Terraforming.
Some people are contemplating terraforming Mars. Before we attempt such a grand plan on Mars, maybe we should test-run terraforming on Earth first? The Great Basin, USA is a perfect place for this test-run. Hydrating the Great Basin will help moderate the Climate Change in North America. Bringing water to this desert is bringing life. Water is foundational to all life, and where there is life, there are possibilities.
Great Basin.
It is called the Great Basin because it is the largest area of connected watersheds with no outlet to the ocean in North America. It contains nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and touches portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja MX. The topography of the basin includes the North American lowest point: Badwater Basin in Death Valley; to the highest point in the contiguous United States: the summit of Mount Whitney. Within the Great Basin are many small basins such as: Great Salt Lake, Pyramid Lake, Salton Sink and Humboldt Sink. The great Basin is a very diverse place, but one thing is uniform within it; it is all a desert.
Aridification.
The Great Basin appears to have had large amounts of water but today it is very dry; aridified. The signs of water are evident by the endemic salt deposits within the basin. But the basin is now fully desert. How did it have lots of water in the past? Since its history is not within the scope of this article, I will leave that to others to explain. What we do know is the current condition of the basin: Desert.
Evaporated moisture from the ocean is carried by the onshore breezes. The moist air is driven upslope towards the peak, where it expands, cools, and its moisture drops to the ground. Most of the humidity will be lost to rain or snow before the wind passes over the mountain range. This casts a broad “shadow” of dry climate region behind the mountain ridges. This moisture deficit encourages deserts to form.
Rain Shadow
It is all about the rain shadow. Basically, the Great Basin is a 209,162-square-mile (541,730 km2) desert created by the rain shadow effect. The Cascade Range to the north, the California Coastal Ranges to the west, and the Sierra Nevada Range to the south provide a significant rain-shadow which has created this moisture deficit condition. Currently the problems in the region include the mega-drought and the associated shrinking Great Salt Lake. Also problematic is the diminished flow of the Colorado, Green, Rio Grande, and Snake Rivers. If the Great Basin could be converted to a moisture positive area, the benefit would be huge. Benefits would be delivered first to the basin itself, but then they would have side benefits to all adjacent areas.
Move the Mountains?
If we could flatten out the mountains the rain shadow would go away and the whole of the Great Basin would become moist and fertile. But it is obvious that the mountains cannot be flattened. Since we cannot move the mountains, an alternate plan must be implemented.
Move the Water!
Water is much easier to move than mountains. We can do an end run around the Rain-Shadow-Effect by mechanically moving water into the Great Basin. Lots of water is moved around within the USA every day. Huge infrastructure projects have been installed for this effort. So, adding a mechanical water path into the Great Basin is well within human capability.
But Why?
Easily there are ten reasons for doing this, but I am sure more will be discovered as the project is implemented.
1. Prove Terraforming Possible.
If we cannot accomplish terraforming on earth, it is silly to discuss terraforming on Mars, or the moon. The project can provide scientific feedback on the effort to see if it has all the promises that are proposed. Because this process will require mechanical movement of water, it can be turned off if it proves disastrous.
2. Provide Climate Justice.
The indigenous peoples living within the Great Basin, those relegated to the lands no one else wanted, are being heavily affected by Climate Change. The primary harm is being caused by the mega-drought, the aridification, of the SW-USA. They are starving for water. Mechanically moving water into the Great Basin will trigger natural processes which will deliver freshwater for them to access.
3. Refill Great Salt Lake.
The hot and dry atmosphere within the Great Basin will soak up moisture and natural processes will circulate that moisture around the basin. The moisture circulation will refill the Great Salt Lake, and it will refill the other currently dry depressions as well.
4. Encourage Plant Growth.
Plant growth comes with many associated benefits. Plant growth will help slow the flow of the water within the basin and allow it to percolate into the ground for longer term storage. As plants grow, they sequester carbon from the atmosphere for long-term storage. Plants are natural air conditioners for deserts and just by their presence they cool the local area. As the basin gains and holds water, farming will be possible, forests can growth, and wildlife can return.
