Michael Smolens: San Diego’s Colorado River water should be secure despite dispute, says official

The ongoing anxiety throughout the West over the Colorado River water supply ratcheted up once again as negotiators last week blew through a second deadline in three months to reach agreement on how to divvy up the ever-diminishing flow.

The distance and tensions between the upper and lower river basin states, the latter of which includes California, seem as great as ever.

Sounds bad.

But regardless of the outcome, San Diego should remain relatively unaffected by cuts that are sure to come on the Colorado River, which supplies the region with more than half of its water.

That’s the view of Jim Madaffer, a member of the San Diego County Water Authority and the Colorado River Board of California.

He said San Diego is in a unique position with a protected supply, due to a long-term deal with the Imperial Irrigation District for river water, increased storage, a desalination plant and upcoming wastewater recycling.

“That gives us resiliency that no one else has,” he said.

Even if an eventual new river agreement leaves San Diego’s supply largely intact, that won’t do anything to change the skyrocketing trajectory of local water costs, which has become cause for alarm among politicians and ratepayers.

However, the consequences of the missed deadlines are unclear. The same goes for the increased prospect of the Trump admini...