The Cadiz water project— a plan to pump water from a desert aquifer and sell it to a water agency in Orange County— has hit another obstacle. The Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice, and the Center for Food Safety have filed a joint lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s reversal of President Obama’s policies that required a federal environmental review before the project could move forward. The Cadiz project would pump 16 billion gallons of water annually out of the aquifer east of Twentynine Palms and send it to Orange County by piping it alongside a railroad. Managing editor Tami Roleff explains why the organizations are suing…
Opponents of the Cadiz water project say that the 16 billion gallons of water drawn from the aquifer every year would be depleted faster than it could be replaced. A Center for Biological Diversity spokeswoman said, “Pumping ancient groundwater from the Mojave Desert to water suburban lawns in Orange County will devastate wildlife and the entire ecosystem relying on that water for survival.”
A Cadiz spokeswoman responded that the pumped water is equal to the amount that is lost through evaporation. She adds the Cadiz water project “will safely and sustainably provide new water for 400,000 people and bring jobs and economic opportunity to local labor, veteran and disadvantaged communities without harm to the environment.” Furthermore, she said, “The Center for Biological Diversity and its co-litigants have lost every case they have previously brought challenging this safe and sustainable project.”
LAWSUIT FILED OPPOSING CADIZ WATER PROJECT
