What are these problems? I’ve asked (many) geologists and the best answer they come up with is salt seepage into the aquifer if it’s not done right, and a temporary increase of seismic activity due to relaxation from the added weight.
Look, the Three Gorges damn is much larger than this and much much more destructive. Entire cities disappeared.
But it also generates 22 GW of power.That’s an insane amount of coal that wasn’t burned.
So choose: burn coal. Burn U235. Flood valleys. Sashimi the birds. Carpet the desert with glass. Or massively decrease your standard of living.
For the record, I’m actually in favor of the last option.
But you could have picked anyone of hundreds of other artificial lakes already in California. Ones that are deeper, with clean water instead of runoff.
You could also compare it to the Dead Sea, another body of water with no outlet.
Ultrasonic foggers would also increase the amount of salt in the air, so you’d have to run them far out in the sea.
Instead, flood Death Valley with ocean water:
1. Massive evaporative potential.
2. Moisture trapped by tall mountains replenishing the aquifer and making lush surroundings.
3. Massive hydro potential
4. Displaced species not seriously harmed since the moisture gradient would be large (are P. 2)
5. You could harvest the salt prolonging the suitability of the project (anyway measured in centuries if not millennia)
Basically you’d have the lushness of the surroundings of Salt Lake City (compared to the desert anyway). Except there would be a lot more moisture (lower salinity wrt it Salt Lake, moisture better trapped)
You could do the same thing in Egypt at the Qatara depression, except with potentially global benefits. Here the half of the Sahara could be turned into productive farm land.
Look, the Three Gorges damn is much larger than this and much much more destructive. Entire cities disappeared.
But it also generates 22 GW of power.That’s an insane amount of coal that wasn’t burned.
So choose: burn coal. Burn U235. Flood valleys. Sashimi the birds. Carpet the desert with glass. Or massively decrease your standard of living.
For the record, I’m actually in favor of the last option.