Former captain of the fictional Star Trek Enterprise , William Shatner has proposed a radical method to solve California ’ s ongoing drought disaster . He is planning to run a Kickstarter campaign and is hoping to raise $ 30 billion ( £20 billion ) to build a pipeline from Seattle to bring water to the state . But the proposal to build a pipeline hundreds of miles long has been declared 'highly illogical ' by some experts . Scroll down for video . Former captain of the fictional Star Trek Enterprise , William Shatner ( pictured ) has revealed radical proposals in an interview with Yahoo News . He wants to build a 4ft-wide pipeline from Seattle down to California to transport water and solve the state 's ongoing drought problem . He revealed the crowdfunding campaign in an interview with David Pogue from Yahoo News . Mr Shatner likened his project to a similar pipeline in Alaska - with , in this case , the pipeline running from Seattle to California down the I-5 highway . Since the year 2000 , seven western states in the US has seen their driest periods in centuries : Arizona , California , Colorado , Nevada , New Mexico , Utah and Wyoming . And scientists in California have warned that the region may be experiencing a century-long 'mega-drought ' . The warnings came after sediment studies showed California is currently experiencing the driest spell since 1580 , and that the regular rainfall seen during the last century is likely to have been a temporary deviation in a cycle of droughts and very occasional rainfall over the last 3,000 years . In 2013 , California received less rain than in any year since its formation as a state in 1850 . And the last four years have seen the worst conditions , with the entire state of California now declared to be experiencing a drought . The pipeline would reportedly be used to fill one of the rapidly drying lakes in California . He said Seattle was ‘ a place where there ’ s a lot of water ’ - although its state , Washington , is also experiencing a major drought . Without going into specifics , Mr Shatner added he would need a ‘ large , four-foot pipeline ’ above ground to keep enough water flowing . On his website though , Shatner ’ s Water , he is letting people suggest other ideas for what to do with the money - if the campaign is successful . If he doesn ’ t get the funding he requires , Mr Shatner says he will give the money he raises to a politician . However , Kickstarter doesn ’ t allow campaigners to keep any money if they don ’ t reach their target , so Mr Shatner may need to use a site such as Indiegogo instead , which does . The funding campaign has not yet launched and cynics have suggested that the proposal was tongue-in-cheek , or may have been a joke . On Twitter , Mr Shatner responded to some of these comments by posting : ‘ I know I need experts and @ algore and @ elonmusk should be asked to weigh in and join the conversation , ’ he said . And responding to complaints that Washington was also experiencing a severe drought , he said : ‘ I think [ Washington ] folks are thinking I ’ m coming in with football field sized sponges in the middle of the night to steal their water. ’ The ongoing drought is one of California 's worst in history . The last four years have seen the worst conditions , with the entire state of California now declared to be experiencing a drought said the US Department of Agriculture . This graphic shows the areas that have been hit the worst . Without going into specifics , Mr Shatner said he would need a ‘ large , four-foot pipeline ’ above ground to keep enough water flowing . On his website Shatner ’ s Water , he is also letting people suggest other ideas for what to do with the money - if the campaign is successful . One of the alternative proposals is pictured . California has had to drastically cut back on water use to deal with the four-year drought that continues to cause devastation . But the Washington Department of Ecology spokesman Dan Partridge said that Mr Shatner ’ s plan was not necessarily the solution they needed . ‘ Frankly we found it highly illogical , to put it in “ Star Trek ” terms , ’ he said . ‘ 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. ’ Bone dry : A Californian farmer is pictured surveying his drought-hit land in San Luis Obispo County .
Mr Shatner revealed his radical proposal in an interview with the Washington Department of Ecology . He wants to build a 4ft-wide pipeline from Seattle down to California . This would bring water to help alleviate some of the drought problems . But some experts have called his $ 30 billion idea 'highly illogical '