The Mega-Drought can be broken by “Move the Water!”

Credit: Pixabay/CCO Public Domain

Abstract:

Active Climate Rescue Initiative (ACRI) has identified a root cause for the mega-drought and has a solution designed to break the drought by repairing the cause. The solution is to install “Move the Water!” in three locations in SW-North America. This will fix a broken water-cycle and bring rain back to parched lands.

Introduction

It is the consensus at ACRI is that the SW-USA Mega-Drought is a direct result of man’s interference in the Colorado River Hydrologic Cycle. Entities have been removing water from the Colorado River Watershed since 1894 (1) which has broken the local Water Cycle. The good news is that it can be fixed.

Moving Water

Moving freshwater within a watershed has few negative effects. The water is recirculated within its watershed and used over and over. As an example, water removed from a river to irrigate an adjacent field, flows onto the field and into the ground whereby it slowly returns to the river.

Moving freshwater out of its watershed always creates unintended consequences. The obvious negative effect is that the water is not recirculated within the watershed. Once the water is removed from the river it is gone. If enough water is removed the river could run dry before it reaches its terminus.

Moving oceanwater out of the ocean does not harm the ocean and has more positive effects than negative in its new location. The positive effects include local cooling and increased rainfall. The negative effect is that a terminal pool will become hypersaline, which could be turned positive, managed, or ignored if in the right location.  

Colorado River Water

Americans have been sucking water out of the Colorado River for over a hundred years. In the 19th Century the Colorado River flow into Mexico was nearly 1af (acre-feet) per second (3) but has been diminishing ever since. The decreased flow into Mexico was codified by the Colorado River Compact of 1922. In the subsequent years the “Law of the River” agreements and treaties have been codified and implemented with the result of the Colorado River water being divided among seven States and Mexico. Mexico now has only 1/10th of the flow, and the river has not naturally flowed to the sea since 1998 (3). Also of note is that Laguna Salada has been dry since 1999, and the Mega-Drought began in 2000 (5).

Virtual Reality Video of the Colorado River Aqueduct System

The Colorado River gets its water from multiple sources, but the one we are focusing on is the moisture flow from Mexico. Oversimplified, this water cycle begins at Laguna Salada, Baja, MX. The water evaporates from Laguna Salada and blows north to the Salton Sea, from where it evaporates and blows north into Death Valley, from where it quickly evaporates and finds its way to the Great Salt Lake. The evaporation from the Great Salt Lake blows north and feeds the Colorado River and then flows south to refill Laguna Salada, whereby the process starts anew. 

ACRI acknowledges that the Colorado River water is being used profitably and the uses are righteous. The resolution needs to be from an alternate source if the beneficiaries are to continue to receive their water. This is where the Move the Water! initiative comes into play. Move the Water! suggests using ocean water to repair the broken water cycle. This is to be done in three pieces.

Repair The Broken Water Cycle

First

Ocean water will be allowed to flow into Laguna Salada and refill that inland sea. Remember that Laguna Salada (English = Salt Marsh) has always had salt water. Occasionally a high tide will naturally flow ocean water into Laguna Salada. To accomplish the refilling of Laguna Salada the existing dry Coyote Canal must be dredged, deepened, and widened so that its flow is reversed, allowing ocean water to inundate Laguna Salada, keeping it full. This alone will begin to break the mega-drought.

Second

The Coyote Canal can be extended from Laguna Salada into the USA, terminating in the Salton Sea, with the flow metered to maintain Salton Sea at its historic optimum fill level. The flowthrough of ocean water will inhibit Laguna Salada from becoming hypersaline. Also remember that the SALTon Sea has been salt water for many years, so adding salted water is not an ecologic disaster. In fact, the addition of ocean water will lower the salt concentration in the Salton Sea. But something else still needs to be done so that the Salton Sea is not the terminus pool, or it will again become hypersaline.

Third

The hardest and most expensive piece of this puzzle is still needed. This piece will certainly end the mega-drought and assure an increased Colorado River flow. Pipes and pumps, enough to transport 15maf (million acre-feet) of ocean water annually (0.5af/second) into Death Valley. This is an amount equal to the amount of freshwater annually extracted from the Colorado River.

How this Works

It is important to remember that water cannot directly be added into the Colorado River Watershed. Adding freshwater will disrupt some other watershed and cause additional unintended consequences. Adding oceanwater will contaminate the watershed with salt. The water must be added indirectly through the cleansing process of evaporation. This can be done in this region with minimal negative effect.

This is a replacement, gallon per gallon, for the freshwater being removed. By importing the ocean water into Death Valley, the water can be converted to freshwater via evaporation, the salt and other contaminants will be left on the floor of Death Valley, a floor which is already heavily salted (6). The freshwater will be transported to the Colorado River Watershed within the atmosphere to the headwaters of the Colorado River via normal wind currents, which along the way will rehydrate the Great Basin.

This is expensive but remember that the Colorado River water must come from someplace, and because of the broken water cycle it obviously is not coming anymore. If humans are to continue to benefit from the Colorado River freshwater, then humans must repair the water cycle and break the mega-drought.

