LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESS Newswire / June 18, 2025 / In a historic step toward solving the American Southwest's water crisis, Cadiz, Inc. is advancing development of the Mojave Groundwater Bank, a first-of-its-kind infrastructure project that combines environmental innovation, tribal partnership, and water equity to address the region's growing demand for clean, sustainable water.
Announced in October 2024, the project will construct, own, and operate a water storage and delivery system capable of moving and banking up to 2.5 million acre-feet of water-enough to supply millions of people over the coming decades. The Mojave Groundwater Bank is located at the base of a 2,000-square-mile watershed in California's Mojave Desert, where a naturally replenished aquifer holds an estimated 30-50 million acre-feet of groundwater-more than what's currently stored in both Lake Mead and Lake Powell combined.
"This isn't just a water project-it's a blueprint for climate adaptation and social equity," said Susan Kennedy, CEO of Cadiz. "For too long, infrastructure investments have bypassed the communities most vulnerable to water insecurity. We're changing that-using smart technology, unused pipelines, and deep partnerships with Tribal Nations to build a system that works for everyone."
The Mojave Groundwater Bank is the largest water infrastructure project in the Southwest in decades and the first large-scale project of its kind led in partnership with Tribal Nations off tribal lands. The Lytton Rancheria Tribe of Northern California was the first to commit investment, pledging up to $50 million toward the project. Additional Tribal Nation collaborations are in progress, creating a unique ownership model that helps ensure long-term access and equity for historically excluded communities.
A critical component of the project is its use of 180 miles of repurposed steel pipeline from the decommissioned Keystone XL oil project-an innovative move that reduces cost, timeline, and environmental disruption. Instead of building new infrastructure, Cadiz is cleaning and reinforcing existing fossil fuel pipelines to transport water from the Mojave Desert to communities across California's Inland Empire and Arizona.
"Water scarcity isn't just about supply-it's about broken infrastructure," Kennedy said. "The same regions that lack access to safe, affordable water are the ones that were pushed out of the system generations ago. This project is about righting that historic wrong while future-proofing our water grid."
In total, the Mojave Groundwater Bank will create 350 miles of pipeline connectivity, 2.5 million acre-feet of supply and storage capacity, and deliver water to some of the most climate-impacted areas in the Southwest. It is also permitted to store up to 1 million acre-feet of imported supplies, providing critical relief for the overstressed Colorado River and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta systems.
The aquifer beneath Cadiz Ranch replenishes from rainfall in the High Desert and has the capacity to sustainably deliver 50,000 acre-feet of water per year for at least 50 years-enough to serve more than 400,000 people annually. With extreme climate events like atmospheric rivers, floods, and wildfires becoming the new normal, projects like this are essential to ensuring water security for generations to come.
About Cadiz
Cadiz is a water solutions innovator based in Los Angeles, committed to delivering safe, reliable, and affordable water to underserved communities across California and the American Southwest. Through a unique combination of supply, storage, pipeline, and treatment assets-and in partnership with public agencies and Tribal Nations-Cadiz is building a resilient, equitable future for water infrastructure in the United States.
Media Contact:
Cadiz, Inc.
Courtney Degener
cdegener@cadizinc.com
213-271-1603
SOURCE: Cadiz, Inc.
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:
https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/business-and-professional-services/cadiz-moves-forward-with-nations-largest-tribal-led-water-projec-1040831
