Water - regardless of where in America you're at - is a vital issue.
Yes it is. and there really isn't enough og it in south Texas to fill hundreds of miles of ridiculous 19th century style brick lined aquaducts for the porpose of transporting frieght at 4MPH. Nor is there enough of it in any of the desert regions. Water also has a tendency to freeze in the winter, and the Great plains run uphill a mile between the Mississippi and Denver. Water don't run uphill y'know. Then it's another mile up to get across the Rockies. Your Barge Canal theory is as dumbassed a scheme as I ever heard of.
There's still plenty of Railroad tracks and right of ways that can easily be upgraded for high speed rail, both for freight and passenger service. The day will come when your gas guzzler will be too expensive to drive around. Maybe not in your lifetime, maybe not even in mine. But that day is coming. Truckers and lone commuters in 10mpg pickemup trucks will be a thing of the distant past. Digging barge canals to fill with precious fresh water is not going to be an option either.
