Major Projects for Unemployment and the Economy

There are a number of reasons why the US economy is faltering. Among these is unemployment. The more people employed, the greater is the amount of money available for transfer in society. This contributes to Gross National Product, The higher the GNP/person in a society, the better is a person's standard of living.

We mostly lack jobs in this country, not only because many jobs have been shipped overseas for lower labor costs, but also because of continually improved efficiency in supplying manufactured goods and services in the US. The only significant opportunity remaining for considerable employment and an improved economy is a major national project.

Man has traditionally attempted to ameliorate the extremes of nature for his own accommodation. We heat our homes with fuel in the winter and cool them with air conditioning in the summer, We preserve food through canning and freezing during harvest, so that it will be available at a future time. We build roads for ease of transportation. We build dams and reservoirs for power generation and to control flooding.

The last of these major endeavors was construction of the Interstate Highway System. Before that, it was flood control and power generation with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). It is now past time for another big one.

We have recently had heavy floods in the midsection of the country, with resultant considerable damage to private and public property. It is obvious that in spite of previous efforts, our job of flood control is not finished.

In the Southwest, we have had extreme drought bordering on the great Dust Bowl calamity in the 30's.

The commonality of those two conditions is WATER. Water on land comes from rain and snow. Some locations receive too much at one time . Others not enough. Some locations are routinely blessed with periodic precipitation (the NW). Others are routinely arid and borderline deserts the (SW). We do not now have the technology of controlling where precipitation will fall, nor is it apparent that this a possibility for the near future. However, we do have the opportunity to control the final destination of water once it has fallen. In the extreme aspect, that can be considered flood control. In the more moderate aspect, it can be called irrigation.

The Mississippi has more than enough water for local communities, and in times of heavy rainfall or the melting of snow in the northern mountains, flooding occurs with subsequent damage. Here is an opportunity for a project of major proportions. Build dams, reservoirs and lock s to control the Mississippi by equalizing its output to the sea. If there is excess water in total, can we direct some of it to the SW? In so doing, can we construct aqueducts large enough to be used as canals for barge traffic?

What about the possibility of irrigating the SW with deionized sea water? Construct membrane deionization plants in mountains away from high population densities. Use nuclear plants to generate electricity to pump the sea water to the higher elevation and supply pressure for the membrane deionization. The irrigation water could then flow by gravity into the High Plains through canals, dams and locks. Again, we would have the possibility of barge traffic in the canals.

Big project? You bet! Could it be accomplished? You bet! We have the technology in the form of workable nuclear plants and membrane desalination, heavy earth-moving equipment, and plenty of manpower (remember unemployment).

The remaining big question is, "Is it economically feasible?" You bet. It would be primarily land recovery for use to produce agricultural crops. The Europeans can't do it. They have high population densities and little available land. Food in Europe is already expensive compared to the US. We can sell them the food and related raw materials for manufacturing (think cotton). They can do the manufacturing and supply us with finished goods. The same goes for many Asian countries.

How do we start? We get the Wall Street bunch to form a conglomerate. Let's call it "World Food Supply". The conglomerate then arranges a huge bond issue at, say 7% interest, with the first interest payment due in 7 years. From the bond revenue, the conglomerate starts the engineering design to fix the origin of the water source and subsequent related design problems, purchase land, let out contracts for earth moving involving canals, dams, locks, etc.. We want to keep government out of this, because it would be a tremendous project with a long term of completion. Say, 7 years. The presence of government would likely kill it, because of governments' propensity for argumentation and stretching things out time-wise.

Why would people buy the bonds? For the interest. What about an IPO (stock issue)? Sure! Why would anyone buy the stock? For dividends and increase in value as the conglomerate makes profits. How will the conglomerate make profits? Through sale of water to growers in the irrigated region and from toll revenues in canal barge traffic.

Who wants to start it?