NO TO THE CADIZ CORPORATION'S PROPOSED EAST MOJAVE GROUND WATER PRIVATIZATION AND TRANSFER PROJECT

By Ruth Musser-Lopez

On August 28, 2014 Ruth Musser-Lopez responded to a Washington D.C. foreign correspondent from France regarding the sustainability of the Cadiz Corporation's proposed water transfer and privatization project that would pipe East Mojave desert ground water to Orange County gated communities. Here are Ruth's answers:

If the Cadiz Corporation is saying that it has a "strong environmental commitment," the Cadiz Corporation has a twisted idea of what that is...just as their twisted visual representation to the public that there are glacier formations in the east Mojave Desert above the aquifer and their twisted idea that they have a right to drain the underground water. Further, not only twisted, but also hugely tormented, is their idea that the underground water in the desert is just sitting there "evaporating" justifying their pump and take to man-made above ground lakes and swimming pools in rich people's gated communities on the coast--never mentioning the extreme evaporation rate of above ground water in those coastal desert locations.

Once again, how does a "corporation" have a commitment to environment? Corporations are all about the bottom line--the money. Do corporations drink water? Do corporations take showers? Do corporations have children? As to sustainability, what stops this corporation from taking all of the water during the first couple years and then dissolving as the rare East Mojave specimen turns into a sandy Sahara? The liability is upon the people; the damage is upon the people...and the universe.

The United States and the State of California in particular must begin to wake up to the realization that water is a treasure and must be treated as such...that water must be protected for the people and all LIVING creatures and plants, and not privatized by corporations that do not understand the value of heritage and the next generation--but instead are very willing to deliver to those who can pay the highest price. Who is going to speak up for the animals relying upon springs in the desert and the plants whose roots are bedded in the aquifer...this corporation doesn't.

DO YOU FEAR SUCH PROJECTS COULD BE DUPLICATED IN OTHER PLACES?

This proposed Cadiz project is a precedent setting situation that could potentially be duplicated in other places where the people are politically and economically disenfranchised like in the East Mojave.

So far massive water transfers have involved surface water (Colorado River, the Delta, Owens Valley) as opposed to what is being proposed in the East Mojave, which is to privatize and take ground water.

California law allows for ground water use above the aquifer but the legality of exporting groundwater, water mining for export, is being tested here. Legal challenges have been made to the environmental review process, challenging the fact that the same Orange County water company that will buy the water was in charge of the environmental review--but an Orange County judge allowed that despite huge public protest.

The challenge with regard to the legality of taking and using water outside of the periphery of the aquifer would be a very expensive legal battle and could result in precedent setting case law made by a judge put in office by powerful corporations, not the people.

MY LAST QUESTION IS MORE GENERAL: I FEEL THAT THERE IS A LOT OF PROJECTS LIKE CADIZ TO PROVIDE MORE WATER, WHATEVER IT COSTS, BUT THAT THE DEBATE AROUND "HOW CAN WE USE LESS WATER" IS WEAK. DO YOU HAVE THE SAME FEELING?

Yes, the Cadiz water heist is symptomatic of a larger problem of weak water conservation laws and lack of incentives for conservation. Coastal communities need funding for doing more about rain water runoff collection rather than allowing good water to just drain into the ocean. Farmers need assistance in implementing new water conservation technology. The "Halliburton Loopholes" allowing wasteful water toxification via oil fracking must be closed off. We need to stop allowing corporations like PG&E at Hinkley from being able to monitor itself and what it has done to destroy billions of gallons of water plus an entire community...we need real enforcement and expedited clean up of toxic plumes in our water. If a person did what PG&E did they would be in prison, on death row. Not here. They continue on being in charge.

SB1168 addresses some water conservation issues. It passed and was signed into law by the Governor before the recess. As I understand it, the bill (Pavley-D) could limit annual pumping of groundwater to the amount of annual recharge. This bill would provide specific authority to a groundwater sustainability agency, including, but not limited to, the ability to require registration of a groundwater extraction facility, to require that a groundwater extraction facility be measured with a water-measuring device, and to regulate groundwater extraction. The conservation measures in this bill could potentially help defend the East Mojave against the Cadiz Corporation.

SB1168 is the regulatory authority for some of the proposed actions that are included in Measure 1, unanimously supported by the Legislature except for two votes. We elected the Governor so he is our elected official--the Governor's Administrative appointees at the State Water Commission are the right officials for the job since water exchanges are between counties and must be regulated on a higher governmental level. A local county official cannot regulate another county's water. Water exchanges between Stanislaus, Kern and Tulare are what saved the Central Valley farms this summer and regulation by our elected officials on the State level is the logical and legal way to proceed.