Updating the current status of the Cadiz water project

DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, CA JULY 14: Heat waves rise near a heat danger warning sign on the eve of the AdventurCORPS Badwater 135 ultra-marathon race on July 14, 2013 in Death Valley National Park, California. Billed as the toughest footrace in the world, the 36th annual Badwater 135 starts at Badwater Basin in Death Valley, 280 feet below sea level, where athletes begin a 135-mile non-stop run over three mountain ranges in extreme mid-summer desert heat to finish at 8,350-foot near Mount Whitney for a total cumulative vertical ascent of 13,000 feet. July 10 marked the 100-year anniversary of the all-time hottest world record temperature of 134 degrees, set in Death Valley where the average high in July is 116. A total of 96 competitors from 22 nations are attempting the run which equals about five back-to-back marathons. Previous winners have completed all 135 miles in slightly less than 24 hours. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

The Cadiz Valley Water Conservation, Recovery and Storage Project has been in the works for decades, and was recently revitalized after the Trump administration rescinded a policy memorandum that prevented Cadiz, Inc, the company overseeing the project, from building a pipeline along a federal railroad right-of-way.

The Cadiz Valley Water Conservation, Recovery and Storage Project has been in the works for decades, and was recently revitalized after the Trump administration rescinded a policy memorandum that prevented Cadiz, Inc, the company overseeing the project, from building a pipeline along a federal railroad right-of-way.

Cadiz, Inc.wants to pump groundwater from an aquifer in the Mojave Desert and sell it to water suppliers in Southern California using the Colorado River Aqueduct. The company and supporters of the project, which include a number of lawmakers and business/labor organizations, say the project will not only bring water to 400,000 people in Southern California, but also provide jobs and an economic stimulus with no impact to the environment.

But opponents, which include a number of environmental advocacy groups as well as California Senator Dianne Feinstein, have concerns about whether there really will be no impact to the desert environment, as Cadiz claims, and also worry the aquifer wouldn’t refill as quickly as the water was pumped out.

Guests:

Scott Slater, CEO and president of Cadiz, Inc.; he is also a partner at the law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

Frazier Haney, conservation director with the Mojave Desert Land Trust, a non-profit organization that advocates for protecting the Mojave Desert ecosystem