ELi5: Why can’t we build a giant water pipeline across the US? I live in north east US and we get an insane amount of precipitation. Can’t we help out the west by moving some of that to them?
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Just to add to some of the answers you already have:
* No one with water wants to send it out. The great lakes already locked their water out from export. Other places will probably follow if there seems to be serious interest.
* What will happen if they get more water is that they will immediately increase consumption and just end up in the same position again, all the while your water levels will just go down. If you don’t believe me, take a look at Tulare lake, which was the largest lake west of the mississippi river until CA basically drained it for crops.
* The scale needed is massive. You don’t need a Keystone XL pipeline: you need hundreds of them.
* We already have experience with this from things like the Aral sea. It’s not going to end well.
* The problem has always been overconsumption and waste. They literally flood fields with water to grow alfalfa to send it out to Saudi Arabia. This is entirely a self-made problem that is on them to fix.
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