Terraforming

Consider this a terraforming project. Much effort is being expended to explore Mars and search Mars for some hint of water in hopes of terraforming Mars for human use. This is a much easier terraforming project. If we cannot accomplish this simple installation, how can we even think of the larger Mars project, and then why are we spending cash on contemplating/studying that concept? Let’s get this done here on Earth first and prove that man can beneficially change the weather. Then we can think of doing similar projects on distant planets.

How To Fund

So how do we pay for this project, for the ongoing cost of pumping all that ocean water? As always, the best plan is to bill the entities who are benefitting from the project/service. Each state/city who extracts water from the Colorado River should be assessed a per-gallon-fee equal to the cost of pumping a gallon into Death Valley. The US Government Bureau of Reclamation (4) is already in place to coordinate this assessment and the daily operation/maintenance of the equipment.

Paying for these projects fits right into the US Government’s plans. They are pushing infrastructure projects to create jobs and they wish to accomplish things which will aid in healing the climate. This is a win-win for them and a win for America in many ways.

A Win For America

It will be a win for America in many ways.

  1. This will directly affect Global Warming by cooling some of the hottest places in America.
  2. This will increase the rainfall, effectively rehydrating some of America’s largest deserts.
  3. The native peoples who reside in these deserts and who are struggling for water will have it more abundantly available.
  4. Parts of America which are now too arid for farming will be available for new fields.
  5. Although the goal here is to return water to the Colorado River Watershed, the headwaters of the Snake River will also be benefited.
  6. The construction project will stimulate the local economy by bringing in jobs.
  7. The ongoing operation will keep some local jobs.  

References

(1) https://waterknowledge.colostate.edu/water-history/#:~:text=In%201894%2C%20the%20Grand%20River%20Ditch%20became%20the,its%20tributaries%20to%20farmlands%20along%20the%20Poudre%20River.

(2) https://lao.ca.gov/1997/101697_colorado_river/101697_colorado_river.html

(3) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/21/the-lost-river-mexicans-fight-for-mighty-waterway-taken-by-the-us

(4) https://www.usbr.gov/

(5) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwestern_North_American_megadrought#:~:text=The%20southwestern%20North%20American%20megadrought%20is%20an%20ongoing,Mead%2C%20the%20largest%20reservoir%20in%20the%20United%20States.

(6) https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/nature/salt-flats.htm

Help Reverse Climate Change

Your small donation to Active Climate Rescue Initiative will help reverse Global Warming. Reversing Global Warming and stopping Climate Change is our only goal, and we know how to do it. Your support will allow us to broadcast our message and save the world. Someone must do it. Be part of the someone. Donate today.

History Proves Move the Water!

How can we prove that Move the Water! works?

We can spend a $200,000 to create a computer model to test the theory. The problem is that computer models are fraught with computational assumptions and are never 100% accurate.

History better than Modeling…

It is better to look at real life examples were Move the Water! was implemented in history. We have one example with the Salton Sea. This is not an exact duplicate of Move the Water! because the water path was cutoff, so the inland sea did not replenish itself as water was evaporated. This fault does help us with our test. We have historical records which confirm that Move the Water! worked.

A little history…

The Salton Sea was created in 1905 as a result in a breach of a canal which could not be immediately stemmed. The flow lasted long enough to create the Salton Sea. After that, replenishment of the evaporated water came only from stingy agricultural drains, carrying with it assorted pollutants. The result is that the surface level of the Salton Sea has been diminishing since its creation date.

Above is a chart of the Salton Sea water level decrease, computed using a 20-year average, which shows a steady decline.

A little more history…

We have rainfall records beginning in 1922 for Palm Springs, CA, located in the Coachella Valley Basin. Palm Springs is 40 miles downwind of the Salton Sea.

Above is a chart of the rainfall for Palm Springs, CA, computed using a 20-year average, which shows a steady decline in rainfall.

This is better than a computer model of a future event based on proposed actions. This is historical record of results of an action. Notice how the decrease in both charts is nearly identical. This illustrates how having water in an inland lake creates rain for areas which are downwind of that lake.

Summary…

Over time, as the Salton Sea has diminished, the rainfall totals for Palm Springs diminished by one-third. It is not proposed that if Salton Sea completely dries, Palm Springs will have no rain. It is understood that atmospheric moisture comes from multiple sources, so some rainfall will be recorded, but you can expect that the current 2” per year will diminish.

Conclusion…

What can be said, based off these historical records, is that if the Salton Sea is returned to its original level, Palm Springs, CA, and the whole of the Coachella Valley Basin, will have 33% more rainfall per year.  

Help Reverse Global Warming…

Your small donation to Active Climate Rescue Initiative will help reverse Global Warming. Reversing Global Warming and stopping Climate Change is our only goal, and we know how to do it. Your support will allow us to broadcast our message and save the world. Someone must do it. Be part of the someone. Donate today.

Has Move the Water! been proven?

We need your DONATION to help scientifically prove Move the Water!

Detailed explanation of the benefits of Move the Water! and call-to-action.

Here is a way you can help halt Global Warming. I am asking for your DONATION support so we can pay for a scientific weather simulation model study to determine the effect of proposed Move the Water! projects.

I am confident that Move the Water (#movethewater) will make a significant impact toward the reversal of Global Warming. All the plan’s working parts are well documented scientific facts; none of them can fail, yet some people just must see an official report to believe.

