Why cant USA build canals and funnel more water from the great lakes?

Question

The South needs more water, I know it does sound crazy and costly but water is needed...it will not help the dry terrain though

Answer 1

Of course we could build canals.  Engineering wise, it's not a problem.  The problem would be first, the cost.  It cost over 2 billion dollars in 1963 to build the CAP (Central Arizona Project) to pump Colorado River water to Phoenix/Tucson.  It's a LOT farther from the Great Lakes to Atlanta.  The second problem is political.  Nothing gets done unless it goes through Congress.  Enough said about that!

Answer 2

and fu*k up more of the natural realm? oh that is a GREAT conservation idea.

go eat another macdonalds burger and shop at wally world.

Answer 3

It's not needed.  Droughts are part of the way of life.  They have happened before, they will happen again.

The weather will change and we'll get more rain to end the drought.

These cycles go on about every 10 years or so.

Answer 4

Because water don't run uphill.

Answer 5

Did you think through this question before asking it?  

Seriously, did you?

The Great Lakes are not an infinite source of water.

Also, it would break a treaty we have with Canada.  I live close the the border and I do not want to end up on the front lines of a mounty invasion.

Answer 6

Ummmm, wouldn't it be easier to pipe water from the Mississippi river? It's a lot closer after all!!

Answer 7

Nature has a way to take care of its own....that does not mean man should interfere by sending the Great Lakes down river to the south, southwest or any where else. The Great Lakes are in danger and agree or not they are the last of the giant fresh water reservoirs out there...don't mess with them

Answer 8

It's a slippery slope. Any county, state, or region doesn't have any claim to water outside their watershed.

Answer 9

The Great Lakes are already dropping thier levels at a alarming rate every year.This is the largest source of fresh water in the world, we need to take care of it and quit taking so much water from it already. It already provides water for cities.  We need to protect these waters.

Answer 10

They can but would it really be a good idea to mess with mother nature.  It could affect all sorts of things like the temp and rainfall.  a long time ago, they were going to flood Death Valley with ocean water but found out that it could trigger an ice age because the water would evaporate and re-condense in the desert.  Messing with the world's water supply isn't a smart thing to do.

Answer 11

They have already tried stuff like this.  The might Colorado River is only a trickle by the time it reaches the Pacific ocean due to all the divirsion of water from it.  People need to realize that this in not the way to go.  The way to do things is to work with nature and not against it.  We really do not need plush golf courses and lawns in the desert.  People should stop watering their lawns!