Draining Mojave Desert Aquifers: Poor Policy and Bad for Our Public Lands!

Water is a critical resource throughout the desert and the state of California. There's no doubt that California needs a clean, reliable, sustainable source of water for people, industry, agriculture and wildlife. With this in mind, it is crucial that we prevent poorly designed, questionable water development projects from moving forward.

Cadiz Inc., a private developer, plans to pump an average of 50,000 acre feet/year of groundwater from underneath the Mojave Desert for the next 50 years. Water would travel through a pipeline to the Colorado River Aqueduct and then on to cities in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. The problem with the plan is that scientific studies indicate that the aggressive pumping would continue to affect groundwater resources even years after the project ends. What this could mean is that some groundwater impacts could go undetected until it's too late to do anything about them. The project is not only shortsighted, but is totally unsustainable as hydrologists have found that the intensive pumping exceeds natural recharge rates. This imbalance could adversely impact groundwater resources and negatively impact our desert national parks, federally designated wilderness and other public lands. Finally, the project could harm air quality by creating dust because project pumping would deprive the soil on Bristol and Cadiz Dry Lakes of moisture.

Project proponents have deliberately avoided federal review of this project -- but proper review is exactly what is needed for such a major proposal. Let Secretary Salazar know that you value public lands in the California desert, believe that Cadiz Inc.'s project is unsustainable, and think that a comprehensive federal review is necessary due to its potential effects on air quality, public lands and desert groundwater.