[jillesvangurp]

Run a pipe out a few miles to where the ocean drops to a few hundred meters and the currents are strong and job done. This is not a technical challenge in any way, just a minor cost overhead. Pumps and pipes; that's all you need.

This is not the reason the US doesn't desalinate. It is actually actively making things worse in the places where it can still extract water from aquifers. Removing the water allows salt water to penetrate those thus destroying the local ecosystems. It's also speeding up the desertification of other areas.

Desalinating ocean water (done right of course) is part of the solution, not the problem.

Solutions like discussed in the article are more interesting for smaller/rural setups. Interesting but desalinating at industrial scale is a solved problem already. Can it be done cheaper. Probably and that would be nice. But it can be done economically right now. The largest challenges here are bureaucratic, not technical.