Arizona is in talks with San Diego to potentially trade funding for California desalination projects in exchange for a larger share of Colorado River water.
As state leaders battle along the Colorado River for a larger share, a city in California is possibly willing to sell its water to Arizona—but it comes at a huge price.Just a few years ago, Arizona considered asking Mexico to allow the construction of a desalination plant.
It never happened, but in California, there already is one, leaving the question— can Arizona get a cut?The salty Pacific might be one of the answers officials have been waiting for. In Carlsbad, California, the largest desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere provides 10% of San Diego's water, and that water might soon be up for grabs."I do think its a good sign people are willing to come to the table and talk," said Kathryn Sorensen of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University.The San Diego County Water Authority signed a memorandum of understanding, to engage in talks with Arizona water leaders to sell desalinated water. While a multi-billion dollar proposal for a desalination water pipeline pitched by former Gov. Doug Ducey in 2023 never went anywhere, the San Diego County Water Authority says you can't rule anything out."There's always a way. Engineers can do a lot of things so yeah, I think it's something that could be evaluated for inland areas," said Jeremy Crutchfield of the San Diego County Water Authority.The new idea involves Arizona paying for desalination projects in California. In exchange, Arizona would take more from the Colorado River than it is currently entitled to. However, there is a significant hang-up."Honestly I think the big sticking point is price," Sorensen said. "Desal is just very expensive—far more expensive than we are used to paying for in the tap."The cost could be five to 10 times more than current rates. Still, it remains a possibility as negotiations along the Colorado River remain stagnant between Upper Basin and Lower Basin states."Arizona was willing to take very big cuts to its Colorado River availability but it wanted some sort of backstop," Sorensen said. "Frankly, the Upper Basin was not willing to provide a backstop. So if all the risk is on Arizona, you might as well be willing to go to the mat."That could mean lawsuits. A bill in the legislature this session would add another million dollars to the state's legal fund to sue for more water."If Arizona has to take on all the risk, it might as well gamble for the big payout," Sorensen added.The Central Arizona Project stated they have signed nothing but are discussing possibilities with San Diego. The Arizona Department of Water Resources did not have a comment but also stated they have not agreed to anything.
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