June 11, 2017
A few comments about water. Just my opinion but here goes.
“Whiskey’s for drinking, water’s for fighting over.” Mark Twain
Presently the United States and Canada have the greatest storehouse of unused fresh water in the world in the Great Lakes. The surface area of the Great Lakes is larger than the state of Utah (the 13th largest state in terms of surface area). It would require about 650 Lake Meads (the largest man-made lake in the United States), filled to capacity, to fill the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes have, in terms of surface area, five of the nine largest lakes in the world. Superior (#2); Huron (#4); Michigan (#5); Erie (#8); Ontario (#9). Enough said!
Using Lake Superior we could run a water line from Duluth, MN to Grand Junction, CO (950 miles as the crow flies) and pour water into the Colorado River. We could also tap into that line and feed it into the Colorado via the Green River if necessary. We could fill all the reservoirs on the Colorado River an additional eighty feet and the water level of the Great Lakes would drop less than six inches.
In Alaska, the people have built a pipeline to transport oil for consumption 800 miles long over some of the most difficult terrain in the world. We built power grids and lines all over the country to provide power. In the Nineteenth Century we built railroads crossing the continent. We have built a roadway system across the continent that is the envy of every nation on earth. We can build a comprehensive national water management system so droughts, as occurred in Georgia and Texas recently, can be managed. The linchpin of this process is the Great Lakes.
The Chinese recently launched an 800 mile pipeline project to bring water from the South (where there is a lot of water) to the North (where there is not a lot of water). The Southwestern United States will soon lose its ability to add population since there will be no water available for growth and the action probably taken in the short run will be to close the Imperial Valley farms.
The Duluth to Grand Junction alternative I mentioned above is only a suggested beginning. This nation needs a comprehensive water management system so that the effects of drought and flooding can be minimized. The cost for this will be massively offset by making land currently unavailable for farming available for growing food.
As a side note: The United States and Canada need to merge and combine their resources. The resulting mega-country would be the largest area wise in the history of mankind and would result in the most prosperous and self-sufficient powerhouse ever seen on this planet.
Lewis Shupe, Founder
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