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Cadiz study shows enough desert water to supply 400,000 people

Posted by: Maven on February 8, 2010 at 8:18 am

From Business Week:

“Cadiz Inc., the owner of thousands of acres of California desert, said a study shows there’s more water under its land than the company previously estimated, giving it enough to supply 400,000 people.

A study conducted by engineering company CH2M Hill shows the aquifer under the Mojave Desert land ranges in size from 17 million to 34 million acre-feet, potentially larger than the Lake Mead reservoir near Las Vegas, according to Cadiz. The data will be presented today at a water-resources conference in Ontario, California.

“It’s as close to a lake as you’re going to find in sub- surface geology,” Scott Slater, general counsel for Los Angeles-based Cadiz, said in an interview. “I don’t think there’s new water like this anywhere.” … “

Read more from Business Week by clicking here.

From MarketWatch, this press release from Cadiz:

“Today the internationally respected environmental firm CH2M Hill will unveil the findings of a comprehensive year-long study measuring the vast scale and recharge rate of the Cadiz aquifer system. The study, to be presented at a conference of the Association of Ground Water Agencies and American Ground Water Trust, describes a groundwater basin consisting principally of an alluvial and carbonate aquifer ranging in size between 17 and 34 million acre-feet, a volume of water larger than Lake Mead, the nation’s largest surface reservoir.

The findings also confirm the presence of highly permeable limestone carbonate rock lying beneath the alluvium, which contributes significantly to the productivity of the aquifer system.

CH2M Hill’s findings have been peer-reviewed by leading hydrology experts and the results corroborated by extensive field research and pump testing involving the excavation of four borings and test wells to depths of between 1,000 and 1,947 feet beneath the earth’s surface. Based on this study of natural recharge in the aquifer system, Cadiz Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!cdzi/quotes/nls/cdzi (CDZI 11.99, +0.51, +4.44%) will develop a groundwater management plan providing for the safe long-term annual withdrawal of 50,000 acre-feet of water each year, an amount that can sustainably supply the total water needs of 400,000 Southern California residents. … “

Plenty more on the study in this press release from Cadiz posted at MarketWatch by clicking here.

February 8, 2010 · Filed Under Groundwater, Southern California

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One Response to “Cadiz study shows enough desert water to supply 400,000 people”

  1. The more Cadiz changes ... | Chance of Rain on February 8th, 2010 12:20 pm

    [...] *via Aquafornia Category: CadizTags: Cadiz Groundwater Storage FEIR / FEIS > chance of rain > Emily Green [...]

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