Aquifer Owner Soaks Up Win; Judge rejects lawsuits against Cadiz’s desert project.
http://labusinessjournal.com/news/2014/may/12/aquifer-owner-soaks-win/?page=2&
By Howard Fine, LA Business Journal
Investors in Cadiz Inc. were pumped up last week after a court ruling cleared a big roadblock for the L.A. company’s controversial plan to draw water from its remote desert property. An Orange County judge May 2 upheld approvals for the water plan, dismissing challenges from an array of conservation groups and a mining company. The ruling from Superior Court Judge Gail Andler moves Cadiz a big step closer to construction of its water-pumping plants and a pipeline to transfer millions of gallons of water from its desert aquifer to thirsty residents and businesses. That means the Cadiz project is closer to reality than it has ever been since its conception more than 20 years ago. (full story attached as PDF).
Judge sinks lawsuits against Cadiz Valley water project
Judge dismisses final lawsuits challenging plan to pump Mojave Desert water to O.C. and beyond.
Orange County Register, By JANET ZIMMERMAN AND BROOKE EDWARDS STAGGS
A controversial plan to mine water from a desert aquifer and pipe it to cities across Southern California is one step closer to being realized, after a judge rejected a series of legal challenges over its potential environmental impact.
Judge clears the way for Cadiz wellfield
Global Water Intelligence, May 2014
Shares in Nasdaq-listed Cadiz, Inc. jumped by nearly 30% after the company announced on 2nd May that a local judge had given the go-ahead for its longplanned groundwater delivery project. The design and construction of a 43-mile (69km) pipeline and wellfield expansion to extract and deliver 50,000 acre-feet a year (169,000m3/d) of water in southern California can now move forward after a court case blocking the $250 million project was dismissed. It marks a major step in the development of the initiative, which has been in the works for nearly 23 years (see timeline).
Controversial pipeline project surges forward
San Bernardino Sun, Joe Nelson
The San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society, the San Gorgonio Sierra Club and the National Parks Conservation Association joined the Center for…
Court Upholds Approvals for the Cadiz Valley Water Conservation, Recovery and Storage Project
Best, Best & Krieger LLC Press Release
The Orange County Superior Court last week issued rulings rejecting all six challenges to the environmental review and approvals by the Santa Margarita Water District and County of San Bernardino relating to the Cadiz Valley Water Conservation, Recovery and Storage Project. Specifically, the court upheld the environmental impact report (EIR) certified by SMWD and its approval of the Project, a public-private partnership with Cadiz Inc. to pump and transmit groundwater for delivery to SMWD and other water users throughout Southern California. The court also upheld the County’s approval of a Groundwater Monitoring Mitigation and Management Plan and Memorandum of Understanding relating to the groundwater pumping portion of the Project.
Orange County Judge Dismisses Six Remaining Suits Against Cadiz H20 Project
San Bernardino Sentinel
Six lawsuits that challenged the Cadiz Water Project were dismissed in a single order by Orange County Superior Court Judge Gail Andler on May 1. Los Angeles-based Cadiz, Inc. is undertaking what is officially known as the Cadiz Valley Water Conservation, Recovery and Storage Project, a plan to siphon billions of gallons of water from the East Mojave Desert for use elsewhere.
Judge rejects environmental challenges to Mojave groundwater project
Los Angeles Times, Bettina Boxall
In a one-page ruling, an Orange County Superior Court judge last week swept aside environmental challenges to Cadiz Inc.’s plans to pump groundwater from beneath the Mojave Desert and sell it to Southern California suburbs. The May 1 decision by Judge Gail Andler cleared one set of obstacles to the controversial project. “We’re grateful for that result,” Cadiz Chief Executive Scott Slater said. “We’re going to keep our head down and keep going about things the right way.”