Water project or water crisis? The Cadiz Water Project stirs up controversy

North of the Coachella Valley lies the driest desert in North America: The Mojave. Despite the climatology, it’s become a battleground for water resources.

“We lose the aquifer that’s under the Mojave, and we lose the Mojave,” said Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). “It becomes the Sahara.” It’s an issue that brought Feinstein down to the valley in October.

The Cadiz Water Project has been drowning in political turmoil since it was first proposed. Environmentalists have been fighting against it for almost twenty years, claiming the company’s hopes to diversify California’s water portfolio by pumping groundwater from the Mojave could drain the critical springs in the desert.

But Cadiz claims there’s no connection between where they want to pump and the vulnerable springs, and they say billions of gallons of groundwater in the aquifer is wasted every year, lost to evaporation.

In an effort to get a bare bones look at the potential environmental dangers the project could have, CBS Local 2’s Kelley Moody ventured north to one of the sites of the controversy: Bonanza Spring.

California Desert Program Manager with the National Parks Conservation Association, Chris Clarke said, “If this were an episode of CSI Mojave, we’d have this project defeated by the end of the hour.” Clarke is a former environmental journalist whose followed the story since the project’s inception, eventually leaving his job, so he could fight to protect Bonanza Spring.

“It’s a crucial resource for the bighorn sheep, which are contending with the effects of climate change. It’s a crucial resource for birds that are migrating through the desert,” said Clarke.

“Without the Coachella Valley, this national monument would not be protected. The Coachella Valley has stood up to protect this place, and this water source is one of the most important resources,” said David Lamfrom with the National Parks Conservation Association. He also said it’s a sacred place for Native American tribes.

Environmentalists reference studies done by USGS twenty years ago and more recent work done by Andy Zdon, Adam Love, and M. Lee Davisson. Zdon, Love and Davisson’s work claims the chemical footprint of the water in Bonanza Spring and the water in the aquifer is the same. They believe his, along with carbon dating, proves the two spots are connected.

But Cadiz claims the science they’ve done here tells a completely different story.

“I’m not aware of any science of any kind that suggests there is a relationship between the spring and our project,” said president and CEO of Cadiz, Scott Slater. He says the work done by consulting geologist Miles Kenney proved that the distance, change in elevation, and fault zones in the area, make it impossible for the springs to be connected to the aquifer where they hope to pump.

“It’s hard to disprove what I’m finding because it’s geology, and you could physically walk and I could physically walk with you right now and show you…the two fault zones that are intersecting,” said Kenney.

Kenney says his work in the area shows it’s rainfall that serves as Bonanza Spring’s source of water, not the aquifer, but environmentalists call this, and other evidence used by Cadiz to support their cause “bad science,” with a fox guarding the hen house; calling Santa Margarita Water District in Orange County that fox.

SMWD is the lead agency on a 2012 Environmental Impact Review that defends the safety of the Cadiz Water Project. The water district also hopes to purchase at least 5,000 acre feet of water annually from Cadiz if the project proceeds.

“People can create a lot more water than Cadiz by fixing leaks in cities [and] by covering reservoirs. There are all kinds of things that we can do both in conservation and developing new sources, groundwater recapture, storm runoff, and that sort of thing that are just more sensible, better for the environment, cheaper for rate payers,” said Clarke.

Slater told me he hopes to meet an agreement with Metropolitan Water District to start construction in the Mojave in 2019. He said it is possible that local water agencies could arrange to have this water brought to the Coachella Valley. We did reach out to districts here and asked if they had taken a stance on the Cadiz Water Project. At this time, Coachella Valley Water District, Desert Water Agency, and Mission Springs Water District all say they have not taken any action for or against the Cadiz Water Project.