OPINION:Mailbag: San Diego is importing less water now because of desalination

In its commentary, “Orange County Should Learn from San Diego’s Mistakes with Poseidon Water” (Nov. 4), the Surfrider Foundation fashions an imaginary world in which the public is forced to choose between water conservation and water-supply development.

In reality, water ratepayers and water agencies can and should do both. For the past 25 years, the San Diego County Water Authority has worked on both sides of the supply-demand equation, helping reduce regional per capita water use by nearly 40% (even before the state’s emergency water-use mandates in 2015) while increasing reliable, locally controlled supplies, such as desalinated seawater.