. I can tell you this much - whatever image you have in your head right now of the proposed Gibraltar dam, it's wrong. Even after you read this sentence and readjusted your idea, you still have no idea of the scale. It would make the Three Gorges Dam look like a garden fence gate next to a mountain range by comparison. If that doesn't get your inner nerd going, I don't know what will :P

There is no doubt America needs a better water plan. The fact of the matter is that for 8 decades americans have been moving from the fairly wet east to the deserted west. Cities like las vegas did not exist before the taming of the colorado.

The problem is that we can't even tie our shoe laces anymore without some political action group coming in and blocking the project. The are tearing down dams in the west, not that they were poorly planned dams to begin with, but even the fairly militaristic Romans built aqeducts to move water around.

Theres two ways to solve the problem. mandetory birth control like china had. Develop a water redistribution and conservation plan and enforce it.

The truth about global warming, its not the warming thats the problem, the global instability coupled with wavering pan evaporation rates caused by local industrialization (such as coal use in china) is resulting in decadal droughts interupted by brief but very intense periods of rainfall. There is no choice but to reservoir water and move it around.

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Is it true - read it some years ago - that the puplic in the US objects to having waste water treated and fed back into the pipes?

I think I remember the article to deal with California even and that citizens were quoted for "not wanting to drink their neighbours pee".

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Better yet move all the Californians to Alaska and Canada, problem solved. Serve you right for hording all your water.:P

But Alaaka is so colllldddd.... :-p

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But they'll just dump it into the ocean like they're already doing

No, why would they do that?

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Ah, the wonderful world of insane continental-scale engineering projects :D

For a similar "lolwut"-experience, try the Atlantropa Project. TL;DR: dam up the Strait of Gibraltar to drain so much of the Mediterranean Sea that Europe and Africa would essentially become a single common continent (along with irrigating the Sahara desert using the Congo river as a side project, for good measure).

I actually have an original issue of the engineer's book on the topic, with which he sought to pitch his idea to the German national socialist party back then. It's even hand-signed, not many of those exist anymore :) It is a very interesting read, giving much insight into how the people thought about geopolitical issues back then (unsurprisingly it's very racist towards African people), and what they thought about how technology would shape our future. I can tell you this much - whatever image you have in your head right now of the proposed Gibraltar dam, it's wrong. Even after you read this sentence and readjusted your idea, you still have no idea of the scale. It would make the Three Gorges Dam look like a garden fence gate next to a mountain range by comparison. If that doesn't get your inner nerd going, I don't know what will :P

How would they fix the salt-water problem?

Either way, a project like that would prob produce lots of fertile land and power to solve global warming and the food crisis. YAY?

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Is it true - read it some years ago - that the puplic in the US objects to having waste water treated and fed back into the pipes?

I think I remember the article to deal with California even and that citizens were quoted for "not wanting to drink their neighbours pee".

Well, I don't think they have a choice any more...

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