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Cadiz Inc. still hopes to drill for water under sensitive public lands in our arid California Deserts near Joshua Tree National Park, pulling out 50,000 acre-feet of water each year and lowering desert aquifers.

Cadiz Campaign

More than 30 years ago, a company called Cadiz Inc. came up with a plan to pump water from aquifers in the Mojave Desert. Ten years ago, late desert activist Elden Hughes and other Sierra Club members who had worked hard on the Desert Protection Act opposed the project that could forever harm the desert’s ecosystem and drain one of its most precious resources.

Now, the plan resurfaces anew as do concerns about its viability and impact on the land.

Cadiz Dunes Wilderness. Photo by Kyle Sullivan, BLM California

Cadiz Dunes Wilderness. Photo by Kyle Sullivan, BLM California

Major Concerns and Issues with the Cadiz Plan

It’s unsustainable: The proposed location within the Mojave has low precipitation. The amount of water planned for removal and sale is above that of the desert’s recharge rate. Meaning water levels will drop every year until the desert is drained and no more can be removed.

Adverse impacts on federal lands and water resources: The National Park Service believes Cadiz Inc.’s claim of no impact is inconclusive at this time. Models looking over the next 100 years (as opposed to only the first 50 in which the project will be undertaken) imply ecosystem and environmental impacts that could continue even after the project ends.

Which means their analysis is flawed. The analysis suffers in reliability as a result of the flawed hydrologic modeling.

Burrowing Owl. Photo by Karney Lee for US Fish and Wildlife Service.

A win for Cadiz Objectors

Stalls in the Cadiz Proposal

More stringent federal environmental legislation and peer-reviewed research opposing the Cadiz project have thrown a wrench in the works for Cadiz Inc.  

[Top header image: Bonanza Spring. Clipper Mountains, Mojave Trails, CA. This spring would be directly affected by Cadiz, Inc.’s plans to pump underground aquifer water from the Mojave Desert to LA. ©2017, Michael E. Gordon, all rights reserved.]

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