Understand that Move the Water!, while based on sound science, is extremely complicated with many elements all working in concert to accomplish the goal. A computer model constructed by knowledgeable scientists using state-of-the-art software and powerful computers can give a best-guess answer for specific locations, but nothing and no one can give 100% result of the outcome. No one knows the future and there are too many moving parts. Add that the model is specific to a single location; the pieces change by geography location, so a specific report for one location will only give general guidance of the potential outcome for a different location.

Regardless of the limitations, local decision makers require such computer models before approving Move the Water!.

Now is the time to DONATE.

Active Climate Rescue Initiative has established this donation page with a goal of US$200,000 to finance computer modeling of the Move the Water! initiative relating to the Laguna Salada, Baja, MX and Salton Sea, CA, USA projects. We have two quoted proposals (summary details are further below) and wish to accept both. The data will be much more valuable when the two sources independently come to same conclusion. There is a possibility for a third report, but we do not have the proposal yet.

We would like to be able to initiate both scientific computer weather model projects before the 17-19 MAR 2021 virtual Tres Lagunas Binational Summit for Laguna Salada & Salton Sea Restoration. Accomplishing that small thing will be a great encouragement to the summit participants and will stimulate the implementation of the Move the Water! initiative. It is our belief that completion of Move the Water! at Laguna Salada & Salton Sea will end the 20-year mega-drought in the SW USA and NW Baja MX, reduce the wildfire danger, increase the availability of drinking water, and yes, work to reduce Global Warming. This is important work.

The lack of these studies seems to be a block to the forward progress of Move the Water!. Move the Water! implementation must be approved by local governments and those entities must see these types of models to make their approvals and release construction permits.

Active Climate Rescue Initiative will not profit from these donations, from the report results, or from the installation of any Move the Water! project. Active Climate Rescue Initiative is a Michigan Non-profit, IRS 501.c.3 Public Charity with the sole mission of promoting the Move the Water! initiative to the world, so that Global Warming can be reversed.

As can be seen in the above video, we truly believe that Move the Water! is the best (not the only) way to push-back on Global Warming. The design of Move the Water! is simple, and low-cost (when compared with other proposals). The cost is a one-time expense, with only installation-energy consumption, but will have a perpetual, net-zero, positive, benefit against Global Warming by utilizing natural processes to cool hot places, lower ocean level, generate clean clear water, and sequester carbon. This is truly a win-win initiative. Win for the local people by improving the biome for their habitation. Win for Earth by lowering the aggerate global temperature.  

Here are the summary details of the two proposals to model the weather patterns and proof Move the Water!


Computer Model Project #1

Modeling to be conducted by Dr. Mejia of Desert Research Institute.

Use the Weather Research Forecasting regional climate model to conduct a weather simulation study to determine if Laguna Salada, a seawater lagoon in the northern Gulf of California region, could stimulate summer rainfall in the Imperial Valley and Colorado River Basin.

Cost is estimated at US$100,000.

Lead-Time for the modeling: 1 year.


Computer model Project #2

Modeling to be conducted by Prof. Dr. Volker Wulfmeyer, and Dr. Oliver Branch of Earth System Solutions.

Use the WRF-NOAHMP model system in combination with a lake model to conduct a weather simulation study analyzing the impact of flooding Laguna Salada, Baja, MX and Salton Sea, CA, USA in a specific calendar month.

Cost is estimated at EU€60,000 (US$70,000)

Lead-Time for the modeling: 4 months.


There are two existing studies which I have found.

Climatic changes due to a deliberate flooding of the Qattara depression (Egypt). Article Bib No.: 305744. Authors: Segal, M.; Pielke, R.A.; Mahrer, Y. Publication: Climatic Change; VOL. 5 NO. 1, 1983; pp.73-83. Language: English. Geographical Area: Egypt.

Planetary Core and Surface Temperatures; Chapter 17. Appendix – Study of Temperature/Rainfall Correlation. Author: Cotton, D.J. Publication: SERN Electronic Journal; January 2013. Language: English. Geographic Location: Select towns and cities between the Equator to the Tropic of Capricorn (at about 23.5° South).

You are invited to view and share the Move the Water! YouTube videos:

You are invited to attend the Tres Lagunas – Binational Summit for Laguna Salada & Salton Sea Restoration. Registration for tickets here.

Please DONATE so we can get these scientific studies started.

Please share the video links and summit registration links to your fellow Climate Warriors.

Thanks in advance to everyone who can help.

Studies which Support ‘Move the Water!’

Flooding Desert Depression

Move the Water! premise:

The flooding of a dry depression would cause increase in atmospheric moisture and a decrease in local temperature.

Study Conducted:

In 1983 a group of scientists created a computer simulation model to conduct a preliminary evaluation of the mesoscale(1) climatic changes due to a deliberate flooding of the Qattara depression in Egypt during a summer season.(2)

Conclusion:

Considerable environmental changes could be expected if the Qattara depression were converted to an inland sea. There would be changes in moisture and temperature patterns as well as horizontal and vertical winds.

(1) Mesoscale: Of or relating to a meteorological phenomenon approximately 10 to 1000 kilometers in horizontal extent.