5. Replenished freshwater aquifers.
Much of the underground water within the Great Basin is brackish (salty and unfit for drinking). The increased moisture will allow freshwater to seep into the aquifers. Freshwater and brackish water do not readily mix. Fresh water is lighter and usually sits atop the brackish water. It is a process we do not control, and which will occur naturally over decades, as long as the moisture is added to the basin.
6. Mitigate local Climate Change.
According to the information contained in the UN document FB025*: Adding moisture, allowing plants to thrive, and encouraging forests will all lower the local temperature (https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/36619). It is estimated that the temperature can be lowered by 18°-36°F (10°-20°C) depending on the geographical location of the area. Since the Great Basin contains the hottest place in the USA, Death Valley, cooling the basin will greatly impact the global aggregate average temperature, which means that Global Warming will be reduced which is part of mitigating Climate Change.
7. Break the mega-drought.
The mega-drought, constant since 2000, is just a lack of water. Adding enough water into the Great Basin will end the drought within the Great Basin. It just cannot exist.
The water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle or the hydrological cycle, is a cycle that describes the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth. The water moves from one reservoir to another, such as from river to ocean, or from the ocean to the atmosphere, by the physical processes of evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, surface runoff, and subsurface flow. In doing so, the water goes through different forms: liquid, solid and vapor. The ocean plays a key role in the water cycle as it is the source of 86% of global evaporation.
8. Replicate a Hydrologic Cycle.
Overly simplified, this water cycle is: 1. Gulf or California, MX > 2. Colorado River Delta, Baja, MX > 3. Laguna Salada, Baja, MX > 4. Salton Sea, CA, USA > 5. Great Basin, USA > 6. Great Salt Lake, UT, USA > 7. Colorado Mountains, CO, USA > 8. Colorado River, USA & MX > 9. Colorado River Delta, Baja, MX.
The overdrawing of freshwater from the Colorado River has damaged this hydrologic cycle, reducing the amount of moisture it carries. All the water has been removed from the river since about 1940; it no longer reaches the ocean. This full extraction has left the 3,000 square mile Colorado River Delta without a replenishing flow. In 1999 the Colorado River Delta finally became completely dry. It’s aridification was completed and it has turned into a 3,000 square mile desert. The delta used to contribute greatly to this water cycle which flowed north through the Great Basin and into the Colorado Mountains. By mechanically carrying the water into the Great Basin, the lost hydrologic cycle moisture will be replaced.
9. Colorado Mountains Snowpack Increase.
The Colorado Mountains supply moisture which feeds 158 named rivers. It is apparent that the flow of all these rivers has been diminishing since at least 1986. The Colorado mountains collect snow (time-release-water) each winter which feeds these 158 rivers. The decline in snowpack, the reduction of source water for the rivers, accounts for the reduced water inflows for the Colorado River. Over the past 40 years, because of the damaged water cycle, the normal snowpack in the Colorado Mountains has diminished by about 20%. With the hydrologic cycle replicated, moisture will flow into the Colorado Mountains and the snowpack will return to normal.
10. Return Full Flow to Colorado River.
Historically the Colorado River is accredited with 16-million-acrefeet of flow, but this seems to have been overly optimistic. In recent years the river is providing more like 14 or 15-million-acrefeet of freshwater, and some of the projections show it could go down to 9-million-acrefeet. Approximately, 1/3 of the river flow goes to California, 1/3 of the flow goes to Mexico, and the last 1/3 goes to other cities and farming, leaving the river dry 60 miles north of its historic outlet. A normal snowpack means a normal stream input for the river, which means the Colorado River can return to full flow.
