The preponderance of multi-billion-dollar, pie-in-the-sky water pipeline projects always seems to rise in direct proportion to the abundance of headlines about the drought in the Western US, and this month was no exception. As Lake Mead sank below its all-time low elevation and fears over water shortages in Arizona grow, the Arizona Legislature formally approached Congress with a view to studying the feasibility of harvesting Mississippi River floodwaters and piping them over to the Colorado River to replenish supplies. The plight of the Salton Sea, meanwhile, has given further impetus to the idea of piping in raw seawater from the Sea of Cortez to try to fix the problem. Both schemes understandably have their fair share of detractors.
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