Features

Calif. must reduce its use
of water from Colo. River 

TWENTYNINE PALMS — The Mojave Desert might not leap to mind as a source of water in California, but until recently a project to pump water from beneath this cracked earth was considered a key to safeguarding the state against future droughts. 

Now, as the federal Bureau of Land Management is poised to give approval to the project, the plan is coming under increasing political fire. 

The project would store water from the Colorado River in an aquifer near Joshua Tree during wet years then tap that supply during dry years to quench the thirst of Southern California households. 

The BLM is the last federal agency that must sign off on the project and has indicated it’s likely to do so in the next several weeks after studying an environmental impact report. 

After that, the MWD will consider giving its final OK. But MWD board member Glenn Brown said Feinstein’s letter and other considerations are raising red flags. 

“It doesn’t look good,” he said. “There just isn’t as much water as they say there is.” 

Officials with Cadiz remain optimistic that their private-public partnership with the district will go through. The aqueducts and storage facility could cost $150 million to build and generate $1 billion in water sales over the next 50 years. 

“I believe this project will happen,” said Wendy Mitchell, spokeswoman for the agricultural firm. “We have a crisis coming at the end of the year.” 

Mitchell was referring to the Dec. 31 federal deadline for California to come up with a plan to reduce its use of water from the overtaxed Colorado River. California currently uses up to 800,000 acre-feet a year more than its allotment from the river. California currently uses up to 800,000 acre-feet a year more than its allotment from the river. That’s the amount consumed each year by 1.6 million households.