A decade-old treatment plant in San Diego County, Calif., might provide relief to states grappling with severe water shortages. This development could help preserve more water in the Colorado River.
On Wednesday, key representatives gathered at the Carlsbad Desalination Plant to celebrate an agreement that could allow San Diego to sell some of its Colorado River water rights to Arizona and Nevada. The arrangement is set to address the escalating supply-demand gap in water-deficient inland states.
The San Diego County Water Authority has achieved a water surplus due to a desalination plant launched a decade ago in response to its own shortages. Although water won’t physically move inland, the authority plans to reduce its withdrawals from the Colorado River.
This deal marks the first major water trade among states with claims on the Colorado River. The urgency was highlighted by officials who noted the dire situation affecting reservoirs and dams supplying water to 40 million people and 5.5 million acres of farmland in the West.
“The urgency is real,”
stated Scott Cameron, acting director of the Bureau of Reclamation. The agency oversees water supplies and infrastructure in the West and is a party to the agreement. “Today we are signing a short document that represents a potential great leap forward for the water security of the people of the Southwest.”
Legal and financial details, such as how much water San Diego can spare and the cost for Arizona and Nevada, remain unresolved. This will require thorough analysis of over a century of legal precedents and continued negotiations amid dwindling water supplies.
Dan Denham, the San Diego utility’s general manager, emphasized the need for timely action, stating, “I think with the momentum we have and the situation on the river, it has to happen now — it can’t take more than a year.”
He further noted, “Hydrology is not going to wait for us.”