#globalwarming – Page 2 – Active Climate Rescue Initiative

REHYDRATE THE GREAT BASIN

Rehydrating the Great Basin will help reverse Climate Change and provide social Justice to many indigenous peoples located in the Soutwest USA.

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.

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

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

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 … (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

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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Mexico Holds One of the Keys to Reversing Climate Change.

Despite Mexico’s commitment to the Paris Accord to combat climate change, it has ignored a crucial solution of refilling the Laguna Salada with water from the Sea of Cortez.

Unfortunately…

Mexico has not used that key and the solution remains securely locked. Mexico has expressed a commitment to helping solve Climate Change by their signing the Paris Accord but seems oblivious to this easy opportunity which only they can accomplish.

Ecologic disaster in Mexico

In the mid 1900’s, Mexico experienced an ecologic disaster created by the draining of the Colorado River at the USA/MX border. This left over 60 miles of riverbed devoid of moisture. The Colorado River had been depositing a huge volume of water into the delta and Sea of Cortez. The loss of this flowing water destroyed 3,000 sq-mi of wet, verdant, green land and created a 3,000 sq-mi parched, dry, brown desert. This change from green to brown is a local climate change. The humidity level is greatly decreased so the area can no longer contribute to its hydrologic cycle. The 3,000 sq-mi desert is now in a constant state of drought. This was the first domino to fall in the domino-droughts.

Paris Accord

Implementation of the Paris Agreement requires nationally determined contributions (NDCs). Each NDC is meant to align with the Paris Agreement temperature goal, taking into account different national circumstances. In the NDC, countries take action to build resilience to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

What is Laguna Salada, Baja, MX.

Time lapse photography, 1984 to 2023, showing dehydration of Laguna Salada, Baja, MX.

Laguna Salada is a below-sea-level depression just north-northwest of the Colorado River delta has been filled with salt water. Laguna Salada was being kept full by the now drained Colorado River and moisture evaporated from the previously green delta. In 1999, with the Colorado river being dry south of Mexicali, Baja, MX., and the delta a desert; Laguna Salada went completely dry. The domino-droughts began in 2000 and morphed into the current mega-drought.

What Is The Easy Opportunity?

Fill Laguna Salada with ocean water from the Sea of Cortez. Reversing the Coyote Canal and refilling Laguna Salada will meet the Paris Accord NDC goal.

Why Is This Easy?

Visualize the Coyote Canal as a nice wide water path from the Sea of Cortez into Laguna Salada.

The Coyote Canal is an existing water path between Laguna Salada and the Sea of Cortez. This dry creek bed was straightened and shortened in recent years. The work that needs to be accomplished today is to make that canal deeper and wider so that the non-existing out-flow from Laguna Salada is reversed to an in-flow from the Sea of Cortez. The effort required to is minimal because the canal already exists, its path is defined, and its length is about 60 miles (120 kilometers). There is minimal excavation required.

How does this help reverse Climate Change?

The first thing…

The first thing it accomplishes is a reduction of the ocean level. The oceans are rising because of the melting of the glaciers. The water that melts off them can flow into Laguna Salada. Any water which flows out of the ocean into Laguna Salada is water, which is not in the ocean anymore, so the ocean level is lower.

The second thing…

The second thing is that Laguna Salada is located in a very hot, very dry, very windy place. This means that the water in Laguna Salada will evaporate quickly and be carried away from Laguna Salada. As the water evaporates, the ocean level will be further reduced to refill Laguna Salada.

The third thing…

The third thing is that the water which evaporates into the atmosphere will be carried away from Laguna Salada. Water vapor carried east or west will return to Laguna Salada as rainwater flowing down from the flanking mountains. Water vapor carried south it will return to the Sea of Cortez. Water vapor carried north it will indirectly replenish the Colorado River watershed, which will begin to reverse the mega-drought and help the whole Colorado River watershed and it’s the varied water users.

The fourth thing…

The evaporation of water from Laguna Salada should lower local ambient temperatures. According to the USGS; heat is removed from the environment during evaporation, leading to a net cooling. In climates where the humidity is low and the temperatures are hot, evaporation can lower the air temperature by 20 degrees F.

The fifth thing…

Wherever the evaporated moisture falls it will encourage plant growth. Plant growth will help heal the atmosphere by absorbing carbon and by cooling the local environment.

The sixth thing…

This will add moisture to the Colorado River delta because of the flow from the ocean through the delta to Laguna Salada. this moisture will aid in rehydrating the Colorado River delta.

Mexico holds part of another key…

After Laguna Salada is filled with sea water, a canal should be built north to the USA border so the USA can join with it and refill the Salton Sea. Refilling the Salton Sea continues all the above benefits to a second location.

