Opinion: California needs to see some real action on desalination [Opinion]
We are deep into the drought and we are past thinking long term. The Colorado River is not going to be reliable for San Diego’s future needs. Fortunately we have an option that is mostly in place. The Salton Sea is drying up and its ecosystem is past threatened. The county sits next to the rising Pacific Ocean. A solution would be to build a pipeline from the coast to the Salton Sea, and use solar and wind powered pumps to recharge the sea, saving its ecosystem and restoring recreational use.
Instead of using costly coastal land, build a desalinization plant at the sea and pump the fresh water back to existing reservoirs and recharge ground aquafers. The Oceanside plant now provides over 15% of our needs. One or two plants in the desert would go a long way to alleviate or problems.