National Smart Water Grid

Technical Report · Mon Jul 13 04:00:00 EDT 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/963122· OSTI ID:963122

Beaulieu, R A

The United States repeatedly experiences floods along the Midwest's large rivers and droughts in the arid Western States that cause traumatic environmental conditions with huge economic impact. With an integrated approach and solution these problems can be alleviated. Tapping into the Mississippi River and its tributaries, the world's third largest fresh water river system, during flood events will mitigate the damage of flooding and provide a new source of fresh water to the Western States. The trend of increased flooding on the Midwest's large rivers is supported by a growing body of scientific literature. The Colorado River Basin and the western states are experiencing a protracted multi-year drought. Fresh water can be pumped via pipelines from areas of overabundance/flood to areas of drought or high demand. Calculations document 10 to 60 million acre-feet (maf) of fresh water per flood event can be captured from the Midwest's Rivers and pumped via pipelines to the Colorado River and introduced upstream of Lake Powell, Utah, to destinations near Denver, Colorado, and used in areas along the pipelines. Water users of the Colorado River include the cities in southern Nevada, southern California, northern Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Indian Tribes, and Mexico. The proposed start and end points, and routes of the pipelines are documented, including information on right-of-ways necessary for state and federal permits. A National Smart Water Grid{trademark} (NSWG) Project will create thousands of new jobs for construction, operation, and maintenance and save billions in drought and flood damage reparations tax dollars. The socio-economic benefits of NWSG include decreased flooding in the Midwest; increased agriculture, and recreation and tourism; improved national security, transportation, and fishery and wildlife habitats; mitigated regional climate change and global warming such as increased carbon capture; decreased salinity in Colorado River water crossing the US-Mexico border; and decreased eutrophication (excessive plant growth and decay) in the Gulf of Mexico to name a few. The National Smart Water Grid{trademark} will pay for itself in a single major flood event.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 963122
• Report Number(s): LLNL-TR-414794
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

13 HYDRO ENERGY
42 ENGINEERING
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
58 GEOSCIENCES
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
CARBON
CLIMATES
COLORADO RIVER
COLORADO RIVER BASIN
CONSTRUCTION
DECAY
DROUGHTS
ECONOMIC IMPACT
EUTROPHICATION
FRESH WATER
GREENHOUSE EFFECT
GULF OF MEXICO
LAKES
MISSISSIPPI RIVER
NATIONAL SECURITY
PIPELINES
PLANT GROWTH
RIVERS
SALINITY