Natural Processes
Once we add moisture to the Great Basin, it will recirculate via the hydrologic cycle throughout the whole of the Great Basin. With the water comes localized cooling and plant growth. Some of that water will exit the Great Basin toward the headwaters of the Colorado, Green, Rio Grande, and Snake Rivers, which all originate in the mountains of Colorado. These rivers will regain their full flow which will provide much needed water drinking, farming and industry, as well as for the fauna and flora of the regions. The cooler environment which will accompany this moisture will combat Climate Change by reducing local Global Warming reduction benefits. On the grand scale, there is no downside. Imagine the below video to be the Great Basin. It can be this way; we just need to add water.
Reasons to not Rehydrate the Great Basin.
This plan has drawbacks as well as the aforementioned benefits. Easily there are seven reasons for not doing this, but I am sure more will be discovered as the project is implemented.
1. Avoid Aforementioned Benefits avoided.
If for some reason anyone can see the benefits as negative, blocking the project will avoid those ten benefits.
2. Expensive Project.
This project is expensive to install, but similar installations have been installed already, so it can be considered affordable. The ongoing costs of maintenance and operation are also expensive, but again, similar installations are operating daily, so it can be considered affordable. The good thing is that there is a logical and available income stream for this project.
3. Change Brings Change.
Change always brings disruption of status quo and unintended consequences, but for the greater local and global good, these must be endured. Some places which are currently dray will become inundated standing water, which will change the use of that land to lake. But standing water is the goal of this initiative and it is essential to provide a large water surface area to aid evaporation.
4. People Live There.
A few people may live in the areas which will be submerged. The areas are hot dry deserts. The people who must be relocated can be moved to water’s edge properties, which are usually considered to be more valuable than raw desert land.
5. Farmland Will Be Flooded.
The farmland in a desert is only valuable if irrigation water is available. The good news is that new areas of agriculture will be established. Once water is brought into the desert, and fills the depression, the hydrologic cycle will take over and fresh water will be created via rain, mist and snow, reducing the requirement for irrigation. This is the benefit which will make the change valuable to the farmers. The desert can become fertile and green with the addition of water and some wise land management.
6. Flash Floods.
Rain in the desert is associated with flash floods. These will occur and must be endured for a short time. The flash floods will naturally diminish as plants cover the ground, loosen the soil, and slow the unimpeded water runoff. Flash floods can also be avoided by installing ‘beaver-dam’ type features in the landscape. Some human intervention is needed here, but the end result will be beautiful.
7. Terminal Water Will Get Salty.
Yes, it will get salty in the terminal lake basin, in Death Valley. That is expected and not as much trouble as one thinks. The land which will be initially flooded is already salted from the body of water which previously occupied that location and evaporated. Salt Lake City sits aside the Great Salt Lake, and it is using that lake for its resources. The same can be done in Death Valley once the local temperature cools down some.
8. Great Basin Drain Needed.
Done on a minor scale, moving water into the Great Basin will be returned to its previous balance before the mega-drought began. The Great Salt Lake can be the gauge of how much water is needed to import. Based on the surface level of the Great Salt Lake, pumps will be on or off. If the full benefits are to be realized an overflow must be installed.
How to Rehydrate the Great Basin?
This is a multi-stepped process with the end goal of creating a salt sea in Death Valley where the bulk of the evaporation will initially occur.
Rehydrate Great Basin … Step One.
Bring sea water from Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez) into Laguna Salada, Mexico via the Coyote Canal. The below video demonstrates the waterway as envisioned by Agess Inc as one option in moving water to Laguna Salada. The option proposed by Agess Inc seems to be one of the less expensive options and it seems to return many benefits.
Binational Restoration of Laguna Salada & Salton Sea by Agess, Inc
Rehydrate Great Basin … Step Two.
Bring the sea water from Laguna Salada into the Salton Sea via an extension of the Coyote Canal. This is easily accomplished (easily is a relative term, but it is much easier than the construction of the Colorado River Aqueduct, which is a 242 mi (389 km) water conveyance which crosses the Rocky Mountains delivering water from the Colorado River to Los Angeles CA. The extension of the Coyote Canal needs to be a metered flow to preclude overfill of the Salton Sea. The above video also includes visualization of the extended Coyote Canal. The below video is a video discussion of an alternative idea for filling the Salton Sea with water.