(2) Title: Climatic changes due to a deliberate flooding of the Qattara depression (Egypt). Article Bib No.: 305744. Authors: Segal, M.; Pielke, R.A.; Mahrer, Y. Publication: Climatic Change; VOL. 5 NO. 1, 1983; pp.73-83. Language: English. Geographical Area: Egypt.

Temperature/Rainfall Correlation

Move the Water! premise:

Local rain decreases local temperature.

Study Conducted:

In 2013 Douglas J Cotton did a correlative study analyzing temperature and rainfall data for 15 cities which were carefully selected to eliminate tangential variables. (3)

Conclusion:

Water vapor does in fact appear to have the cooling effect.

(3) Title: Planetary Core and Surface Temperatures; Chapter 17. Appendix – Study of Temperature/Rainfall Correlation. Author: Cotton, D.J. Publication: SERN Electronic Journal; January 2013. Language: English. Geographic Location: Select towns and cities between the Equator to the Tropic of Capricorn (at about 23.5° South).

Help Reverse Climate Change

Your small donation to Active Climate Rescue Initiative will help reverse Global Warming. Reversing Global Warming and stopping Climate Change is our only goal, and we know how to do it. Your support will allow us to broadcast our message and save the world. Someone must do it. Be part of the someone. Donate today.

Open letter to World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

In your recently published: WMO Statement on the State of the Global Climate in 2019; I read…

P. Taalas, WMO Secretary-General stated (pg. 3):

… sea levels are rising at an increasing pace, through greater warming of the oceans, on the surface and in the depths, and through the enhanced melting of Greenland’s ice and of glaciers,… The results of this report demonstrate that climate change is already very visible in various ways. More ambitious climate mitigation efforts are needed to keep the warming below 2 °C by the end of the century.

A Guterres, UN Secretary-General stated (pg. 4):

Time is fast running out for us to avert the worst impacts of climate disruption….  The consequences are already apparent. More severe and frequent floods, droughts and tropical storms, dangerous heatwaves and rising sea levels are already severely threatening lives and livelihoods across the planet…. we need political will and urgent action to set a different path. This report outlines the latest science and illustrates the urgency for far-reaching climate action.… I call on everyone … to heed these facts and take urgent action to halt the worst effects of climate change.  We need more ambition on mitigation,… That is the only way to ensure a safer, more prosperous and sustainable future for all people on a healthy planet.

WMO Provisional Statement on the State of the Global Climate in 2019 by World Meteorological Organization

I view this as the trailer for their report.

Urgent Action Encouraged

Both of these gentlemen call for more ambitious climate mitigation efforts and urgent action, yet nowhere is this report is any consideration for the one solution which is proactive, clean and simple, inexpensive, and will have immediate and continuing results, the Active Climate Rescue Initiative: Move the Water!

Move the Water! is Proactive

One of the concerns of the rising ocean levels is the inundation of dry land with ocean water. The Move the Water! initiative is to do just that, in select places. There exist several places around our world which are dry and below sea-level. Theoretically these places could become flooded with the natural ocean rise, but only after the ocean level has caused trouble for multiple cities and islands. By direct human intervention these dry holes can be filled with ocean water; immediately decreasing the ocean levels.

Places on land with elevations below sea level by Science Gyan

Many of these can be filled with Ocean Water.

Move the Water! is Clean and Simple

In every instance the task of moving the water is as simple as providing and open gravity flow water path from the ocean to the depression. Once the path is provided, no more energy is used to move the water.

Trench digging machine to dig large canals by Best Innovation Technology

This is just one example. Machines abound for creating the water path.

Move the Water! will Have Immediate Results

Immediately on completion of the first project, the ocean level will be reduced; just a little bit, but every little bit helps. Further reductions come with the completion of each successive project. 

Move the Water! will Have Continuing Benefits

Continuing Benefits – Drawdown of Ocean Levels

The water is being moved into dry depressions in deserts. These places are windy, dry and hot. The water deposited in the depressions will evaporate. As the water evaporates the ocean will have further and continuous drawdown as long as an open flow water path is maintained. This simple science. In the below video this is communicated by children in less than 3 minutes.  

How Does Water Evaporate? By Plumb Landing of PBS

So simple a child can understand it.

Continuing Benefits – Evaporative Micro-Climate Cooling

As the water evaporates, the local environment is cooled by a small amount. These micro-cooling occurrences have global effect. Cooling by evaporation is simple science which we experience in our daily lives and is demonstrated in the below video.

Evaporation causes cooling by KClassScienceChannel

Think how this will benefit the desert air.

Continuing Benefits – Evaporated Moisture Returns as Rain

As the old saying goes: What goes up must come down. That is the case with evaporation. The water which escapes into the atmosphere returns as rain, mist and in some cases snow. Again, this is simple science that even children can understand as demonstrated in the below video.

How to Make Rain by Ryan Cragun

Continuing Benefits – Rain Cleans the Air

In desert areas there is much dust in the air. The rain will eliminate some of this dust, bringing it back to soil.

Rain’s Dirty Little Secret by MinuteEarth

Continuing Benefits – Returning Rain Cools

The rain cools the air and ground in the area. Again the local environment is micro-cooled by a small amount with global benefit. Think how nice rain feels on a hot day.

