Could the Mississippi River help ease drought elsewhere?

CATHY WURZER: Now, you've probably heard about the extreme heat wave hitting the Western US right now. These soaring temperatures are becoming increasingly common because of climate change. The extreme heat is making a severe drought out West even worse.

One suggestion that has created quite a stir is to divert water from the Mississippi River to those drier states. NPR reporter Kirsty Marone took a closer look at whether this idea could ever become reality. We're going to talk to Kirsty. But first, let's hear her report.

KIRSTY MARONE: When Paul Coufal of Red Wing read a letter in the "Palm Springs Desert Sun" suggesting that water could be diverted from the Mississippi River and piped to the Colorado River basin, he couldn't stay quiet. Coufal wrote to the newspaper, advising Californians that if they come for the Midwest's water, quote, "We have plenty of dynamite in Minnesota."

PAUL COUFAL: And it was a rather strongly-worded letter.

KIRSTY MARONE: He didn't anticipate the flood of responses, some supportive, some angry. Coufal even got a call from the Goodhue County Sheriff's Office, saying some viewed his letter as threatening.

PAUL COUFAL: He advised me not to make any more references to dynamite.

KIRSTY MARONE: Julie Makinen, the "Desert Sun's" executive editor, says the topic of transporting water set off a cascade of interest, with letters pouring in from all over the world on all sides of the issue. Some argue that modern engineering solutions are needed to tackle the West's water problems, which affect the whole country.

JULIE MAKINEN: When the Midwesterners get very possessive about don't touch a drop of our water, then people here are like, OK, well, don't go to your supermarket looking for strawberries in January.

KIRSTY MARONE: The incident highlights the passionate reaction generated by the idea of sending water from the Midwest to Southwestern states, where an ongoing drought and population growth have created a looming water crisis. Such proposals have been around since the 1960s, but they're sparking new interest. Bonnie Keeler is an associate professor at the University of Minnesota. She says high-quality water suitable for drinking is going to become increasingly scarce throughout the world.

BONNIE KEELER: And it's very hard to move cities. So the emphasis is going to be on finding water to meet the demand of those populations rather than moving cities to places where there's more water.

KIRSTY MARONE: But projects to transport water by pipeline or some other means face serious obstacles. First, they're difficult to build and very expensive.

MOHSEN TAHMASEBI NASAB: They're considered actually to be high-risk projects.

KIRSTY MARONE: Mohsen Tahmasebi Nasab is a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Engineering.

MOHSEN TAHMASEBI NASAB: And that's because they require major financial investments. And also, they require a long time to complete, right? We are talking about years and years, sometimes decades.

KIRSTY MARONE: Water transport projects are even more expensive than other costly options, like desalination plants that remove salt from seawater.

GREG PIERCE: I think they're incredibly improbable to the point of being close to saying it's impossible.

KIRSTY MARONE: Greg Pierce is co-director of the Luskin Center for Innovation at the University of California Los Angeles. He says regulations have gotten tougher, too, making it far less likely that such projects could get needed approval. Taking water from one region and moving it to another can have serious environmental impacts. It can change the hydrology of a river or watershed, introduce new pollutants or invasive species. And with climate change making it much more difficult to predict drought and precipitation cycles, Pierce says it's risky for one region to lock itself into a deal to give away its water.

GREG PIERCE: They may need that water more than they did in previous times. And the fact that there's intense flooding, and overall, more water than is needed for the local population doesn't mean they don't need that reliable flow.

KIRSTY MARONE: And there are often legal barriers as well. A multistate compact prevents water from being diverted from the Great Lakes, with a few exceptions. Minnesota added protections to its groundwater after an Oregon company proposed to ship water from Dakota County by train to the Western US in 2019. Dakota County Commissioner Joe Atkins says a recent study predicted that parts of the county will face a water shortage in the next decade.

JOE ATKINS: So we sure as heck shouldn't be sending our water off to the desert.

KIRSTY MARONE: Last year, state lawmakers prohibited issuing a water permit for more than a million gallons a year if the water would be used more than 100 miles away. Still, Atkins worries that local laws won't prevent attempts by Western states to access the Midwest's water. He wants to see stronger protections for the Mississippi River at the federal level. Bonnie Keeler says protecting water is an issue that unites Minnesotans.

