Desalination or Cloud Seeding? Trump’s $14m Plan to Save the Drying Colorado River Falls Apart

Desalination or Cloud Seeding? Trump’s $14m Plan to Save the Drying Colorado River Falls Apart

A massive water crisis is brewing in the U.S. Southwest as the Colorado River shrinks, forcing the Trump administration to consider expensive and experimental fixes like desalination and cloud seeding. Meanwhile, a tiny Texas agency is pushing to build the nation’s largest desalination plant, while a rushed $14 million renovation of Washington D.C.’s Reflecting Pool has failed, plagued by algae and peeling paint.

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The Colorado River is drying up, threatening water supplies for millions of homes and farms across the Southwest. To save it, the Trump administration is considering unusual and costly measures, including desalination, building new pipelines, and cloud seeding—a process that forces clouds to produce rain [1]. These methods are expensive and experimental, but with the river shrinking, officials are running out of traditional options [1].

In a separate but related push for new water sources, a tiny, rural water agency in Texas is moving forward with an ambitious plan to build the largest desalination plant in the United States. The Nueces River Authority (NRA), based 200 miles from the coast, is leading the effort [2]. In 2024, NRA Executive Director John Byrum decided to take on a challenge that had defeated others, believing his agency could succeed where previous attempts had failed [2]. The plant would turn saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico into fresh drinking water, potentially reshaping water supply for a drought-prone region [2]. The agency is now working to secure permits and funding [2].

At the same time, a rushed renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington D.C. is falling apart. Former President Donald Trump ordered the $14 million makeover to prepare the iconic pool for the country’s 250th birthday celebrations, promising to make it “beautiful” [5]. Instead, the project has faced algae blooms, peeling paint, and rising costs [5]. Trump claimed that “vandals” sabotaged the work, but no evidence of vandalism has emerged, and the problems appear to be technical and environmental [5]. The pool remains closed, and officials have not announced a completion date [5].

Sources

Cloud Seeding? Pipelines? Trump’s Plan to Save the Dying Colorado River #180809Texas River Agency Plans Largest U.S. Desalination Plant #179488Trump’s $14m Reflecting Pool Project Fails: Algae, Peeling Paint, No Vandals #179204

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