Continuing Benefits – Rain Brings Plant Growth

Plants in many places lie dormant waiting for local rains. With the newly formed inland sea, rain will fall more consistently, and the plants will thrive. The below video displays some remarkable plant growth in arid places.   

Plant growth of tropical flowers in the desert by David Attenborough, BBC Studios

Continuing Benefits – Plants Evaporate Moisture Too

Part of the plant photosynthesis process returns water into the air, which is then joined with the other evaporated moisture to bring life to the desert.

Which Came First – The Rain or the Rainforest? By MinuteEarth

Continuing Benefits – Plants Are Natural Air Conditioners

On a hot day, where do you stand? In the direct sun or under a tree? The environment is much cooler under the tree. Initially because you are not in direct sunlight. But the second reason is because the plant is causing cooling. The plant releases moisture during photosynthesis which causes the air to cool. The cool air sinks (hot air rises) to the space under the tree creating a nice bubble of cool. The below video expands the plant cooling to a level where it helps reverse global Warming.

Water Evaporated from Trees Cools Global Climate by Carnegie Science

Continuing Benefits – Plants Eat CO2 for Lunch

Plants are natural carbon syncs. They pull the carbon out of the air and convert it into the building blocks for their plant bodies. Once trapped in the plant, it stays there until the plant is burned (mostly), even if the plant dies and decomposes into soil, the carbon remains then in the soil. The first 40 seconds of the below video explain how plants absorb carbon from the air.

How Much Air Can A Tree Hold? By MinuteEarth

Continuing Benefits – Plants Cool Soil

The shade of the plants cools the ground. This cooler ground will allow water to be absorbed into it and to fill underground held aquifers. The water held in the ground is good for drinking and many other uses. The water in the aquifers is water which is not immediately returned to the ocean. It may stay in the underground aquifer for many years before it is extracted. The below video touches on the ground water phenomena.  

Water Cycle by It’s Aumsum Time

Continuing Benefits – The Cycle Repeats Itself Downwind

There is discussion of Domino Droughts. Active Climate Rescue Initiative posits that implementing the Move the Water!, a reverse action can be initiated: Domino Rehydration. This process can rehydrate the Great Basin and the whole of the SW USA desert, or Africa’s Sahara. Imagine the global benefit if the Sahara were green.

Move the Water! is Inexpensive

When considering the cost of many proposed options. When considering the huge taxation systems desired by many for exchanging carbon credits. When considering the great canals built by California and others to relocate fresh water for human consumption. The cost of Move the Water! is a literal drop in the bucket.

Call to Action

The WMO has a call for more ambitious climate mitigation efforts and urgent action. Here is the action which they seek. It is the one solution which is proactive, clean and simple, inexpensive, and will have immediate and continuing results. What does it take to implement the Active Climate Rescue Initiative: Move the Water! This one must be implemented, and the sooner the better for all our sakes. WMO: How can this be implemented? We could begin reversing Global Warming in months.

Postscript

The actions encouraged by Active Climate Rescue Initiative: Move the Water! can be consider as National Determined Contributions under Paris Accord agreements. And again, these actions will be less expensive than other options.

Disclaimer

Of course, this does not remove the need for other actions. The Move the Water! initiative is not an if/or option. It is an if/and option.

Help Reverse Climate Change

Your small donation to Active Climate Rescue Initiative will help reverse Global Warming. Reversing Global Warming and stopping Climate Change is our only goal, and we know how to do it. Your support will allow us to broadcast our message and save the world. Someone must do it. Be part of the someone.

.

REHYDRATE THE GREAT BASIN

This is a multi-step process, and for brevity this page will address some of the major tasks which must be accomplished to make this occur. This is the most grandiose Move the Water! proposal for the USA where Global Warming can be impacted, and reversal initiated. Not all possible steps can be included in this page, and there are alternate options for every step.

The Benefits Are Immense.

Bringing water to a desert is bringing life to the desert. Where there is life, there are possibilities. The grandiose statement of return on investment is that Global Warming will be combated by this effort. Water in the Great Basin 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 and will migrate toward the surrounding states, bringing with it the same 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.  

Where there is water, there is life By Afrika24 Reisen

It can be this way; we just need to add water!

The Downside … Change Brings Change.

Change always brings disruption of status quo and unintended consequences, but for the greater global good, these must be endured. The problems are inundation of dry places with standing water, which may render some land unusable for farming or habitation. But standing water is the goal of this initiative and is essential to provide large water surface area for evaporation.

How to Accept Change Is Inevitable by marty wilson

Do you choose death or life?

The Downside … People Live There.

The counter argument is that few people 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.

The Downside … 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 addition of water, and some wise land management. The below video gives one option.

From the Ground Up – ‘Regenerative Agriculture’ by festival21

The Downside … Flash Floods.

Rain in desert is associated with flash floods. These will occur and must be endured, but they will naturally diminish as plants cover the ground and impede the unimpeded water runoff.  China has done amazing things to stem rapid water runoff from a landscape, and those techniques could be used in the Great Basin (see video near end of article: Regreening the desert with John D. Liu). The below video is aimed at a suburban community, but the information is excellent.

Flood Control: WHAT YOU CAN DO by peter berman

The natural flood control features can be returned.

The Downside … 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. If this is a major problem, recirculation paths for the water can be established to eliminate Death Valley Basin as a terminal pool.