The Salton Sea Solution by stocktondan.
Rehydrate Great Basin … (optional) Step Three.
Install a drain in the Salton Sea. One of the problems identified by StocktonDan is the increasing salinity of the Salton Sea caused by continued evaporation. There are quite a few options presented to mitigate the salt saturation of the Salton Sea being proposed by many people. The solution that I present here is to drain the Salton Sea, but only after steps one and two above have been completed. The below video shows how a drain/valve can be installed in the base of a lake so the water can be drained out like that of a bathtub.
Lake Mead Intake Hydraulic Tunnel, Las Vegas by Salini Impregilo, but a surface level drain is much less expensive.
Rehydrate Great Basin … Step Four.
Step #4 is the construction of pipes with pumps to transport Salton Sea water into Death Valley. This is an expensive project, but the costs can be funded by fees on water diverted from the Colorado River. Those who have been diverting water from the Colorado River have been doing so at no charge for decades. They have been misappropriating the natural resource and have caused damage to the climate as a result. Now is the time to begin charging a fee for Colorado River water. That fee can be used to fund the repair of the hydrologic cycle which they broke.
By pumping water into the Great Basin, the water cycle will be repaired. The Great Basin is an arid desert as a result of the Rain Shadow effect. Adding moisture into the Great Basin will cancel out the effect of the natural rain shadow and encourage the Great Basin to bloom. The additional moisture pumped into the Great Basin will circulate within the Great Basin and eventually make its way to the north and east sides of the Great Basin where some of it will migrate out and stock the snowpacks which create the water for the Colorado, Green, and Snake rivers. With the snowpacks once again full, the flow of the Colorado River will return to its former glory. The hydrologic cycle will have been repaired and the billions of people who rely on that water will be saved and secure for decades to come.
Rehydrate Great Basin … Step Five.
Let the water flow. I expect that it will take much more than the full flow of one 15’ diameter pipe to fill Death Valley with water. If no other input is developed, I doubt that a large lake will form. There will be a balance point where daily evaporation will equal the pipe’s input. Filling Death Valley with water is the subject a paper by Chuan C. Chang: Creating Death Valley Lake His paper suggests multiple intakes with outtakes to keep the salinity to a balanced level. He expects that the land along the new inland sea and along the canals could be sold to individuals and the profit form the land sales would fund the project. Filling Death Valley with water is also the subject of the two videos below.
The Little-Pacific Project by Tribute Flight
Fill Death Valley with Ocean Water by thebillo313
We Have Water in Death Valley, Now What?
Now The Fun Begins. No further direct human action is required. What has been accomplished by moving the water there is the most important part. The hydrologic processes do the rest. Let’s review what will occur through natural hydrologic processes.
Water Evaporated and Returns
Water will evaporate from the surface of the newly formed Death Valley Sea. The water will be taken into the air for redistribution in mostly within the Great Basin with smaller amounts passing over the rim and entering the surrounding states. What water is removed will be replaced via the open water path. The evaporated water returned to the Great Basin in the form of dew on the ground in mornings, in the form of rain, and in the form of snow on the tops of the mountains. This returned water is cleaned water, suitable for drinking, for watering plants and irrigating crops.
Plants Grow.
Plants will grow when they have an ongoing supply of moisture. The plants retain water in their structure, they are made up of approximately 90% water, water which is not immediately returned to the ocean but retained as long as the plant lives. The plants clean the air of CO2. They return breathable O2 into the air and use the Carbon as building block for the plant structures, Carbon that will be held in the plant (sequestered) while it lives and be integrated into the soil as the plant eventually decomposes. Plants are natural air conditioners. As water evaporates from plant leaves; the air is cooled. Below is a video about how one desert plant, a moss, collects water from airborne humidity.
PLANT WATER RELATIONS by 7activestudio
Ground Water Collects
As plants shade the ground, the ground temperature is lowered, which allows the water to percolate into the ground, and be held there waiting for use. The soul will become moist and some underground aquifers will be refilled; again, slowing the water’s return to the ocean.
