Cadiz Reaches Water Pipeline Agreement with California Railroad Co.

Cadiz, Inc., Los Angeles, has struck a 99-year lease agreement with the Arizona & California Railroad Co. that will allow Cadiz to use a portion of the railroad’s right-of-way for a water conveyance pipeline.

The pipeline would connect the Cadiz Valley Dry-Year Supply Project, a water storage and supply facility in California’s eastern San Bernardino County, to the Colorado River Aqueduct.

The purpose of the project is to allow storage of Colorado River water in the aquifers underlying the Cadiz facility for later use in southern California at times of drought or other water emergencies.

In announcing the deal with the Arizona & California Railroad Co., Cadiz noted that this past August, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California had announced that the region’s current water shortage may force the agency to implement mandatory water rationing in 2009.

Source: Environmental Business Journal