Between Two Watersheds

The Colorado River may be running dry, but the Pacific Ocean is not — and on Thursday, San Diego took a first formal step to turn that into a business opportunity.

The San Diego County Water Authority voted to sign a memorandum of understanding with federal, Arizona and Nevada water managers to explore selling desalinated Pacific Ocean water across state lines. The pilot, if formalized, would turn ultra-expensive water and underused capacity at the Western Hemisphere’s largest desalination plant, in Carlsbad, into a resource for fast-growing neighboring states as they absorb potentially-economy-shattering cuts on the Colorado River.