BONNIE KEELER: I think the threat of another state laying claim to our fresh water in Minnesota is one of those issues that really cuts across political divides.

KIRSTY MARONE: She says there's one positive outcome to this debate over water-- greater appreciation for Minnesota's good fortune to have an abundant resource that's so scarce in much of the world. Kirsty Marone, NPR News.

CATHY WURZER: Interesting story here. Kirsty, what drew you to this story?

KIRSTY MARONE: Well, I've been following this issue for quite a while. We actually wrote about it back in 2019 when that company, Water Train, proposed to ship water by train out west. And it seems like every few years, we see these proposals come back up again, right? This time around, it feels a little different. Maybe it's the dire situation out in the West, the drought, and also the understanding that with climate change, the water shortage in parts of the world is going to get worse. So some of these proposals are actually, I think, being discussed a little more seriously this time rather than just pie-in-the-sky ideas.

CATHY WURZER: Why do you think there is such a heated reaction from both sides about this idea of giving Midwestern water to drier parts of the country?

KIRSTY MARONE: Yeah, it's interesting. There's few other issues that I write about that make people this upset, right? Minnesotans really love their water-- the Mississippi River, lakes. We've got abundant groundwater here for the most part. And there's this sort of possessiveness, I think, that people feel when we start hearing talk in California or other states about coming for our water, right? And there's also this philosophical difference in our approach to water that's at play here, too, I think.

I talked with Barb Naramore. She's a deputy commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. And she said that there's also a difference between Western water rights and how Minnesota and other Midwestern states consider water a public resource. And here's what she said.

BARB NARAMORE: Well, people might not articulate it that way or even know why it hits them to a certain extent, like, ooh, that just doesn't feel right. I think that's what underlies it in some respects is there's a very culturally different way of looking at and managing water.

KIRSTY MARONE: The other issue here, Cathy, is that people get upset when it feels like the West wants our water to continue developing in sort of an unsustainable way in the future.

CATHY WURZER: When you were researching this story, were you able to learn more about other water crisis solutions that don't involve transporting water from the Midwest at all?

KIRSTY MARONE: Yes. Of course, number one is conservation, right? Stop using so much water for things like golf courses or green lawns or even agriculture. And we are seeing some of that. Nevada recently passed a ban on ornamental lawns.

There's also an effort to reuse more water-- capture rainwater or stormwater, or even treating wastewater and reusing that, especially for things like flushing toilets or watering lawns, but maybe even for drinking. And then there are also more expensive options like desalination plants that remove salt from seawater.

CATHY WURZER: Before you go here, when we think water in Minnesota, we look around us, as you mentioned, and it's abundant, right? We're the land of 10,000 lakes, and we've got some pretty big rivers, too. But as the climate changes, should Minnesotans be worried about water use?

KIRSTY MARONE: Yes, I think so. Especially from last year's drought, what we learned is that precipitation is unpredictable, and it probably will be even more so in the future. Minnesota's expected to be wetter overall with more frequent extreme rainfall events but also with extended periods of drought. And we're already seeing parts of Minnesota where groundwater resources are being used faster than they're recharging, especially in areas with a lot of farm irrigation or urban development.

So it's important to be conscious of your water use, whether you're watering your lawn or making sure you fix those leaky pipes or planting native plants that are drought resistant-- even taking shorter showers and washing your clothes and dishes only when the load is full, so just those little things that can add up and make a big difference.

CATHY WURZER: So before you go, I know you talked to Barb Naramore of the DNR. Is the DNR perhaps looking at water usage, too, in a more statewide sense, and maybe looking carefully at well drilling permits, that kind of thing?

KIRSTY MARONE: Yeah, they certainly are. I think we saw that especially during the drought a couple of years ago, but I think, also, looking at certain places in the state where our use of water, maybe, isn't sustainable in the long run and what needs to happen to make sure that we're not overusing that resource.

CATHY WURZER: Kirsty Marone, good report. Thank you so much for your hard work.

KIRSTY MARONE: Thanks, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Kirsty Marone, one of our reporters based out of St. Cloud.