Idaho Drought Could be Solved by Borrowing the Great Lakes

Think it’s hot for June?  You haven’t seen “nuthin’ yet!”  One forecast I looked at this morning suggested triple digit highs should become routine late next weekend and into next week.  The forecast also shows no rain.  Keep in mind, these very same long range forecasts are frequently subject to change but I would make another point.  Once a summer pattern sets up, it often sticks with us for quite some time.

This is the second year of our drought.  Some see indications it started even earlier.  Last week, one of the hosts of our gun show recounted a previous drought with a duration of seven years.  During his lifetime.

An old friend recently retired from a position as the director of a science museum.  He has told me in the past parts of the west have had periods of drought that lasted for 200 years.  I’m not sure we’re headed there but am also reminded of a conversation from my days in television 25-years-ago.

Demographics were already showing the huge population shift westward.  Las Vegas was growing like gangbusters and Scottsdale, Arizona had done the same in the 1980s.  A fellow told me water would be shipped west from the Great Lakes.  How?  By pipeline.

When you consider the opposition we’ve seen in recent years to construction of oil pipelines, then perhaps this sounds foolish.  Or maybe not.  Water going down a pipe is already common.  It’s also not usually an environmental threat if some water leaks.

Popular will is the key.  Millions of thirsty western voters will have a lot of pull on policy.  As the region grows, so does its power in the United States House of Representatives.  By its design, the Senate is already favorable to western concerns.

Lake Michigan may be coming to Idaho.