WATER POLITICS

An unusual idea floated by the president of the Utah State Senate to get more shares of Colorado River water is intriguing California water officials.

In an interview with FOX 13 News in May, Senate President J. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, proposed a novel idea: “We actually build desalination plants in California and trade them for the Colorado River water.”

“Sounds like a great idea,” said Jim Madaffer, San Diego County Water Authority board member and Vice-Chair of the Colorado River Board of California. “Why not? You think of the fact that we have the Pacific Ocean. Now, there’s certain locations along the state where desalination makes sense.”

San Diego County has built a desalination plant in Carlsbad. Nevada is currently investing in water reuse projects in California that could ultimately benefit them upstream on the Colorado River.

“We think our investment with California is a really good idea,” said John Entsminger, the Colorado River Commissioner representing Nevada. “It represents the kind of regional collaboration that it’s going to take to adapt to a warmer, drier future.”

While the Utah State Senate President is big on the idea of offering cash for Colorado River water shares, it’s easier said than done.

“There’s a couple of challenges: One is, it’s extremely expensive and the second one is just logistically. But you can do these offsets which can be beneficial,” said Joel Ferry, the head of Utah’s Department of Natural Resources who has been appointed to negotiate for water for the state.

But Ferry wouldn’t rule it out.

“Certainly, it’s not off the table. These are some of the things we have to be considering,” he said Thursday.

Madaffer said it cost about $1 billion for their desalination plant after construction, litigation and other things. But he believes it and other water reuse projects will help the Colorado River overall.

“The idea of producing water through desalination or beneficial reuse to supplement what we would normally take out of the Colorado River is very important to the water authority and frankly to the Colorado River board. Anything we can do to reduce taking water from the river is very important for us,” he said.

Even one environmental group said the idea has some potential.

“I think there is a time and a place for desal. I think it can be done in an environmentally sensitive way,” said Jennifer Pitt, the Colorado River program manager for the Audubon Society.

However, Pitt warned that it can be “extraordinarily expensive” and the water that’s actually returned may not be worth the investment. Entsminger also cautioned that desalination is “not a silver bullet.”

“There’s silver buckshot — and desalination may be one of the pellets in the buckshot — but it’s not the entire solution,” he said.

But Madaffer said he was willing to talk to Utah leaders about a potential collaboration.

“Give us a call,” he said. “We’d love to.”