Faith Bottum succinctly points out the critical situation with the Colorado River water allotment ("Colorado River States Could Head Back To The Supreme Court," Cross Country, Oct. 17). There is a logical and viable solution. Of the three main Lower Basin states, two -- Arizona and Nevada -- have no sea-front, while the third, California, borders the largest body of water on the planet, the Pacific Ocean. Unlike the multiyear drought that has greatly reduced water in the river, oceans are rising.
California's allocation of Colorado River water is 4.4 million acre-feet -- a significant deterrent to developing desalination plants. Saudi Arabia has a desalination plant near Jeddah that has a total desalinated water production capacity of 2,998,000 cubic meters per day. Desalination plants require vast amounts of energy, but California enjoys vast amounts of energy-producing sunshine and wind. Israel produces roughly 80% of its fresh water from desalination. Building a desalination plant takes time, but now is the time to change.
Peter Volny
Fountain Hills, Ariz.
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I read with some alarm Ms. Bottum's op-ed about the worsening scarcity of Colorado River water. But if agribusiness uses more than half of the water, does it make economic sense to support farming water-intensive crops in the arid West? President Trump announced a farm-aid package at the end of last year to help American farmers hurt by trade disruptions, including soybean farmers who lost sales when China shifted purchases toward South America.
Perhaps we should focus on high-value industries and buy more agricultural products from Brazil and Argentina. Total U.S. agricultural revenue in 2025 was about $540 billion, of which crops supplied $238 billion. California's agricultural direct revenue was $65 billion. The revenue from technology giant Apple was $416 billion. Maybe we should return to the days when we farmed where it rained a lot.
Jeffrey Fegan
Nichols Hills, Okla.
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