Alaska Governor Pledges to Study Water Pipeline
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn received a telephone promise from Alaska Gov. Walter J. Hickel on Thursday that he would study the possibility of sending some of that state’s abundant water to California. Hahn has proposed a 1,700-mile, undersea pipeline to connect Alaska waterways with Lake Shasta in Northern California.
“We have an abundance of fresh water in Alaska,” Hickel said. “It warrants a study and that’s what we’re doing.” Earlier in the week, Hickel had estimated that selling 2 billion gallons of water daily to California could earn an estimated $1 million a day for his state.
Metropolitan Water District officials have said the water would cost more than what they now charge their customers, and county public works officials warned Hahn that the pipeline could cost more than $65 billion to build. Undeterred, Hahn asked Public Works Director Thomas A. Tidemanson and Duane Georgeson, assistant director of the MWD, to meet with Hickel in Alaska within the next three weeks.
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