How can our nations provide protection for our citizens, property and forests?

BY STEVEN KASZAB

These past few years, North Americans have been suffering through major climate events that have cost our nation’s billions of dollars in lost forestry, property and citizens’ lives. What to do?

In 2018 The Liberal Government bought the Trans Mountain Pipeline for 4.5 billion dollars. Did Canadians waste that money or was it an unintended good investment?

How can our nations provide protection for our citizens, property and forests?

There might be a solution.

The Desalination Plant’s function is to intake ocean saltwater, take the salt out of that water and make clean water available to the public.

I suggest three large Desalination Plants be built, one south of Vancouver, one north of Fort McMurray along the coast, and the other in the south most section of Hudson Bay in Ontario.

Pipelines possibly connecting with the Trans Mountain Pipeline will be built and dispersed to various locations. Larger pipelines will lead to the Southwestern USA, to the area’s most affected by long term droughts. Many other smaller pipelines will meander throughout the forests of British Columbia, Alberta and into the Western USA. Throughout The Rockies these smaller hydrating pipelines with high pressure sprinklers systems will continually hydrate our forests when drought-like, extreme heat prevails.

These smaller pipelines will also create zones within the forests. Should a fire begin in one zone, the hydrating system will isolate that area and perhaps slow the fires’ advance. Once firefighters have arrived to fight the fire a ready source of pressurized water will be available.

The Trans Mountain Pipeline and other larger pipe systems will need to be insulated and retrofitted with an inner pipe lining made of stainless steel, which does not corrode. The smaller pipeline can be made of other materials that are easier to disperse and more flexible in their application.

The System flowing out of Hudson Bay can join with those in Alberta and British Columbia or proceed towards the US Market. This pipeline can pass by the ring of fire, a massive mining operation, where water is needed for processing. The forests of Ontario and Eastern Manitoba can be protected by its smaller pipeline sprinkler systems.

The salt harvested from this desalination process will be offered to various industries in Canada and the world.

The pipelines will offer no permanent threat to the environment since its sole purpose is the transportation and distribution of freshwater. Indigenous communities can be invited into the organization process, with long term employment. Should a pipeline be damaged and there is a spill, the repair can be done, and all communities need not fear the leaking of a toxic material. Fresh water evaporates in time and is manageable.

Desalination plants can be used to also create energy. A form of hydroelectric energy can help run the plants and also local communities. Some thirty-three miles north of San Diego sits the Claude Bud Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant. Each day one hundred million gallons of seawater is pushed through semi-permeable membranes to create fifty million gallons of freshwater that is piped to municipal users. Our desalination plants can have so many more uses as mentioned above.

The various provincial governments will determine the value of this water. Our lakes, rivers and streams will not be offered for sale, but rather enjoyed within a forest environment safe to behold.

The investment in the Trans Mountain Pipeline can be repurposed and retooled for a greener future.