You are now in Media Coverage San Diego County category.

As state leaders battle along the Colorado River for a larger share, a city in California is possibly willing to sell its water to Arizona—but it comes at a huge price. Just a few years ago, Arizona considered asking Mexico to allow the construction of a desalination plant. It never happened, but in California, there already is one, leaving the question— can Arizona get a cut?

The salty Pacific might be one of the answers officials have been waiting for. In Carlsbad, California, the largest desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere provides 10% of San Diego’s water, and that water might soon be up for grabs.

On March 19, Western Water and the San Diego County Water Authority signed a water exchange agreement that will provide benefits across much of Southern California. The agreement is conservatively projected to save Western Water customers $49.1 million, provide the San Diego County Water Authority an ongoing revenue stream of more than $13 million per year and a one-time payment of $39.1 million.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California will continue to receive full cost of moving water for member agencies and gain an important tool in long-range planning for water supply resiliency in Riverside and San Diego counties.

The San Diego County Water Authority and Western Municipal Water District Thursday inked a long-term water supply agreement to provide the Riverside County agency water and ensure consistent income for the SDCWA.

Under the agreement, Western Water will receive a minimum of 10,000 acre-feet of water annually over the next 21 years, enough to supply around 30,000 Southern California households each year. That agency, which provides water, wastewater, and recycled water services to nearly 1 million people across 527 square miles in western Riverside County, also agreed to purchase around 30,000 acre-feet of water for future delivery, a nearly $40 million investment.

San Diego, in its corner of the continent, is at the end of the line of a lot of resources. Gas, railroad and water lines all end here.

So it was remarkable, historic even, that this week a theory became real: San Diego sold water to another region, specifically Temecula. Our decades of painful, costly, somewhat questionable investments in water reliability really did put us into the position of broker, exporter even. And the promises are flying that relief is coming. San Diegans who pay the highest rates for water around may someday soon see that burden ease because we are not just desperate buyers at the end of the line, we are owners.

The San Diego County Water Authority and Western Municipal Water District have signed a long-term water supply agreement to provide the Riverside County agency with water while generating consistent revenue for the San Diego agency.

Under the agreement, Western Water will receive a minimum of 10,000 acre-feet of water annually over the next 21 years — enough to supply about 30,000 Southern California households each year.