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Environmental group warns Adelanto council against Cadiz groundwater plan
Summary
A representative of the National Parks Conservation Association told the council the Cadiz groundwater project would overdraw the aquifer, citing USGS recharge estimates and state law SB 307; he urged the city and residents to be skeptical of Cadiz's promises.
Luke Basulto, California Desert program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association, used the public comment period at the Dec. 11 Adelanto City Council meeting to urge the council and residents to be skeptical of the Cadiz groundwater project.
"Cadiz wants to pump 50,000 acre-feet of water per year for 50 years," Basulto said, adding that USGS estimates indicate the aquifer recharge the company targets is far lower (Basulto referenced an approximate 2,000 acre-feet-per-year recharge estimate). He said the disparity means Cadiz would withdraw water at many times the sustainable recharge rate and that federal and state environmental reviews and permitting stand in the way of project implementation.
Basulto also referenced state law SB 307 (2019), which he said was passed to block the deed-transfer aspects of the project, and he said Cadiz has not secured necessary permits. "This project is dead," he said, adding that the company persists with public-relations campaigns to win local endorsements.
The council took the comment under advisement; no city action was recorded on Cadiz at the meeting. The public comment is part of an ongoing regional debate over groundwater development, water rights and environmental review in the California desert.
Basulto's full statement urged residents to scrutinize corporate claims and to insist on independent technical review before supporting projects that would affect desert aquifers.
