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Fruita CO | The big problem between Mexico & the US on the Colorado is salt. 20 years or so ago, the Bureau of Reclamation spent more per acre than the farmland in this valley is worth to line all the canals & laterals, to reduce the amount of salt returned to the river. This was all done to appease Mexico, as they were making a stink about the salinity of what's left of the Colorado when it gets to Mexico...I knew a retired engineer that worked for years on a desalination plant at the border in Arizona-same reason, trying to give Mexico some water they can use.
Several years ago, some bright gent had an idea to catch the water at the Colorado border & pump it back to the headwaters...salt concentration was only one of the flaws in that plan, the big one being the River Compact...
Interesting thing to think about is that the demise of every civilization in history that has depended on irrigation has been salt concentration...
Edit: the "Big Straw" project was a scheme to pump water all the way over the Continental Divide & sell it to Denver. Non-starter in many ways...
Edited by ronm 4/22/2015 09:18
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Solve California drought with Seattle pipeline