Help Reverse Climate Change

Cause of USA Mega-Drought

We broke the Hydrologic cycle! We did it by greedily taking what nature offered for free, without giving back. It is time to give back and help nature restore itself.

Cause of USA Mega-Drought

There is no one cause for the Southwest USA Mega-Drought, just as there is no one cause for to Global Warming and Climate Change, but just go with me for a minute on this one. The draining of the Colorado River water for human use is the major factor causing this 23-year mega-drought in the southwest USA. This is greatly simplified but follow my logic on this…

Water Moves in a Cycle

Water moves in a cycle greater than local watersheds. Again, greatly simplified, some of the water for the southwest USA begins in Mexico, in the Colorado River delta. The water in the river’s delta evaporates into the atmosphere and creates precipitation (fog, mist, rain, and snow). This moisture is moved by wind patterns into the southwest USA. It comes to earth in the Colorado River watershed where it creates the Colorado River and flows into Mexico. On arrival in Mexico, it spreads out across the Colorado River delta. The water in the Colorado River delta evaporates into the atmosphere and creates precipitation. The cycle is perpetual until something breaks the circle…

A water cycle: Colorado River delta > Laguna Salada > Salton Sea > Death Valley > Great Basin > Great Salt Lake > Colorado River headwaters > Colorado River > Colorado River delta.

Water Being Diverted

In a closed terrarium water just keeps being recycled. There is no reason to add more. In real life, there is no closed loop. The Colorado River delta has gone dry. The water used to refill it is syphoned off to other places outside of the watershed. The escaping water must be replaced for the system to continue to function. In this case, that replacement water can most easily be replaced by repairing the water cycle. How can this be done? Can humans control the weather?

Here Is What Happened.

Let’s begin at the Colorado River Delta, which in the early 1900’s was once a lush, verdant, 3,000-sq-mi green oasis in the Sonoran Desert. Beginning in the 1930’s the “wise” humans saw the pure freshwater of the Colorado River and decided not to let it escape into the sea and become ruined. They put the water to human use by removing the water from the river about 90 miles before its delta. On the surface this was a smart plan, but they got greedy and drained the river dry. The water no longer flowed into the delta and the delta is now a dead, dusty, 3,000-sq-mi brown desert wasteland. Gone is the lush green space and most of the life associated with it. All that is left is brown sand and the limited, hardy life suited for dry conditions. Humans created this is manmade ecological disaster, a critical link in this water cycle has been broken. This is Climate Change on a micro level, which has had the domino effect of exacerbating Climate Change in the southwest USA.

Laguna Salada is dry beginning in 1999 through present. The Water Cycle broken for 23+years.

Laguna Salada, Baja, MX

Just northwest of the Colorado River delta is Laguna Salada. This salt marsh, only 33 feet below sea-level at its deepest point, was kept full in three ways:

1) Tidal Flow.

Occasionally there is inflow from tidal flow from the Sea of Cortez. This is still occurring today, but it is so infrequent and such a small amount of water that it cannot keep Laguna Salada filled, or even constantly wet.

2) Local Precipitation.

The Laguna Salada watershed received just a little rain and receives less now than it did in years past. The decrease in precipitation is a result of the change in the Colorado River delta from green to brown.

3) Coyote Canal.

Overflow from Colorado River ran through the Coyote Canal which was the prime water infusion path for Laguna Salada. It entered Laguna Salada via the Coyote Canal when river flow allowed. The effectiveness of this water path has dwindled to nothing in the last half of the 1900s. The water diversions from the Colorado River have caused the Colorado River to be dry before it reaches the Coyote Canal. Because the water of the Colorado River stopped flowing in the Coyote Canal, in 1999 Laguna Salada became fully dry. The Colorado River no longer feeds Laguna Salada or the Gulf of California.

Salton Sea, CA, USA.

Just north of Laguna Salada, in the Imperial Valley, is the Salton Sea. The Imperial Valley once was part of the Colorado River’s path in time long gone when Lake Cahuilla existed. If Lake Cahuilla, with its surface level just above sea level, were there now, 19 communities would be flooded and gone. Lake Cahuilla has been gone for centuries because of a change in the Colorado River’s path. In the late 1800’s and early 1900s the area in the Imperial Valley was known as the Salton Flats. The Salton Flats were the bottom of Lake Cahuilla and full of its salty residue. In the 1910s the residents of Imperial Valley began to farm with water obtained from the Colorado River via canals. The Salton Sea, often referred to as an accidental lake, originated when an irrigation canal escaped its boundaries and carried Colorado River water into the Salton flats. The Salton Sea has been present in the Imperial Valley since the 1920s and hit a popularity heyday in the 1950s as a vacation spot. The Salton Sea level varies and is approximately 236-feet-below-sea-level and has a depth in the deepest point of 51-feet. The Salton Sea is evaporating rapidly and may soon be fully dry. Moisture is added in two ways:

1) Local Precipitation.

