Reg Hack ought to learn something about California before slandering the entire state.
1) The "few dollars a year" per Californian works out to around $40/month (using The Register's figures) per household. A large fraction of the current water bill. This ignores the cost to build desalination plants or pipe the output into city water supplies. This ignores the cost to refill deplenished aquifers.
2) The Register would have California implement a flat tax across all people. Farmers, who use most of the water and need an incentive to use water more efficiently, would be mostly spared. Citizens of Eureka, where water is still plentiful, would be taxed the same amount as citizens of Palm Springs.
3) The Register completely ignores the current use of reverse osmosis in California. Many cities, including the one I live in, recycle their waste water to use it for landscape irrigation. San Diego is close to closing the loop and mixing its recycled water with incoming supplies. Apparently The Register believes you can snap our fingers and hand out a big wad of money and instantly fix all problems.