[QUOTE=xilman;588489]The limits are entirely financial.[/QUOTE]

Including some creativity in that space. Carbon Credit Markets! Oh boy!

[QUOTE=xilman;588489]There is nothing, in principle, to stop the inhabitants of Phoenix from building a desalination plant on a convenient bit of coastline and then pumping its product up to the city.[/QUOTE]

We do it here in little Bimshire.

Unfortunately in about forty years both the desal plant and the diesel generation plant which powers it will be underwater. Or, maybe, that's actually a good thing.

Edit: Just to be clear, I was trying to be funny there. I know Arizona is land-locked. But wells can be drilled horizontally nowadays.

[QUOTE=chalsall;588516]Edit: Just to be clear, I was trying to be funny there. I know Arizona is land-locked. But wells can be drilled horizontally nowadays.[/QUOTE]Don't get me started about the over drawing aquifers. This is something I have a personal connection with.

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;588483]Sure, let the humans use what they want. But, then (even with current usage in some areas) the flora and fauna will suffer. And then there will be consequences for people.[/QUOTE]There is a series of web pages about the Aral Sea starting [url=http://www.columbia.edu/~tmt2120/introduction.htm]here[/url].

[QUOTE=chalsall;588516]Edit: Just to be clear, I was trying to be funny there. I know Arizona is land-locked. But wells can be drilled horizontally nowadays.[/QUOTE]Pipelines can be horizontal too, you know. Arizona doesn't need to have a coastline for my solution to work.

Build the desalination plant(s) on the Pacific Ocean and/or Gulf of Mexico which ever is convenient

[QUOTE=xilman;588547]Pipelines can be horizontal too, you know. Arizona doesn't need to have a coastline for my solution to work.

Build the desalination plant(s) on the Pacific Ocean and/or Gulf of Mexico which ever is convenient[/QUOTE]IMO it would be much more "convenient" for people who want to grow crops such as rice or cotton; or to have green lawns, lush gardens, and swimming pools, to find somewhere to live other than in the middle of a vast desert.

[QUOTE=xilman;588547]Build the desalination plant(s) on the Pacific Ocean and/or [STRIKE]Gulf of Mexico[/STRIKE] [U]Pacific Ocean[/U] which ever is convenient[/QUOTE]Fixed that for you. It is the same body, just a different finger.

Are you sure you do not mean Atlantic Ocean? I guess it is a little bit far-fetched to look at the Gulf of Mexico as a part of the Pacific Ocean...?

Edit: masser is correct, the Gulf of Mexico is much further away and the Gulf of California is indeed a "finger" of the Pacific Ocean.

Did someone say Gulf of Mexico when they meant Gulf of California?

[QUOTE=masser;588581]Did someone say Gulf of Mexico when they meant Gulf of California?[/QUOTE]Despite the obviously shorter distance from Phoenix to the Gulf of California, routes crossing Southern California to the Pacific Ocean, or New Mexico and Texas to the Atlantic Ocean might be more "convenient" from a jurisdictional standpoint.

I draw your attention to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, in the case [i]PennEast Pipeline Co. v. New Jersey[/i]. If you've got the Feds on your side for your interstate project, you can acquire privately owned land by Federal "eminent domain" even if the State the land is in doesn't want to take it. (Curiously, after its victory in court, the company shelved the project - at least for the time being.)

However, between Arizona and the Gulf of California lies land belonging to [i]another country[/i] - Mexico.

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;588572]Fixed that for you. It is the same body, just a different finger.[/QUOTE]Oh no it isn't!

[QUOTE=masser;588581]Did someone say Gulf of Mexico when they meant Gulf of California?[/QUOTE]No, I meant the Gulf of Mexico.