> Water $21/AF, about $0.000065 a gallon.
Desalinated water has amortized costs around 0.0013 a gallon with state-of-the-art plants, so about 20x more than natural water.
Dunno where the estimate of drilled water came from, it didn’t come from California! My rate STARTS at $0.003 per gallon and goes up after I pass 4000 gallons (Ventura County).
Yes, desalination is about 1/3rd the price of water right now, in California. And we have a REALLY BIG BODY of it within a stone’s throw of my home. But we can’t do that, because desalination creates brine discharge and everyone KNOWS that putting salty brine into the ocean is a bad thing! /sarc
Israel produces desal at 25-30% of CA costs. because of US and CA EPA regs.
Does the cost figure for natural water include building an impoundment dam and reservoir, or viaduct for transport. What about the loss of value of the land which previously enjoyed a source of water, until the water was diverted to a coastal city?