California has the option to DESALINATE water, which is very cheap compared at least to the retail price of water (desalinated water would add about 10% to a water bill compared to ‘free’ water).
They had a formal application to build a large plant - it was REJECTED by the state due to its relatively minuscule impact on Global Warming. So California, at least, SHOULD take the entire cut.
At that time, there were three companies in the world that had the technology and resources to engage in that scale of desalination project. One each in the US, Europe and Israel. I got in deep engaging with the 3 companies while working on a desalination system associated with an alternative energy related project.
By far at that time, the Israel company had the superior technology plus an unmatched resume of in-service facilities in worldwide industrial systems. The multi-effect evaporation vessel was absolutely clever, which was probably due to their extensive experience over many years.