Water officials reach accord on Mojave Desert wells

Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2000 | 10:49 a.m.

Officials with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and Cadiz Inc. told the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that a monitoring program will be put in place to appease two federal agencies that have criticized the plan.

Concerns that the plan could create dust pollution and exhaust the natural supplies of underground water were expressed by some officials at the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service.

The agencies have agreed to a system of electronic sensors and other monitoring devices should be able to detect potential problems.

The federal Bureau of Land Management will make the final decision on whether the program can proceed.

Final approval come could early next year unless it is delayed by litigation. Several environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, are reviewing the project.

The MWD has said the plan is crucial to meeting the region's water needs.

Planning for the project was stopped six months ago when a scientific agreement erupted over how fast the aquifer would be replenished by rainwater, which is known as recharging.

Hydrologists for the MWD and Cadiz reached an impasse with the National Park Service and the U.S. Geological Survey on the issue. The parties instead focused on designing a monitoring system that would stop pumping if it was determined that the ground water was being depleted.

"We feel the monitoring program is a very valid plan," said Eric Richard, a program chief and hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.

The plan calls for wells to be dug on 27,000 acres of desert land owned by Santa Monica-based Cadiz. Surplus water from the Colorado River would be stored in the aquifer during wet years and water would be drawn from stored and natural ground water in dry years.

Cadiz would sell the natural ground water and stored water as part of a 50-year contract that could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Some federal officials worry that giant dust bowls could be created by two dry lakes if the ground water suddenly dropped.