We can terraform the American West

The author argues that the American West's water scarcity can be solved by using cheap solar-powered desalination to bring large volumes of water inland, which would let the region terraform land in places like Nevada. The post points to Los Angeles and Florida as past examples, where channelized rivers, aqueducts, drainage and air conditioning turned former swamps and desert into large cities. It estimates that a solar and battery reverse osmosis plant in the Imperial Valley could produce water at about $280 per acre-foot, with solar at $0.07/W and LFP cells below $50/kWh, and that a solar-powered thermal desalination design could cut costs further to about $68 per acre-foot.