Water on Earth predates the solar system, and even the sun.

There is nothing new under the sun.

God Himself told us so in the Holy Bible.

Genesis 1:1-3(NKJV)

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

So it should come as no surprise that the water was there before the sun was formed.

Now the scientific paper in Science  from which Los Angeles Times quoted says it in scientific terms in its abstract: (by  L. Ilsedore Cleeves, Edwin A. Bergin, Conel M. O’D. Alexander, Fujun Du, Dawn Graninger, Karin I. Öberg, Tim J. Harries)

“Identifying the source of Earth’s water is central to understanding the origins of life-fostering environments and to assessing the prevalence of such environments in space. Water throughout the solar system exhibits deuterium-to-hydrogen enrichments, a fossil relic of low-temperature, ion-derived chemistry within either (i) the parent molecular cloud or (ii) the solar nebula protoplanetary disk. Using a comprehensive treatment of disk ionization, we find that ion-driven deuterium pathways are inefficient, which curtails the disk’s deuterated water formation and its viability as the sole source for the solar system’s water. This finding implies that, if the solar system’s formation was typical, abundant interstellar ices are available to all nascent planetary systems.”

The editor of Science tries to simplify it so all can understand:

Nature or nurture for solar system ices?

“We know that life’s favorite molecule, water, exists throughout the solar system. What we don’t know is whether present water levels reflect the chemical conditions of our parent nebula or whether they result from later reprocessing in the young system. The levels of deuterium and hydrogen in solar system water ice offer a tracer for chemical history, and Cleeves et al. model the processes at play. The analysis suggests that all nascent planetary systems may have the same water resources that we did.”

Science, this issue p. 1590

Methinks the beginning of the Holy Bible gives the best explanation of how Creation happened, completely void of scientific jargon.

In those three verses God establishes His principles:

In the Beginning – There was a beginning.

God – God was before the beginning of time and space.

Created – God Created all in the beginning

The Heavens and the Earth. – Yes, indeed every matter.

The earth was without form – Not even the sphere was formed.

And void -No life yet.

And darkness was on the face of the deep – No light was yet started, only matter, especially water.

And The Spirit of God hovered over the waters – The Holy Spirit – God’s Spirit was there at Creation forming everything.

And God Said – Here is introduced the Word that later became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus Christ was present and active during creation.

Let there be Light – And so, the creation of life could begin.