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In the face of the upcoming water supply crisis, a number of grandiose schemes have been developed to transport vast quantities of water by canal or pipeline from the Mississippi, the Missouri, or the Arkansas rivers. Unfortunately, the cost of water obtained through any of these schemes would increase pumping costs at least tenfold, making the cost of irrigated agricultural products from the region uncompetitive on the national and international markets. (From TOEFL exam)

I do not think the meaning of the bold sentence makes sense, why "the cost of water" would increase "pumping costs"? I think, logically, it should have been "pumping costs" would increase "the cost of water". Please help me understand it, I may misread the meaning of the original sentence.

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You are right. It doesn't make sense as it is. If the given pieces were assembled like this, it would make sense:

"Unfortunately, pumping costs would increase the cost of water obtained through any of these schemes at least tenfold, making the cost of irrigated agricultural products from the region uncompetitive..."

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