Lawsuit filed over Cadiz pipeline poised to pump water out of Mojave Desert aquifers

Jef Harmatz Jef Harmatz Send an email July 30, 2026

Two environmental organizations filed a lawsuit against the federal government and the Trump administration related to approvals granted for a water pipeline project.

The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday (July 28) by the Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club, represented by Earthjustice and Center attorneys. Their lawsuit says that the Federal Bureau of Land Management’s approval of the Cadiz water project pipeline ignores the project’s significant environmental harms and violates the National Environmental Policy Act and other laws governing public lands.

On July 10 Cadiz, Inc. announced via press release that they received a new approval from the federal government on a pipeline project that could impact aquifers surrounding Joshua Tree National Park.

That approval from the United States Bureau of Land Management allows Cadiz, Inc. to begin converting the Cadiz Northern Pipeline from natural gas to water conveyance. This is the latest approval of the Cadiz company’s pipeline proposal for the area, which has been challenged in court and faced a series of setbacks and approvals over the last thirty years. The general scope of their proposal has been to pump water from the Cadiz aquifer via pipeline to coastal communities, though the specifics of this plan have changed over the decades. 

The Center for Biological Diversity says that pipeline crosses Mojave Trails National Monument and other protected federal public land in southeastern California. Its operation would dry up freshwater springs that desert plants and animals need to survive. This would be devastating for imperiled species like the desert tortoise and desert bighorn sheep.

Lisa Belenky, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement “Courts have repeatedly ruled against the Cadiz project and yet the federal government is ignoring the consequences of this disastrous groundwater pumping scheme. Desert creatures like the bighorn sheep won’t survive if key springs and seeps they need are lost. ”

Jef Harmatz Jef Harmatz Send an email July 30, 2026
Jef Harmatz

Jef Harmatz

Jef Harmatz is the co-host of Z107.7’s “Morning Show with Cody and Jef” and Z107.7’s News Director. He has worked as a journalist, cartoonist, chef, and delivery driver. He is known nationally for his writing and comics in publications like TimeOut, Popula, Roadtrippers, Solrad and Spiralbound, and for his album covers for Third Eye Blind and Sir Sly. He is known locally for his pop-up barbecue restaurant Hot Dog Panic. He remains unknown in the field of beekeeping, because he is too afraid of being stung to try it. When not on the radio, he draws comics and self-publishes little books. He lives with his partner and his dog Sunday in Yucca Valley, where he cooks them both elaborate meals.