|
The "Star Trek" star has told Yahoo! Tech journalist David
Pogue he intends to start a crowdsource campaign on
Kickstarter.com to raise $30 billion for a pipeline to bring
water from the Seattle area for use by thirsty California.
"How bad would it be to get a large, 4-foot pipeline, keep it
above ground - because if it leaks, you're irrigating," the
84-year-old Shatner told Yahoo! in a story posted on Friday.
"Bring it down here and fill one of our lakes! Lake Mead!" said
Shatner, referring to a lake on the border between Arizona and
Nevada.
Already, the idea has run into one big obstacle: officials in
Washington state are pouring cold water on it.
"Frankly we found it highly illogical, to put it in 'Star Trek'
terms," said Washington Department of Ecology spokesman Dan
Partridge, using a catch phrase of "Star Trek" character Spock.
"This would involve so many obstacles, so many hurdles that it
would have to overcome to become reality.
"Namely the water of Washington state, you have to acquire a
number of rights to use that water and we would not be approving
transfer of a huge volume of water out of our state at this
point in time when we have a drought of our own to deal with."
Representatives for Shatner could not be reached for comment on
Tuesday. The project had not appeared on Kickstarter's website
by Tuesday morning.
California is entering the fourth year of a devastating drought
that has depleted reservoirs and raised costs of importing fresh
water from elsewhere. On Saturday, California water officials
presented a revised plan aimed at achieving Governor Jerry
Brown's mandate of reducing urban water use by 25 percent.
Shatner acknowledged that he might not be able to raise the $30
billion, but he said the project would build awareness about
California's water needs, according to Yahoo! Tech.
"If I don't make $30 billion, I'll give the money to a
politician who says, 'I'll build it,'" Shatner told Pogue.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
