Federal agencies are studying or constructing long-range water pipeline projects in other parched regions of the U.S.
The Arizona Legislature asked Congress in 2021 to study the diversion of Mississippi floodwaters to the Colorado River to boost downstream supply — a 1,000-mile project. More recently, the Arizona Legislature in 2023 funded a $1.2 billion feasibility study for other projects that would also bring in water from out of state.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation report on the Colorado River basin studied importing water from the Missouri and Mississippi rivers in 2012.
The Navajo-Gallup Water Supply project will see a 300-mile water pipeline from the San Juan River to the eastern section of the Navajo Nation in Colorado, and in New Mexico to Gallup and the southwestern portion of the Jicarilla Apache Nation. Approved in 2009, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation project’s third phase is set to be completed by 2028.