How to Rehydration 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

This is extremely simple to do.

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 … 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

A surface level drain is much less expensive.

Rehydrate Great Basin … Step Four.

Putting a drain in the bottom of the Salton Sea is all good and fine, but where does the drain go/empty? The next and nearest lower place is Death Valley. The drain must be routed via tunnel to Death Valley. This step could be achieved without the drain if a surface level intake were used instead of the drain. This will not keep the Salton Sea as clean as using a drain would, but it is much less expensive.  The water tunnel is a 100+ mile long, 15 foot diameter, tube installed underground via a boring machine.  Underground tunnels have been made, and The Boring Company boasts to be able to put them almost anywhere and any distance, for a cost well below anyone else. This would be a good test of the long-distance capabilities of The Boring Company. The completion of the tunnel would be an engineering feat which will benefit the reversal of Global Warming in many ways.

Tunnels by The Boring Company

This shows cars, but they do water tunnels too.

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

Humorous presentation, but good idea.

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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LAKE EYRE in AUSTRALIA

LAKE EYRE in AUSTRALIA

Here is yet another location in our world which would benefit from the Move the Water! initiative. In this video StocktonDan lays out a good plan to flooding Lake Eyre, Australia with ocean water and extrapolates some of the benefits for the region.

Move the Water!

The root of the Move the Water! initiative is to move ocean water to below-sea-level depressions via gravity flow canal. After the canal is established the only maintenance required is to assure that the canal remains free flowing.

The Benefits

Lowered the ocean level

There will be an immediate lowering of the ocean level. Granted the ocean level will be only lowered by a small amount, but every little bit helps. Over time the ocean will continue to be drained into Lake Eyre as water evaporates out of Lake Eyre. The evaporated water will find many places to stay and will not immediately be returned to the ocean.

Localized climatic cooling

Cooling around Lake Eyre will occur because of several mechanisms. The first mechanism is evaporation, which causes micro-cooling to occur. Second is micro-cooling from rain which is generated from the evaporation from Lake Eyre. Third, the rain will encourage plants to grow, and plants are natural air conditioners, each causing micro-cooling; as they shade the ground, and during the process of photosynthesis.

Evaporation

As mentioned above, causes micro-cooling, but there are other benefits to evaporation. The evaporated moisture returns in form of rain, mist, and snow. This returning water is pure to drink for people, plants and animals. Bringing the water into a region brings life. When the evaporated water is returned to earth; some if it is used for plant growth, but some of it is percolated into the ground for storage and later use. Some of the water which is returned reevaporates and is returned in a different location downwind from its point of evaporation. This is a continuing cycle, continuously bring life to the earth.

Plant Growth

The water supplied via evaporation will cause plants to grow. That brings many secondary benefits in addition to the micro-cooling mentioned earlier. Their little plant bodies are 90%+ water, so they hold water preventing it from immediate return to the ocean. Plants are natural carbon sinks; they use atmospheric carbon to build their tiny bodies. Once incorporated into the plant it does not return to the atmosphere until the plant is burned. The plants provide food for local animals.

Opportunities for life

Bringing water into a desert is bringing opportunities for life. Look around. Major cities are located around water: Rivers; Oceans; Lakes. Much is said about climate refugees. Think of this new living place as someplace where they may settle and conduct their lives. Where there is water, there are a plethora of opportunities for people to thrive.

Help Reverse Climate Change

Your small donation to Active Climate Rescue Initiative will help reverse Global Warming. Reversing Global Warming and stopping Climate Change is our only goal, and we know how to do it. Your support will allow us to broadcast our message and save the world. Someone must do it. Be part of the someone. Donate today.

Videos

This blog page contains a collection of videos related to our goal of reversing Global Warming by the effort of: Move the Water! These videos demonstrate that this process has been considered. each has their own perspective. Videos added over time. Check again to see if a new one is added.

THE SALTON SEA SOLUTION, CA, USA

This is another excellent video from StocktonDan: The Salton Sea Soultion. The video addresses the Salton Sea, and also Laguna Salada. Laguna Salada is the root to any good solution for the Salton Sea, so one cannot discuss one without the other.

LAGUNA SALADA in BAJA, MEXICO

Laguna Salada in Baja, Mexico is a place which will have great effect in reversion Global Warming. The good news is that Mexico can do this. It is not expensive compared to some other places.

LAKE EYRE in AUSTRALIA

Lake Eyre in Australia is one of the places which will help reverse Global Warming. This video is a serious consideration of this location.

 QATTARA DEPRESSION in EGYPT

The Qattara Depression in Egypt is one of the places which will help reverse Global Warming. This video is a serious consideration of this location.

DEATH VALLEY in USA

This video is presented sarcastically; but it makes some very good points. Death Valley in USA is a more difficult place to fill with ocean water, but it has a substantial area to fill so the benefit would be greater.

DEATH VALLEY in USA

Here is a different take on filling Death Valley with ocean water. This proposal includes a single tunnel from Pacific to Death Valley, and then a second tunnel toward Lake Mead with the installation of a desalination plant.

DEATH VALLEY in USA

In the above video, the installation of a drain in the bottom of Lake Mead is documented. This same system could be used in the bottom of the Salton Sea. The Salton Sea water could be drained into Death Valley. The first benefit would be better water quality in Salton Sea. The second benefit would be some rehydration for the Great Basin.

