Let’s compare SFPUC rates: https://sfpuc.org/sites/default/files/accounts-and-services/20210719_Rates_Schedule_Booklet_Web.pdf https://sfpuc.org/sites/default/

Let’s compare SFPUC rates: https://sfpuc.org/sites/default/files/accounts-and-services/20210719_Rates_Schedule_Booklet_Web.pdf https://sfpuc.org/sites/default/files/accounts-and-services/... W-1A (what a residential user in SF is likely to pay): $7.60 per CCF ($21.51/m^3) for the first 4 CCF/mo. W-25 (wholesale buyers like other water districts): $4.10/CCF ($11.60 / m^3) Even rate W-24 (untreated water from reservoir) is about $2.69/m^3. For all I know, the reservoir in question is Hetch Hetchy, but even this rate is above estimates of the cost of desalination. The obvious conclusion is that the actual cost of desalination is not even close to being a problem. Of course, this is CA, and it’s easy to throw a few tens of $bn at a project and get absolutely nothing out.