Updated November 20, 2024 to include video of the lecture.
Ms. Mulroy’s lecture yesterday evening focused on increasing water supply in the Lower Basin (after setting the stage with the reality of a declining Colorado River due to climate change). One solution she offered was a pipeline from northwest Mexico to the Imperial Valley. The water would be used to replenish the Salton Sea and then be desalted for irrigation to lessen the diversion of water from the Colorado River in the Imperial Valley. The Imperial Irrigation District holds the largest water rights on the river and is an important source of food for the U.S. so her solution is an attempt to keep them in production and also cutting Lower Basin diversions.
She acknowledges the costs involved and the problem of disposing of the brine but is convinced that conservation, while very important, cannot solve the crisis of a declining supply in the basin. She has observed desalination in the Middle East where it is piped across the landscape to meet demands. This is the solution that Cape Town has embraced since nearly hitting “Day Zero” a few years ago during a particularly long and deep drought.
Augmentation of the Lower Basin water supply would benefit the entire basin, she maintains, taking pressure off the Upper Basin which already shoulders the burden of reduced water supplies during drought years.
