Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
San Bernardino Sun
Cadiz Dry Lake, CA -- Southern California water providers may be able to draw from a new source of water sufficient to supply 100,000 households if plans for a Mojave Desert pipeline pass environmental muster.
The project could create the equivalent of 745 full-time jobs, according to a consultant.
The Cadiz Co., headquartered in downtown Los Angeles, wants to build a 42-mile pipeline to carry water from a remote desert aquifer in the Cadiz Valley to the Colorado River Aqueduct.
"Why do it? It's sort of like asking, `Why conserve?" said Cadiz Co. President and General Counsel Scott Slater.
Letting the water flow to the aqueduct would make it possible to provide a new source of water to providers serving the region, including the Claremont-based Three Valleys Municipal Water District and the San Dimas-based Golden State Water Co.
"We're always looking for water in other places in case the big earthquake hits," Three Valleys board President Bob Kuhn said.
Three Valleys wholesales water to providers serving customers in east Los Angeles County communities including Pomona and Claremont.
Kuhn said Three Valleys has an option agreement to buy the water if the project is approved.
The Cadiz Co. owns 35,000 acres in the Cadiz Valley. Roughly 11 miles southeast of Amboy, it was once a stopping point for Route 66 travelers. Cadiz and Bristol dry lakes - and the aquifer that lies below the desert surface - can be found in Cadiz Valley. The landowners currently use the water for lemon groves, vineyards and other crops grown on their Mojave Desert property.
But if Cadiz Co.'s proposal becomes a reality, the company would build a 42-mile pipeline along an existing railroad right-of-way to a place called Rice, which is near Highway 62, well east of Twentynine Palms.
The projected construction cost approaches $278million over a two-year period.
The work could create the equivalent of 593 full-time jobs for those directly working on the pipeline and an additional 152 jobs at businesses supporting Cadiz Co., according to a forecast from Redlands-based economist John Husing, who focuses on the Inland Empire.
"I would guess they (the new hires) would be living in the Victor Valley or Barstow, given where the facility is," Husing said. The project's $258.5 million second phase would require the construction of a parallel pipeline to recharge Cadiz Valley's aquifer with Colorado River water.
Cadiz Co. hired Husing at a $10,000 commission to prepare an economic impact report for the project.
The firm's executives have yet to release the proposal's draft environmental impact report. It is set to be released this summer.
"We're going to do a very careful review of the draft EIR and figure out how this proposal that deals with water and affecting special places in the desert, like the Mojave National Preserve," said Seth Shteir, desert field representative for the National Parks Conservation Association.
Shteir's group opposed the Cadiz Co.'s water plans in 2002. He said it wants to review the environmental impact report before taking a position now on the project.
The association's concerns include what may happen if diversion of water away from the aquifer below Cadiz Valley makes Cadiz Dry Lake so dry that dusty particulate matter collects on the lake bed and becomes a potential source of air pollution.
Cadiz has conducted considerable research and is confident its environmental report will withstand scrutiny, Slater said.
The Santa Margarita Water District, which serves south Orange County, has been designated as the lead agency for the project. As such, its board will be responsible for reviewing and deciding whether to approve Cadiz Co.'s environmental report.
Santa Margarita officials are also counting on receiving water from the proposed pipeline, said the agency's general manager, John J. Schatz.
"We're looking at this to balance our water supply portfolio," he said.