International water transport

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Hello Everyone,

Wrongplanet wouldn't be the best site for this message, but I've no other means of letting lots of people know about my plan than by means of this forum.

Desertification is a continual problem in many parts of the world: one or two years ago, I heard that (not entirely sure if I remember correctly) by 2050 almost half of Spain would have been transformed into desert! Meanwhile I live in Holland, a nation that receives more water from replenishable sources than it uses (positive water balance). That got me an idea: how about we create an international water-transport system, by which water is pumped throughout, say Europe, in a system of pipes? This water could then be used to regrow forest and other vegetation, which will increase the ability of now arid land to 'hold' water in its soil, thereby halting desertification besides making arid countries grow less dependent on 'foreign water'. It could also be used as an emergency tool during droughts. This would be profitable for both the receiver as for the supplier (since nations are politically and economicaly intertwined).

My big problem, however, is that I have never seen another idea like this, which makes me suspect it's either technologically unfeaseable or way too expensive project (or both). Therefore, I would hereby kindly request for any suggestions and opinions.

Sorry for long post.

Hi, I have no knowledge about that kind of thing but I just wanted to say that it does sound like a good idea. Does water have to go through pipes in such a system? Or maybe through some artificial streams/canals? I honestly thought Europe would already have such a system. I also wonder how the advancement of the desalination technology might be involved in this topic.

I have heard about a country treating and selling water to another country that doesn't have the technology to do that. I don't know how they transport the water though.

Thanks for your reply!

I guess transporting water through canals/streams would be rather impractical, for A) it would take a very long time to get to another place (and what if it's upstream?), B) these canals would be very wide and therefore a nuisance (bridges that need to be build and land to be dug out etc.) and C) a lot of water might be lost due to evaporation and the like.

Desalination is a great idea and probably very present in the future when technology in that field has progressed, but as yet not that practical (I believe). My plan could function as a subsitute for desalination before production is augmented. Otherwise, it can still be used for arid regions far away from the sea, such as Central Asia.