As most Western communities expect to grapple with water shortages this summer and fall, one is looking to share its unlikely surplus. San Diego County in California spent nearly $1 billion on a desalination plant after a 1990s drought left it with scarce supply. Now, with the seawater-to-tap water plant running at just one-third of capacity, its water utility is shopping around deals to sell its water across the West. … It’s not yet clear how interstate transfers of water could occur — likely by Arizona or other states paying San Diego for its Colorado River water rights. Such transfers have never occurred and could require new federal laws or regulations.

Other California water supply news:

• SJV Water (Bakersfield, Calif.): Rosedale-Rio Bravo reduces support for “delta tunnel;” agrees to buy more land above Lake Isabella
• Los Angeles Times: California’s newest solar project isn’t powering homes. It’s powering your water
• The Napa Valley Register (Napa, Calif.): Lake Marie in Napa’s Skyline Park hits lean water days
• Wall Street Journal: Opinion: Water, water everywhere—except in California’s reservoirs
• The Raincross Gazette (Riverside, Calif.): Opinion: 2026 is shaping up to be a mixed bag in the water world
• California Department of Water Resources: News release: DWR maintaining releases for flood protection