Interstate 80 San Francisco Salt Lake City Water Pipeline

tahanson43206 · 2023-05-10 14:49:23

Here is an update on the pipeline idea for the Great Salt Lake ... apparently the idea has been quietly gelling ....

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/plan-sa … 48624.html

The article at the link above is written in a breezy style. It appears to contain updates on progress toward a pipeline to bring sea water to the Great Salt Lake from the Pacific Ocean.

I'm glad to see that a few people have taken this (to me quite reasonable idea) seriously.

Bill Gifford
Tue, May 9, 2023 at 8:00 AM EDT
This article originally appeared on Outside
Out in Utah's barren West Desert, past the hazardous-waste landfill and the military bombing range, on the far side of the Great Salt Lake, sits a silent, mysterious structure that will make a great ruin someday. Scratch that: it already is one.
The three-story industrial building was hastily erected in the late 1980s, at a cost of $60 million, to house a pumping station with an urgent task: to suck water out of the Great Salt Lake and spew it into the desert flats farther west. The lake was then at record-high levels, threatening to flood railway lines, interstate highways, and farmland. The pumps were in operation for about two years before nature took over and the lake receded on its own.
More than three decades later, the Great Salt Lake has the opposite problem--too little water. Twenty years into a once-in-a-millennium drought, exacerbated by the effects of climate change, the lake level has declined to record lows. Marinas have closed, migratory birds are struggling, and high winds whip up massive dust clouds.
In January, a group of scientists and environmentalists warned that what was once the largest lake in the West could disappear completely in as little as five years. "Examples from around the world show that saline lake loss triggers a long-term cycle of environmental, health, and economic suffering," they wrote in a report. "We are in an all-hands-on-deck emergency."
Translation: shit is getting real. How real? Even Republicans recognize that we have to do something to save the lake--that's how real.
The Great Salt Lake crisis has spurred a novel and extreme idea: Why not build a pipeline to bring in water from the ocean to revive and replenish it?
The concept sounds like something dreamed up by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, but it seems to have originated with the Utah legislature's powerful Water Development Commission, which placed the pipeline idea on its annual agenda last May. "There's a lot of water in the ocean, and we have very little in the Great Salt Lake," noted commission chair David Hinkins.
Environmentalists were urgently dismissive; the Salt Lake Tribune called it a "loony idea." But the loony idea persisted. In December, President Biden signed a bill that will provide $5 million per year in federal money to study possible ways to resurrect the Great Salt Lake and dozens of other saline lakes in the West. One option is the aforementioned ocean pipeline. "We must do whatever is necessary to save [the Great Salt Lake]," said Utah senator Mitt Romney, who sponsored the bill.
Which raises an urgent question: What is going to be necessary to enable us to survive climate change? And how much of that are we actually willing to do?
"My oil and gas friends tell me we build oil and gas pipelines all the time," Romney told me by phone, "and water is more important than that."
But the water pipeline is a much bigger deal than an oil or gas pipeline.
The problem, or set of problems, is not only relevant to the American West. Other places are preparing to spend boatloads of money to mitigate the effects of further climate change. New York State has budgeted $52 billion to armor its pricey coastal real estate against rising sea levels and ever stronger storms. Israel is exploring ways to deliver water from the Mediterranean to its own dying saline lake, the Dead Sea. Scientists in the Netherlands and elsewhere are developing salt-tolerant potatoes and other food crops that are less reliant on fresh water.
To climate scientists, Great Salt Lake and its basin, including the greater Salt Lake City area and famous ski resorts like Park City and Snowbird, offer a perfect little case study in doomsday planning, because the region is a largely self-contained water system. Snow falls on the surrounding mountains in winter, accumulating into a high-elevation snowpack that can measure 20 feet deep. When the snow melts in late spring, the runoff flows down via creeks and rivers into Great Salt Lake, raising its water level. As the summer wears on, a great deal of that water evaporates, and the lake level goes back down. (The water leaches salts and minerals from the soil as it runs down from the mountains, but none of the water flows out to other places, or to the ocean, which is why the lake is salty.)