Help Reverse Climate Change

Your small donation to Active Climate Rescue Initiative will help reverse Global Warming. Reversing Global Warming and stopping Climate Change is our only goal, and we know how to do it. Your support will allow us to broadcast our message and save the world. Someone must do it. Be part of the someone. Donate today.

Can Domino Droughts Be Stopped At Their Source?

The Domino Drought of 2012 [1] could have been avoided and will reoccur if nothing is done to fix the root cause.

What is a Domino Drought?

A Droughts occur when a lack of precipitation causes a water shortage. A Domino Drought is a series of droughts which occur in succession across a landscape. The lack of precipitation in the genesis drought reduces precipitation from transport downwind from the genesis drought. This can reduce precipitation in the successive regions by over 50% triggering the domino drought effect.

So how can they be stopped?

By locating the genesis drought location and making suitable corrections to that local environment. The Stanford Study focused on the 2012 Domino Drought [2], so let’s use that as our example.

What was the originating location of the 2012 Domino Drought?

California. The California drought was distributed across the state but is really made up of two pieces.

The first piece…

This most obvious piece was the part caused by changing ocean currents with reduced rainfall along the Pacific coastline. I agree that this may have had some effect on the Domino Drought, but I think its effect was minimal because almost all the eastbound moisture from the Pacific Ocean is pulled from the air as it travels over the Rocky Mountains.

The second piece…

The less obvious piece is found in southwest California, and northwest Mexico. The root cause of this local drought is the over extraction of water from the Colorado River [3]. I do not expect that the excessive diversion of water from the Colorado River will cease, but something can be done to fix the unintended result of those extractions.

The Colorado River is totally used up.

There is so much water being redirected from the flow of the Colorado River that it runs dry before it reaches the ocean [4]. This maybe viewed as a good thing because humans are getting maximum usage of the naturally fresh water before it commingles with saltwater. However, so much water is being extracted that the flow could dry before the Colorado River even reaches the Mexican border; which is bad for the residents of Mexicali, MX whom depend on that water for their life. Still, Mexico uses the balance of the Colorado River water and there is no water left for downstream flow, leaving a dry riverbed south of Mexicali.

Colorado River Watershed Water Cycle.

What is the unintended result?

The unintended result is that the Water Cycle has been broken. Most simply stated; the Colorado River Basin Water Cycle is: Laguna Salada > Salton Sea > Death Valley > The Great Salt Lake > Colorado River > > Laguna Salada. With the water being all used, Laguna Salada receives no refilling water [5] from the Colorado River. A dry Laguna Salada has no water to evaporate for rain/snow/mist for the surrounding area and Southwest California, and also none to send north to the Salton Sea. Just like that the Water Cycle is broken and a drought commences in southwest California and northwest Mexico. This drought dominos up through Salton Sea; Death Valley, The Great Salt Lake, and places less water in the Colorado River; which creates a water shortage in the Colorado River Watershed.

Can we fix this?

It is unlikely that we can stop using water from the Colorado River, but we can refill Laguna Salada with water. Laguna Salada translation to English is Salt Lagoon. Laguna Salada covers a large land area and at its deepest it is 30 meters below sea-level in its lowest place. The calculated evaporation rate from Laguna Salada is considered to be very large, which points to its vital contribution to the Hydrologic Cycle. Laguna Salada has a dry stream bed leading from it to the Sea of Cortex (Gulf of California). By reversing the flow of the dry stream bed to allow ocean water to flood Laguna Salada, the water cycle can be repaired.

Is that a lot of digging/dredging?

The dry riverbed from Laguna salads to the sea of Cortez is about 81km (60mi) long. Half a century ago it was widened and straightened. The length, while it sounds like a lot, is considerably less than the California Canals: All-American Canal = 130km (80mi) long; Colorado River Aqueduct = 329km (242mi). One other thing to consider is that the amount of effort to reverse the flow of an existing stream is much less than that which was needed to transport the water from the Colorado River over/around/through the Rocky Mountains to California.

Conclusion:

By filing Laguna Salada with ocean water we can repair the Colorado River Water Cycle, avoid future Domino Droughts, and help reduce the problems of Climate Change.

Climate Change?

How did I get to reducing the problems related to Climate Change? One of those concerns is the increased level of oceans. By removing water from the ocean and placing it in Laguna Salada the ocean level will be reduced. It is just that simple.

[1] http://waterinthewest.stanford.edu/news-events/news-insights/domino-droughts
[2] https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2019GL082475
[3] https://www.watereducation.org/aquapedia/colorado-river-timeline
[4] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-colorado-river-runs-dry-61427169/
[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmJOh34OWO0&t=125s

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Open Letter to California’s Imperial Irrigation District

According to Circle of Blue Water Podcast [1]:

“California’s Imperial Irrigation District is suing over being excluded from the Colorado River drought contingency plan. The legal challenge came the same day as President Trump signed legislation to implement the plan, which took years of negotiation between the seven river basin states. The agreement intends to protect major reservoirs on the Colorado River from falling so low that they cannot provide water or power. Imperial Irrigation District, the largest water user in the basin, refused to join the plan unless the federal government included $200 million to address health and environmental dangers at the Salton Sea, a saline lake southeast of Los Angeles. Other parties working on the Colorado River plan thought the Salton Sea demand would stall the process and worked out a way to exclude Imperial Irrigation District.”

