Land
We own 45,000 acres (70 square miles) of land in eastern San Bernardino County, California, including approximately 34,000 acres in the Cadiz Valley, 9,000 acres in the Piute Valley, and 2,000 acres near Danby Dry Lake. Virtually all of this land is underlain by high-quality, natural groundwater resources and has excellent potential for various uses including groundwater supply and storage projects, organic farming and solar energy development. Click Here for a map of our properties.
We own approximately 34,000 acres (55 square miles) of land and related high-quality groundwater resources in the Cadiz Valley of eastern San Bernardino County. Our property is one of the largest contiguous private landholdings in the region and is located in proximity to the Colorado River Aqueduct and an approved transmission corridor. The aquifer system underlying this property is located at the confluence of two watersheds spanning approximately 1,300 square miles, an area nearly three times the size of the city of Los Angeles. The watershed is naturally recharged by groundwater that originates as rain and snowmelt in the surrounding mountains. Experts estimate the aquifer system contains roughly 17-34 million acre-feet of pure, indigenous groundwater. The proposed Cadiz Valley Water Conservation, Recovery and Storage Project would be located on a small portion of the property.
About 9,600 acres of this property have been zoned for agricultural development; approximately 500 acres are currently farmed. We rely on groundwater for irrigation. Additionally, we are currently considering the use of additional portions of this property for solar energy development.
Our second largest landholding is comprised of approximately 8,500 acres in the Piute Valley of eastern San Bernardino County. This landholding is located approximately 15 miles from Laughlin, Nevada and about 12 miles from the Colorado River town of Needles, California. Extensive hydrological studies, including the drilling and testing of a full-scale production well, have demonstrated that this land is also underlain by high-quality groundwater. The aquifer system underlying this property is naturally recharged by rain and melted snow within a watershed of approximately 975 square miles.
We own an additional 1,500 acres near Danby Dry Lake, approximately 30 miles southeast of our Cadiz Valley property. The Danby Lake property is located approximately 10 miles north of the Colorado River Aqueduct. Initial hydrological studies indicate that it has excellent potential for a sustainable, groundwater conservation and storage project. We are also considering using portions of this property for certain facilities of the Cadiz Valley Water Conservation, Recovery and Storage Project.
LAND USE OPPORTUNITIES
Solar
With at least 285 days of sun per year, a reliable water source, and proximity to an approved energy transmission corridor, our property in the Cadiz Valley is an ideal location for solar energy production. The State of California and the U.S. government have called for increased renewable energy production in order to meet our future energy needs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and cut our reliance on foreign oil. In fact, California has mandated that 33% of the state’s electricity be acquired from renewable energy sources by 2020. Federal and State government entities, along with environmental organizations, are also drafting legislation and encouraging regulations that would support solar energy development on private, disturbed land to minimize impacts to undisturbed desert lands. We believe that our properties, which offer existing roads, housing, and other infrastructure, could help meet the demand for additional renewable power resources in California. Depending on various factors, we could make up to 20,000 unused acres at our Cadiz Valley property available for solar energy development.
Conservation
Some of our land is located within critical desert habitats. We are exploring the potential for making certain sections of these properties available for permanent conservation, through the dedication of land surface conservation easements on a project-by-project basis and/or making land available for mitigation needs in the region.