If you give money to businesses that for the last 50 years have simply become experts at dealing with international supply chains... You’re probably just going to have the money sent abroad.
Yes. Almost all of them stem from before the internet. Publication requirements prevented accidental trademark infringement and provided public notice. Similarly for foreign entity registration. Business licenses linked business addresses to the tax registry. Hairdressing because many barbers provided shaves, which involves a sanitary component.
Southern Cal wanted a desalination plant. Spent a TON of time in development. Shot down. Repeat time 100x, kind of crushing I think.
But before we build extremely expensive desalination, more effective and lower cost actions must come first. Reforming water rights law to stop insane use it or lose it incentives (e.g. flood irrigation of almond trees). Renegotiating water treaties. Increasing water efficiency in agriculture. Xeriscaping. Higher water prices that will hold down demand and provide a self-enforcing incentive to reduce waste, leaks, and low value water consumption. And better finance water works.
Reduce, reuse, recycle.
YOU have decided that another solution "MUST" come first because supposedly you understand the economics better. But these guys were willing to stick some money behind their idea. Govt cannot understand why private enterprise works, and this shoes it. Why not let them lose their shirts if it is such a stupid idea (hint, it's not and the folks talking down the economics are going to have massive egg on their face in 5 years).
In private enterprise without the blocking power of the red tape its likely a number of solutions could be brought to bear.
More market rate water pricing (hello alfalfa for china). Actual development of additional water sources (despite billions we get bupkis despite massive population growth).
Instead, we are getting local residential water use regulations that are comically extreme, and on a % basis do almost nothing.
And yes, the penalty rates for certain residential water use make that "extremely expensive" desalination plant look very very cheap.
Literally every proposal is met by some govt or other do gooder saying it's not good enough and there is something better to do - meanwhile nothing happens. That is until enough stupidity collects in a room and we get multi-billion dollar expenditures on things like hydrogen with almost no natural market demand.