Ironically, the one place that desal pumping would be almost free is the Imperial Valley, which is below sea level, though across a roughly 80-meter col (7 km h

Ironically, the one place that desal pumping would be almost free is the Imperial Valley, which is below sea level, though across a roughly 80-meter col (7 km horizontal) from Laguna de Salada. But they have among the oldest Colorado river rights — to fully 20% of the theoretically available flow — and couldn't afford the electricity, requiring some Rube Goldberg finance to make the whole scheme work out.