Water Movement in Soil by NRCS NSSC
Step-3:
Given enough time the hydrologic action should re-hydrate the entire Great Basin region. This could generate the natural refilling of several dry depressions within the Great Basin, including the Great Salt Lake. Just by keeping the waterways open allowing the Death Valley inland sea to remain full, these areas could be returned to a healthy fertile area, growing food for many people. The plants and the ground retain water, so the ocean levels are lower. The environment in these very hot places is cooled, which will cool the entire globe.
Videos About Greening Deserts
Get some water into the Great Basin, and then the entire landscape can be terraformed by natural processes, and/or with some human intervention, the Great Basin can become a really nice lush place.
Regreening the desert with John D. Liu
How Peter Andrews rejuvenates drought-struck land by ABC News
Rainwater Catchment for Reforestation & Increased Production by Vida Verde Finca, Vilcabamba
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This whole thing is D.O.A. once you realize the Great Basin isn’t flat. You are attempting to fill up large areas in one of the most mountainous regions on the entire planet. One look at a topo map of Nevada (or a look at the Wiki page that lists the mountain ranges of Nevada) will tell you exactly why this can’t work. You’ll end up filling valleys where animals live (many of whom are endangered), with salt water and displacing many creatures. Then, even if you do succeed in increasing humidity, you’ll create a situation where the desert specialists who do live there, will be out-competed by others. But because you’re dealing with mountain ranges, you end up with just another rain shadow caused by the next mountain range to the East of wherever this man-made flood exists. Finally, once you get further away from Death Valley, the elevation goes up rapidly. Death Valley may be mostly sea level-ish, but just to the east, places like Shoshone,CA sit at more than 1500ft in elevation. Are you going to pump up a 1500ft deep inland sea? A little further east and you hit Pahrump, NV and Las Vegas, NV both of which sit at more than 2500ft and 2200ft respectively. And, Pahrump and Las Vegas are both surrounded by 9000ft+ mountain peaks. You’re not going to move anywhere near enough water to have more than very localized impacts on the Great Basin.
This might be a plan to raise the level of the Salton Sea, especially if you raise it enough with a canal to allow inland shipping commerce. The Salton Sea and the Laguna Salada have access to some important things, such as Interstate Highways 8 and 10 at the Southern end and Northern end of the Salton basin as well as more than 1 million people in Mexicali, BC, MX. There is the potential for lots of jobs and industry and passage and drayage fees for Mexico. Covering the exposed toxic crust of the Salton Sink is another benefit, especially if the canal would allow for the exchange of water with the Gulf of California. The rest of this plan is bunk. You’d be better off simply trying to build reservoirs, canals and aqueducts from Alaska and Canada to channel the snowmelt down south to the USA. Pumping sea water in that volume is a dumb idea.
Mike M.
Thank you for your comment.
You state: “You are attempting to fill up large areas in one of the most mountainous regions on the entire planet.”
There is no desire to “fill up” any areas. All that is necessary is to bring some seawater into the Great Basin. The goal is to repair the water cycle which was broken, adding just enough seawater into the basin to replace the moisture lost from the broken water cycle. This must be metered because too much will cause reverse problems. Adding enough to flood large swaths of the basin would be damaging in many ways. The goal is to return the basin to its pre-2000 moisture values, which will not dramatically alter life within the basin.
You state: “You’d be better off simply trying to build reservoirs, canals and aqueducts from Alaska and Canada to channel the snowmelt down south to the USA.”
Moving large amounts of freshwater out of its watershed always causes unintended consequences, usually negative. Moving large amounts of freshwater out of the Colorado River Watershed caused the problem in the first place. Moving large amounts of freshwater from Alaska and Canada will just create new problems in Alaska and Canada.
You state: “Pumping seawater in that volume is a dumb idea.”
I think you are over envisioning the amount of seawater needed to repair the water cycle. This plan will just return the Great Basin to its previous normal.