I have been waiting for one of our forward-thinking officials to suggest a way to cut the costs of a new Columbia River bridge, but I didn’t expect it from “Star Trek’s” Captain Kirk (William Shatner). He wants to solve California’s drought problem by diverting our river. And Captain Kirk guesses the pipeline cost to be less than our bridge project.
So if California gets its way, you might be able to wade the Columbia. That could mean a shorter and cheaper bridge, and maybe cheap enough to avoid tolls. But we would endure the rain so California could flourish.
Of course, California will want its pipelines to start above Hanford to avoid adding a glow to the water.
Back in the days when Washington state had the powerhouse team of Sens. Henry “Scoop” Jackson and Warren Magnuson, the U.S. Senate passed a law prohibiting the diversion of the Columbia River for 20 years. But that has lapsed and none of our lawmakers thought to renew that safeguard, and now California is thirsty again.