Law Suit?

You are suing because you were not included into the Colorado River drought contingency plan after you decided not to participate????

A better Idea…

Refill the Salton Sea with ocean water; which will work to cure the drought.

Cure the Drought?

I know; this sounds impossible, but the main reason there is a drought is your fault.

Why the Fault of California’s Imperial Irrigation District?

As always there is no one cause/fault, but there can be a primary cause. In this case the many causes can include Climate Change, but I do not think this is the primary cause. I believe the primary cause of the drought is the extraction of water from the Colorado River watershed [2]. For people inside the watershed; this is common knowledge, but for the others… The Colorado River is the source of drinking and irrigation water for many places far removed from the Colorado River watershed. The water has been being removed since 1870 [3] with increasing quantiles in more recent years. Now large quantities are being channeled or piped great distances to be used for drinking water, crop irrigation and various industrial purposes. Many of the users of the Colorado River water are within the watershed. What they use is returned to the river. This is not a problem. You are the largest water user in the basin, and what you use is not returned to the river, it is eventually expelled into the Pacific Ocean. This has broken the local water cycle.

What is the water cycle?

The water cycle is somewhat simple, but complex in that it has many moving parts. Let me explain the simple. Water evaporates from its place on the ground and is taken up as water vapor to be turned into rain and snow. The rain and snow are redeposited on land and makes its way into the river. The river flows and returns the water to the point where it started so that it can be evaporated again. I know that this is oversimplified, but good for a brief description of the process.

Is there evidence that the water cycle is broken?

Yes. There is clear evidence. It is obvious because the Colorado River runs dry [4] before it reaches its outlet in the ocean. This is not normal for a river to have a smaller flow at its end than in its middle.

How can this be fixed?

This can be fixed with some relatively simple engineering tasks. These tasks will require much less effort that was expended to divert the water. With the completion of these tasks it is almost assured that the water cycle can be healed and the drought will subside.

Task One:

Talk to your friends in Mexico and get them to fill Laguna Salada, Mexico with ocean water from an open-flow channel dug between the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California) and Laguna Salada. Laguna Salada was fed by the Colorado River, but Laguna Salada has been essentially dry since 2000 [5]. There is a water path from Laguna Salada to the Sea of Cortez intended to channel excess water to the ocean. The task which needs completion is to deepen this water path so that the water flow is reversed, and Laguna Salada is filled with ocean water. Once Laguna Salada is refilled with water; that water can begin its work to replenish the Colorado River watershed with rain and snow.

Task Two:

Create the Borrego Valley Reservoir; a new ocean water reservoir between Salton Sea and Laguna Salada. This reservoir is to be fed by Laguna Salada. I am not sure that anyone has ever proposed this before; regardless, this is a logical next phase in repairing the water cycle. The work would require a gravity flow cannel to be dug from Laguna Salada into southern California, where a Borrego Valley Reservoir can be built using the excavated soil from the construction of the canal. This area is also below sea level and is desert with little habitation. The Borrego Valley Reservoir will provide additional water surface area from which water can evaporate to replenish the water cycle rain and snow.

Task Three:

Refill the Salton Sea with ocean water by a restricted flow channel from the Borrego Valley Reservoir. The optimum fix for the water cycle would be to refill Lake Cahuilla [6], but this would dislocate many area residents so it likely will not occur. The best alternative is to refill the Salton Sea to its historic optimum level. This can be done by a gravity flow restricted water release from the Borrego Valley Reservoir. The water could be used for power generation as it travels to the Salton Sea, but this enhancement can be added later. What is most important is to increase the Salton Sea water level so that there is more surface area for evaporation.  

Task Four:

This one is a reach, and a bit more expensive. Hire The Boring Company to install a water tunnel drain in the Salton Sea; draining the water into Death Valley. This will be a good test project for The Boring Company on long distance tunnel making. The Salton Sea drain will allow flow-through of water, which will decrease the salinity of Salton Sea (and move the salt to Death Valley). It is expected that any water moved to Death Valley will quickly evaporate and help replenish the water cycle.

These tasks sound like lots of effort.

These tasks sound like lots of effort, but the effort is worth the cost. We humans need to be good stewards of our home planet and when we break something, we should repair it. The effort to conduct these tasks is much less than the effort which has been expended to remove water from the Colorado River. In comparison these are simple tasks.

[1] https://www.circleofblue.org/2019/world/u-s-irrigation-moves-east/?mc_cid=c41f6fa949&mc_eid=beb708555f

[2] https://www.watereducation.org/aquapedia/colorado-river-timeline

[3] https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4000/hisdiv.html

[4] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-colorado-river-runs-dry-61427169/

[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmJOh34OWO0&t=125s

[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Cahuilla

Help Reverse Climate Change

Your small donation to Active Climate Rescue Initiative will help reverse Global Warming. Reversing Global Warming and stopping Climate Change is our only goal, and we know how to do it. Your support will allow us to broadcast our message and save the world. Someone must do it. Be part of the someone. Donate today.