The precipitation for the Salton Sea is brought up from the south from and over Laguna Salada. With the Colorado River delta a desert since 1940, and Laguna Salada dry since 1999, the rainfall in the Salton Sea watershed has diminished.

2) Agricultural Runoff.

Agricultural runoff was the primary water supply for Laguna Salada. Unfortunately, that water was highly polluted with fertilizer and salt, causing the lake to have an unpleasant aroma. The drought beginning in 2000, necessitating conservation of irrigation water, has decreased the inflow from the farms. Beginning in 2020 the farm runoff is being diverted westward to meet California coastal water needs. The Salton see is rapidly returning to the Salton Falts.

Broken Hydrologic Cycle.

We now have a broken water cycle. The Colorado river delta no longer sends moisture north to Laguna Salada. The dry Laguna Salada has no moisture to send to the Salton Sea. The lack of moisture in the Imperial Valley leaves little to blow north into the Great Basin. The Great Salt Lake, which obtains its moisture within the Great Basin, is at its lowest level in recorded history. The Great Salt Lake and the Great Basin have no water to send to the headwaters of the Colorado River. While the Colorado River is fed by multiple water cycles, all of them functioning at normal levels are needed to have the full flow in the river. With the measured flow of the Colorado River below optimum, the reservoirs are not staying full. This is not a short-term problem, but a result of permeant ecological damage to the environment resulting in a new-normal flow for the Colorado River. Here is where human activity has damaged the environment and caused local climate change.

Humans Must Fix This.

Humans broke the Hydrologic cycle! In our wisdom we did it by greedily taking what nature offered for free, without giving back. It is time to give back and help nature restore itself. There are three ways which we can remedy this problem:

1) Stop Draining the River Dry.

The simplest option is to stop raping nature and let the Colorado River’s flow return to its natural state, but this cannot happen. This freshwater is being used for life and livelihood by millions of people who would complain loudly if it were no longer available to them.

2) Let Some Water Through.

Don’t take all the water. Let some of it flow to the delta. This sounds like a good idea, but it will not be enough. The Colorado River has a diminished flow which has created a strain on the existing water demand. Calls for conservation have been going on for years, and yet there is still not enough water to fill the current need. How can some be allowed to escape into the delta? Yes, this should be done, but any that is allowed to flow into the delta will be a minuscule amount compared to its original state. Yet some is better than none, but it would not be enough to break the mega-drought and refill the river.

3) Restore the Water Cycle.

The ultimate solution would be to discover a new source of water which is unencumbered and easily available to insert into the water cycle. That source is the ocean. The Sea of California is close at hand.

Move The Water!

The “Move the Water!” initiative proposes to refill Laguna Salada with seawater. The flow of the Coyote Canal can be reversed, and the saltwater can be allowed to flow through the delta and into Laguna Salada. In Spanish Laguna Salada translates into Salt Marsh, so it is already salted and adding saltwater will do no harm. By doing this some moisture will be returned into the delta, and Laguna Salada can be filled up to sea-level. The restored Lagna Salada will once again pump huge amounts of water vapor into the atmosphere, which will blow north toward the Salton Sea. Social justice will occur as the local indigenous peoples will again be able to fish in their ancestral lake. This will begin to fix the now broken water cycle and move toward eventually ending the mega-drought.

Mexico’s Commitment to End Climate Change.

Mexico made it clear in Paris that they wanted to do their part in reversing Climate Change. The loss of water within the Colorado River delta and watershed is one of the causes of Climate Change. The removal of that water allows the area to become warmer. This is their opportunity, and it is a low-cost project to undertake. The work in Mexico could be done in a surprisingly short time frame, easily less than a year. Once completed the drought can begin to end and climate Change can be mitigated.

Move the Water! Again.

The “Move the Water!” initiative proposes to refill the Salton Sea to its 1950s level by allowing seawater to flow through Laguna Salada. Here the Coyote Canal must be extended so that it terminates in the Salton Sea. This is a little more difficult project because there is a 150-foot hill in the way. This is not unsurmountable. Look at the rock cuts along our major highways. Brining the ocean water into the Salton Sea has multiple benefits, the largest being the work it will do against the mega-drought. The moisture evaporated from the Salton Sea will enter the Great Basin and work to refill the Great Salt Lake and also replenish the headwaters of the Colorado River.