Pumping Mississippi River water west: solution or dream?
Waves of torrential rainfall drenched California into the new year. Snowpacks in the Sierra Nevada Mountains have swelled to more than 200% their normal size, and snowfall across the rest of the Colorado River Basin is trending above average, too. While the much-needed water has improved conditions in the parched West, experts warn against claiming victory. About 60% of the region remains in some form of drought, continuing a decades-long spiral into water scarcity. … Over the years, a proposed solution has come up again and again: large-scale river diversions, including pumping Mississippi River water to the parched west.