The Cadiz groundwater basin holds more water
than
Lake Mead, but much of it simply
evaporates into the air.
We can't afford to let
this water go to waste any longer.
There is a huge, virtually untapped aquifer under the Mojave Desert that holds more water than Lake Mead, America’s largest reservoir. Cadiz Inc., the largest private landowner in the Mojave, has used this water for farming for 20 years and now has a very good idea about how the water can be used to benefit all of Southern California.
Every year, millions of gallons of fresh water in the aquifer flow under the Cadiz property toward dry lake beds, and then evaporate into thin air. The Cadiz Water Project will capture this water before it evaporates and send it to Southern California to meet the needs of families and businesses.
The Cadiz Water Project will protect the desert environment, residents and the aquifer. To protect the desert environment, the project proposes to build a pipeline to the Colorado River Aqueduct along an existing railroad right-of-way. To protect the aquifer and desert residents, the aquifer’s health will be continuously monitored, and pumping rates will be reviewed by San Bernardino County. Only about 50,000 acre-feet per year will be pumped – that’s less than 1 percent of the basin’s supplies. And those withdrawals will be replaced over time by precipitation that falls in the aquifer’s Rhode-Island-sized watershed.
Project Participants
The following water agencies have expressed interest in using this new water resource to supplement their existing supplies. If all contract for Cadiz water, it will bring more reliable water for over 1 million customers in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties.
"California’s success is dependent on reliable infrastructure and the availability of water supplies." The Cadiz Water Project is the type of project "the state needs to head back in a workable direction and really show the world how it's done."
-- Ambassador John A. Bohn, former CEO and President of Moody's Investor Service and former Commissioner of the California Public Utilities Commission.