I wonder how many desalination plants you could build for 9 billion..
Good point. As Calif. and the west continue to grow, the water needs grow too. There isn’t enough water from rainfall or the existing network of dams and reservoirs and water pipelines. The seawater is where the future water source is.
heck the enviro people should be happy to pump the water out of the ocean, what with global warming and melting polar ice caps raising the ocean level. Desalination on a big scale can lower the sea level.
Yep, it’s the only answer for SoCal. And it would be a great help to other states, and regions in Cali, we draw water from.
Exactly, but why should the taxpayers have anything to do with it? Let the private sector build the plants and sell the water back to the water agencies.
BINGO! WE HAVE A WINNER!
(I like the cogeneration nuclear power plants that not only desalinate ocean water but also generate electricity....can you say “no more blackouts or brownouts!”)
Why between offshore drilling and nuclear desalination/electrical generating plants along the CA coast; we could not only irrigate the entire CA desert for farming & ranching and feed the world but provide electricity for northern, central & south Americas! And all the while, every Californian would receive an annual royalty check for all the oil we sell just like the folks in AK do! Heck with all that revenue, we could probably eliminate the state income tax in the process!
But all the meatheads in Sacramento & D.C. are thinking about are "what fees & taxes we can raise..."