Missouri River - Ogallala Aquifer Aqueduct
Preserving Kansas Water for Generations
The original plan for this aqueduct was theorized in the late 1970s, and came into a plan by 1982. While the plan never found financing, interest was renewed in 2013, a report was produced in 2015, and the idea is floating around still today.
The plan relies on pumping stations, lifting the water some 1500 feet between its source, North of Kansas City and Topeka, traveling Westward to Colby or thereabouts over a little over 350 miles by planning estimates. The water would flow into a reservoir and the underground aquifer, supplying Western Kansas with fresh water. The plan estimates the use of 16 pumping stations, at an operating cost somewhere between $410M and $1B annually depending on loan interest rates. Projections for capital investment are around $15B-$18B.
By "colocating" along the East-West rail corridor on the West side of Topeka, expenditures can be "democratized" for both projects overall, and the potential of an interstate rail link can yield federal funding that might not exist otherwise for an intrastate water project.
