What is the Cadiz Groundwater Storage and Dry-Year Supply Program?
This is a proposed program between the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and Cadiz Inc., a publicly traded agricultural company that has branched out into water development. If approved, the project is one of a few dry-year storage programs to protect Southern California from future reductions in Colorado River water supplies. The proposed project is located in the Mojave Desert, about 20 miles south of Interstate 40, roughly halfway between Needles and Ludlow in eastern San Bernardino County.
The project would begin near MWD's Iron Mountain Pumping Plant along the Colorado River Aqueduct. As proposed, Metropolitan will divert some of its Colorado River water north through an approximate 35-mile pipeline into a 390-acre man-made earthen basin. The goal is to build a nest egg of up to 1 million acre-feet of Colorado River water and withdraw up to 150,000 acre-feet (enough to support 300,000 households) a year when needed in dry years.
In addition to storing its own Colorado River water, Metropolitan would purchase and withdraw native groundwater, subject to an extensive monitoring and management plan designed to modify the program if it were shown to be impacting the environment. In addition to selling water to Metropolitan, Cadiz also could sell to third parties as part of the 50-year contract.
The 50-year program will improve Southern California's water supply reliability in two ways:
• Storage - Store Colorado River water to better manage available wet-year supplies to meet dry-year needs.
• Supply - Provide a new dry-year supply from the high-quality groundwater underlying the Cadiz property.
The Cadiz Program is designed to take wet-year water available on the Colorado River and deliver it to the Cadiz property for storage in the underlying aquifer system. Up to one million acre-feet of surplus Colorado River water will be stored at any one time. During dry years, this water will be withdrawn from storage and delivered to Metropolitan's service area. In addition, a portion of the existing groundwater that normally evaporates from adjacent dry lakes will also be made available to Metropolitan during dry years. Approximately one to two million acre-feet of high-quality groundwater will be provided to Metropolitan over the 50-year term of the agreement. The actual amount of water to be stored and transferred will be governed by the restrictions and conditions of a Groundwater Monitoring and Management Plan, which is designed to protect surrounding natural resources.
Cadiz owns more than 27,000 acres in the Cadiz and Fenner valleys in eastern San Bernardino County, approximately 35 miles north of Metropolitan's Colorado River Aqueduct. The Program's capital facilities will be located entirely on Cadiz property. Studies by independent experts have determined that the Program site overlies an aquifer system, which is ideally suited for underground water storage. The watershed that supplies water to the Program site encompasses approximately 1,300 square miles, or an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. The aquifer system contains approximately 20 million acre-feet of high-quality groundwater, which receives replenishment naturally through rainfall each year. An acre-foot of water contains approximately 326,000 gallons and is sufficient to meet the needs of two Southern California families for a year.