Tribes challenge Cadiz groundwater project approval
The case targets a water pipeline plan that could draw 50,000 acre-feet yearly from an aquifer system
Fort Mojave and Chemehuevi Indian Tribes filed suit July 28 against the Bureau of Land Management’s approval for Cadiz Inc.’s plan to pump groundwater from under the Mojave National Monument, according to reporting from ICT. The filing returned the plan to court.
BLM’s July 8 approval lets Cadiz convert a natural gas pipeline to transport water from an aquifer system within the monument. The project seeks to extract more than 50,000 acre-feet yearly for 50 years, or 2.5 million acre-feet, according to Cadiz.
The suit says BLM violated multiple laws and regulations by granting the right-of-way for the Northern Pipeline, threatening ecological, cultural, sacred and historic resources on federal public lands. Chemehuevi Chairman Daniel Leivas told ICT depletion would affect wildlife in the area and the tribe’s way of life.
- 1.Tribes sue Interior department over controversial groundwater pumping project. ICT, .
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