The USFG should help save the planet by flooding Death Valley with sea water

Regarding my opponent's environmental concerns, while no study has been conducted on the ecological impact of flooding Death Valley, some 100 miles to the West of the site, the construction of the Hoover Dam in 1936 created a vast inland lake containing 9,123,839,000,000 galloons of water, almost exactly the same amount of water that it would take to fill Death Valley, with no ill-effects on the environment. Moving on, my opponent correctly pointed out that a tribe of red Indians called the Timbisha Shoshone lives on the floor of Death Valley. Given its inhospitable, barren nature, Death Valley seems an odd choice to base a settlement but it wasn"t really the tribe"s idea, it all came about in 1863 through the Treaty of Ruby Valley. The transcript of the meeting has been lost but I would imagine it went something like this: USFG Representative: Howdy, Big Chief Te-Moak! I've come to agree a peace treaty between our two peoples. Big Chief Te-moak: Oh yeah, so what's in um peace treaty for us then, pale-face? USFG Representative: Well, your lands extend from Southern California, through Nevada, Utah and into Idaho and we want to drive you out and settle it with white folks instead but, in exchange for your co-operation, we'll stop massacring you and we'll even throw in a 40 acre plot on the floor of a valley for you and your people to live on, although you won't actually receive the land until the year 2000. Big Chief Te-moak: Well, I suppose that's fair enough, I think too many of my people have become victims of your murderous thunder-sticks. I agree to the deal, just so long as that plot of land is not in um Death Valley, of course, ha-ha-ha! USFG Representative: . .. Big Chief Te-moak: it's um Death Valley, isn't it? USFG Representative: That's right, redskin, now sign here. Yee-ha! So, if Death Valley were flooded and the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe were relocated elsewhere, I doubt they would have any complaints. It is, of course true, that flooding Death Valley will not, in itself, completely mitigate the rise in sea levels caused by global warming but it would be a step in the right direction. Furthermore, it would set a good example for other nations that have land depressions close to the sea, such as Ethiopia / Eritrea / Djibouti (The Afar Depression), Egypt (The Qattara Depression) and Western Sahara / Morocco (The Sebjet Tah Depression). I agree that the water that evaporates from Death Valley Lake would enter the water cycle and, eventually, find its way back to the sea but, in the meantime, it would be trapped in clouds and, when the clouds' moisture is precipitated, in soil and porous rocks. While I am on this subject, the clouds that form over Death Valley Lake are likely to be blown away by the wind, possibly brining valuable rain to other dry and dusty parts of Southern United States. The cost of this project would be around $430 million, based on the price of similar long-distance water pipeline projects, of which there are dozens planned or under construction in the United States: not an insignificant amount of money, of course, but not a huge amount in the grand scheme of things. So, for the sake of bringing valuable employment to a neglected and impoverished part of Nevada; for the sake of bringing tourist-dollars into the area; for the sake of the local red Indians and, most of all, to help save the planet: Death Valley should be flooded. Vote Pro. Thank you. Sources: ---------- Location of Hoover Dam: . http://maps.google.co.uk... The history of the Timbisha Shoshone tribe of red Indians: . http://timbisha.org... List of land depressions worldwide: . http://geology.com... US water projects: . http://www.nrdc.org... Texas water pipeline cost: . http://www.caller.com...