But the problem is any deserts are deserts for a reason: lack of rainfall and/or natural inflow from rainwater upstream. The result is that you have to keep pumping in tons of water and/or rely on agricultural runoff which is nutrient-depleted and usually full of chemicals.
Read the rest of the linked article for what’s going on with that one.
It’s been done before (though not intentionally at first), at the Salton Sea.
And the results weren’t that bad (granted possibly a smaller scale than some are imagining when they forecast doom).
https://www.ppic.org/blog/the-troubled-history-and-uncertain-future-of-the-salton-sea/
But the problem is any deserts are deserts for a reason: lack of rainfall and/or natural inflow from rainwater upstream. The result is that you have to keep pumping in tons of water and/or rely on agricultural runoff which is nutrient-depleted and usually full of chemicals.
Read the rest of the linked article for what’s going on with that one.