# Water crisis out west. AZ,CO,CA and NV

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-crisis-out-west-az-co-ca-and-nv/964569>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 17, 2022, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-crisis-out-west-az-co-ca-and-nv/964569 "2022-05-17T19:22:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 26

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**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2022, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/water-crisis-out-west-az-co-ca-and-nv/964569/26 "2022-05-18T13:20:50Z")

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> [@md-2000](#):
>
> I do question whether it is possible to pump water across the Rockies in sufficient quantity to alleviate shortages. I don’t think most people appreciate the volume used. I recall pictures of the diameter of pipes under construction that would provide merely additional feed to NYC for example. That was gravity fed- how do you pump that much volume uphill, and with what energy? At that point it gets really expensive.

Copying from **[my post here](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-freshwater-around-on-continents/951528/17)**:

> According to this, a bushel of corn requires about 3000 gallons of water, which works out to $390 worth of water if you’re pumping it through pipelines just 100 miles long.

I don’t know where corn sits on the water usage scale - it sounds like almonds are at the top end - but pumping water halfway across the country would be prohibitively expensive.

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