As the Cadiz Water Project nears the final step in its approval process, the project’s opponents have stepped up their well-funded misinformation campaign in an effort to block the Project and the benefits it will bring to Southern California.

Most recently, they have tried to revive confusion and controversy about the project’s impact on Bonanza Spring. Here are the facts:

  • The Spring is 11 miles from the Project site, 1,000+ feet above the Cadiz groundwater basin, and separated by unsaturated soil, making it obvious the Project and the Spring are not connected.
  • The Environmental Impact Report’s analysis, which was prepared in accordance with California’s strict environmental laws, confirmed the project would have no impact on the spring.
  • San Bernardino County approved a groundwater management plan that includes 40 monitoring wells and a “floor” on groundwater use and gives the County authority to stop the Project if it has an unexpected impact.
  • California’s courts have overruled Project opponents 12 times and instead upheld both the EIR and the groundwater management plan, including its monitoring of the spring.

In January, to put this matter to rest, Cadiz commissioned a peer-reviewed study by a Miles Kenney, a PhD geologist, and Terry Foreman, a hydrologist, that showed the spring was formed by the convergence of two faults – faults that undeniably separate the spring from the aquifer far below. This research was the result of several weeks spent hiking and mapping the surrounding mountains, including a site visit with 10 hydrology and geology experts, including the former director of the USGS.

In response, Project opponents issued a report this week that used water chemistry to speculate about a potential connection between the spring and the aquifer, but offered no credible evidence to explain the faulting or a large upgradient area recharging the spring. Indeed, the opposition study is completely silent on the findings of the peer-reviewed study by Dr. Kenney and Mr. Foreman.

Source: Cadiz Water Project