By Ty Cobb Jr.

There it was! In the Sept. 10 Salisbury Post was an Associated Press article on transferring fresh water. Comparing the soggy East (storms Irene and Lee) to the extreme Texas drought, the writer summarized, “Isn’t there some way to ship all that water from here to there?”
I, too, had had that thought seven years ago when I saw TV news videos of the huge annual Mississippi floods that actually changed the river’s course at one juncture. I mentally compared that situation with the droughts along the West’s Colorado River basin that have caused Lake Meade behind Hoover Dam to drop to only 52 percent of its capacity. What if those flood waters could have been transferred to the Colorado River?
Then I began developing a vision I called the National Fresh Water Transfer System. I envisioned an integrated system of pipelines, canals, siphons, pumps and holding basins along with a highly accurate system for predicting rain events (this part is pretty much in place today).
Of course, such a system would require careful analysis and planning and would require sizable funding over many years. Most of the funding would be required for the construction of pipelines and such (think jobs, jobs, jobs in all 48 continental states), as well as land acquisition. Land already owned by the federal government where feasible (think national parks where water basins, lakes if you will, could be constructed) would be also be used.
Once the system is in place, one scenario might go like this. A hurricane is predicted to hit the North and South Carolina coasts and move inland and northward dumping up to 15 inches of rain on the area in the next 48 hours (hello, Irene). Pumps would be started in the affected areas to move water from existing lakes and rivers westward up into Appalachian Mountains holding basins. This done, flooding is greatly reduced. That water could then (or at a later date) be transferred via inexpensive gravity flow to parched areas in Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas or other areas in need of water; a side benefit would be hydroelectric power production that could be sold to utilities. If the rainfall does not occur or is much less than predicted, water could then be released back to lakes and rivers from which it was removed. This water return would also use gravity flow, again with hydroelectric power production.
Such an undertaking would be comparable to the Eisenhower Interstate Road System, begun in the 1950s and still active today. In addition to thousands of construction jobs it generated and continues to do so to this day, the infrastructure put in place was a huge contributor to the United States’ economic boom of the last half of the 20th century. Once significant “pieces” were in place, the fresh water transfer system would support another economic boom for America.
Just think about it! Greatly reduced flooding; greatly reduced drought effects (we could feed the world); bountiful, cheap fresh water for manufacturing and cooling; hydroelectric power generation; and fire extinguishing systems for our forests (that one requires another My Turn). Billions, nay trillions, of dollars in losses to flood, fire and drought would be negated; clean hydroelectric power would be made available for sale; and, of course, hundreds of thousands of jobs would be created. This is truly a win-win-win undertaking.
Being one for action, I put together a concise briefing and gave it to my U.S. House representative when I lived in New Jersey six years ago. He said great idea and did NOTHING! A couple of years ago, I did the same for my representative here. You guessed it — same result. So much for Congress. I have always believed that anything can be done, if you have a can-do attitude. “Can’t” is an ugly word!
Maybe I should run for Congress myself, so I can further this vision for the people. Well, I tried that, too, to no avail. The vision was part of my platform, but no one listened. Such is life! Guess I will just go play golf on some of our normally water-starved courses.

Ty Cobb Jr. lives in Rowan County and was a 2008 candidate for North Carolina’s 12th Congressional District.