No, The Dry Western United States Will Not Drain Michigan’s Great Lakes – Here’s Why

Perhaps you've seen news reports of a water resource calamity forecast in the decades ahead in America's dry desert Southwest. The United Nations warned as recently as Spring 2024 of a "problematic future" in the region.

It may be that thirsty eyes from the west could look to the water-rich Great Lakes. What could that possibly mean for Michigan?

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Surprisingly, perhaps, little.

The basic reason is physics. Water is heavy to move. A pipeline between water-rich Michigan and water-poor states like Arizona or California is simply not feasible.

Breaking Down the Massive Cost of a Pipeline

Here's what the numbers look like from someone who has crunched them:

Let's say we want to move one acre-foot of water from Michigan to Arizona. First, we need a pipeline roughly 1,750 miles long....Large diameter pipeline (36-inch diameter, like the kind that move oil) averages around $1.5 million per mile -- $3 billion for the total distance. You also need pumping stations, usually one every 100 miles ($20-50 million each) and storage, treatment, and distribution systems at each end ($250-500 million each).

Oh, and pump water up and over or through the Rocky Mountains.

Add it all up and a single pipeline across two-thirds of the continent would cost at minimum $4 billion dollars.

That's for a single pipeline. It's further estimated that it would take 665 similar pipes to satiate the thirst of the western states - both people and agriculture.

That brings the price tag to $2,660 billion dollars or $2.66 trillion.

Political Roadblocks and Public Pushback of a Great Western Water Pipeline

Add to the assumed political fight along the way and it simply would be a pipe dream. Pun intended.

The possibility of a water pipe from the Great Lakes to the west is seemingly as unlikely as a bridge across Lake Michigan and even more unlikely than a tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac.

👇🏼BELOW: These Very Special Streets Run Directly Along the Coast of Lake Michigan👇🏼

Perhaps the best advice for those worried about a parched Southwest? Buy property around the Great Lakes. This water isn't going anywhere.