Dear HCN,
Jim Downing’s article
about the problem of salt in the San Joaquin Valley (HCN, 11/19/01:
Will salt sink an agricultural empire?) suggests that, at the
present time, the only solution is to complete the aqueduct to the
delta.
Considering the cost of what is happening
now, perhaps one other solution, other than a desalinization plant,
might be considered.
There is one Florida city, I
recall, which built a pipeline out into the ocean and dumps its
sewage well out into the Atlantic. Could the aqueduct be extended
far enough into the ocean that the salt would simply be mixed with
already salty ocean water and not cause any
harm?
Recently a major Japanese company was
planning to build huge drying beds in Mexico just so they could get
salt. Would the same Japanese company be interested in providing a
desalinization plant, or at least paying a major portion of the
cost of building and operating it, to get the salt? Granted both of
these may be very wild ideas, but they might be worth exploring,
not just because the farmland could be saved, but also agricultural
production, which is likely to become increasingly important to our
nation.
Robert K.
Phillips
Denver,
Colorado
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Shaking out some salt solutions.
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