Lawsuits by Growth Opponents Seek to Undercut the Needs of Communities in Underserved Area of California and Deny their Use of an Idle, Existing Pipeline to Convey Water for the Public Benefit
(Los Angeles, California) – Cadiz Inc. (“the Company”, NASDAQ:CDZI), a California business dedicated to sustainable water and agricultural projects, reported that two lawsuits were filed today in federal court by longtime litigants of its Cadiz Water Project, including the Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club and National Parks Conservation Association, challenging the US Bureau of Land Management’s recent assignment and grant of right-of-way permits to the Company to convey water, oil or natural gas over BLM-managed lands in an existing idle 217-mile pipeline acquired by the Company from El Paso Natural Gas (“EPNG”). Under agreements with EPNG first entered in 2011, Cadiz has sought to acquire the idle pipeline for the purpose of augmenting east-west water conveyance opportunities along this underserved, growing area of California. Cadiz Inc. is not a named party in the lawsuits.
The Company issued the following statement:
“While we will not comment on the pending litigation to which we are not a named party, we are deeply saddened but not surprised by the latest attempts by opponents of new water supply to delay and obstruct federal permits that could augment California’s water supply infrastructure, especially as the State is staring down another drought and continues to have more than 1 million people without reliable access to clean water.
The parties that filed the lawsuits have repeatedly filed legal challenges to permits granted for Cadiz’s water projects and Cadiz has prevailed in each of the six cases, at trial and on appeal. They also routinely oppose virtually every water supply and infrastructure project in California. These opponents callously disregard the needs of communities benefitted by improved access to clean, reliable water supplies in their relentless efforts to deny economic opportunity, fair housing, and affordable water to all Californians. Rather than openly oppose affordable housing, they hide behind pretextual environmental claims.
In this instance, Cadiz has been working for five years to ready an idle, already constructed oil and gas pipeline to use for the better environmental purpose of transporting needed water between disadvantaged and underserved communities in Inland California. A need acknowledged by all. Repurposed for water transportation, the idle oil and gas pipeline that is already in the ground has the potential to benefit tens of thousands of people. Any specific activity to convey water in the line would be subject to all applicable state and federal laws.
Members of the organizations funding these lawsuits and spreading the misinformation about the pipeline’s use should be ashamed of the frivolous spending of their dues to fund attacks on water access in California.
Cadiz is confident that the two lawsuits that were filed today challenging BLM’s decisions are without merit and will continue its efforts whole-heartedly to make the existing pipeline available to communities in need.”