(th)

SpaceNut · 2024-02-19 18:18:07

Appears that we have a new model to use for measuring global water storage

BB1iwYgU.img?w=768&h=436&m=6

tahanson43206 · 2025-07-26 10:46:24

This post is offered in support of the topic... I asked Google's Gemini for a list of the political entities that would have to grant approval for a pipeline to carry sea water from the Pacific Ocean to the Great Salt Lake.

Gemini reminded me that the number "80" was historically assigned to another highway.

Conversation with Gemini
Route 80 Political Entities to Utah - Hi Gemini! Thank you for your assistance with numerous previous requests. You just completed a Research Study in another account. I was impressed with the quality of the work. Today, I'm hoping you can assist with collecting information from map databases in the US western region. What I'm looking for is a list of political entities through which US Route 80 passes in the stretch from the Pacific Ocean to Salt Lake City. The context is a (hypothetical) proposal for a sea water pipe line along or under Route 80. Every political entity along the stretch would have to not only grant approval but secure positive support from the population. Naturally the states through which the highway passes have superior jurisdiction, but every political entity along the way has a stake in such a project.
***
It's important to clarify that US Route 80 (US 80) as a transcontinental highway no longer extends to the Pacific Ocean. Its current western terminus is in Dallas, Texas. The highway that now runs from the Pacific Ocean to Salt Lake City and beyond is Interstate 80 (I-80). For the purpose of your hypothetical pipeline proposal, I will assume you are referring to I-80.
Here is a list of political entities (states, counties, and major cities/towns) through which Interstate 80 passes from the Pacific Ocean (San Francisco, California) to Salt Lake City, Utah:
I. California
State: California
Counties (West to East):
San Francisco County
Alameda County
Contra Costa County
Solano County
Yolo County
Sacramento County
Placer County
Nevada County
Major Cities/Towns (West to East):
San Francisco
Oakland
Berkeley
Richmond
Vallejo
Fairfield
Vacaville
Davis
Sacramento
Roseville
Auburn
Truckee
II. Nevada
State: Nevada
Counties (West to East):
Washoe County
Churchill County
Pershing County
Humboldt County
Lander County
Eureka County
Elko County
White Pine County (I-80 does not directly pass through it, but West Wendover is on the border of White Pine and Elko counties)
Major Cities/Towns (West to East):
Verdi
Reno
Sparks
Fernley
Wadsworth
Lovelock
Winnemucca
Battle Mountain
Carlin
Elko
Wells
West Wendover
III. Utah
State: Utah
Counties (West to East):
Tooele County
Salt Lake County
Major Cities/Towns (West to East, leading to Salt Lake City):
Wendover (Utah side, borders West Wendover, NV)
(Stretches through the Bonneville Salt Flats with no major towns)
Lake Point (unincorporated community)
Grantsville (historical route, but not directly on I-80 anymore)
Tooele (historical route, but not directly on I-80 anymore)
Erda (unincorporated community)
Magna (unincorporated community near the route)
Salt Lake City (western and southern edges)
South Salt Lake
This list provides a comprehensive overview of the primary political entities that would need to be engaged for your hypothetical pipeline project along or under I-80 in this stretch. Remember that "positive support from the population" would require engaging with communities at a much more granular level than just city or county governments, potentially including neighborhood councils, special districts, and local community groups.
***
Thank you for clarifying that I was indeed thinking of the Interstate highway, and for providing the historical background for that distinctive number. The list you provided is most helpful.
***
You're most welcome! I'm glad I could clarify the distinction between US-80 and I-80 and that the list of political entities is helpful for your hypothetical pipeline project.
If you have any further questions as you flesh out this concept, or if you need more detailed information on any specific region or type of political entity along the route, feel free to ask!

As a reminder ... this topic is a spin-off from the long series of posts in the 'Phoenix" topic.

(th)

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#51 2023-05-10 14:49:23

Re: Interstate 80 San Francisco Salt Lake City Water Pipeline

#52 2024-02-19 18:18:07

Re: Interstate 80 San Francisco Salt Lake City Water Pipeline

#53 2025-07-26 10:46:24

Re: Interstate 80 San Francisco Salt Lake City Water Pipeline

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