Building a Canal from the Mississippi to California

Pumping stations located near the Continental Divide, allowing water to flow from the rich Mississippi River system to the Californian central region could solve the mega-drought problem. General Physics, inspired by engineers of the past, have put some thought into the project of sequestering water from the Mississippi and shunting it to California through a series of canals and pumped tunnels. Let's get a rough estimate of what this means. The average flow rate of the Mississippi is 600,000 cubic feet per second. Just five percent of this water, or 30,000 cubic feet per second could be channeled to the west. This is 224,670 gallons per second. Water is relatively inexpensive at $0.01 per gallon. Of course, this calculates into $2,247 per second flowing into California. Over the course of a year, this corresponds to $71 billion dollars. Although estimates vary wildly, the cost of one canal in Sacramento being $20 billion and the cost of the Panama Canal expansion being $5.25 billion, even a $1 trillion dollar project could benefit the country through a domestic water tariff collected in California over the course of decades. The cost of the canal, which could relieve the mega-drought in the west, could be covered in time and be a benefit to the communities which allow for the canal to pass through or under their land. Ideally, the canal would be subterranean, preventing evaporation and contamination. Problems with environmental impact would be minimized. Also, eminent domain would be less of an issue. General Physics looks to the mega-projects of the future with enthusiasm and hopes to build something that people will find inspirational.