Today, Cadiz Inc. (NASDAQ:CDZI) (“Cadiz”, the “Company”) released a
new scientific study confirming that natural springs in the eastern
Mojave Desert will not be adversely impacted by the Cadiz Valley
Water Conservation, Recovery and Storage Project (Cadiz Water
Project).
The study of Bonanza Spring was co-authored by California
Professional Geologist Miles Kenney, Ph.D. and California Certified
Hydrogeologist Terry Foreman after extensive field work, site
observation, and geologic mapping, as well as a
peer review conducted by other hydrology, geology, and hydrogeology
experts. Bonanza Spring is the closest perennial natural spring to
the Cadiz Water Project at 11 miles away and is separated by 1,000
feet of elevation.
“While the extensive body of work to date has already assured
that the Project will not harm any desert resources, we
commissioned Miles’ peer-reviewed geologic investigation to address
lingering questions as to whether the Project could impact Bonanza
Spring under any circumstance. That question has now been answered
definitively no,” said Cadiz CEO Scott Slater.
The new study confirms that Project operations cannot affect the
spring, or plants and animals that may rely on it. This conclusion
is reached based on important geologic findings by Dr. Kenney,
principally the identification of two convergent fault zones that
are blocking, or “damming,” upstream groundwater flowing in
fractured bedrock above the spring. These faults intersect
exactly at the Bonanza Spring, and groundwater is surfacing from
the fractured rocks and spilling over the faults to form
it.
This fractured rock is at a limited depth and does not extend to
the downstream aquifer in the Fenner Gap, known as the “alluvial
aquifer,” where the Water Project will operate. The faulting and
limited depth of the fractured rocks and the extensive exposure of
these permeable rocks upslope of Bonanza Spring have created a
catchment area that provides a long-term source of water to the
spring from above that is independent of, and not influenced by,
conditions in the alluvial aquifer at the Cadiz area miles below.
These observed physical data points provide incontrovertible
evidence that the spring will not be affected by project
operations.
“Dr. Kenney is the geologist most familiar with this watershed,
and this report well documents his conclusion – and that of those
who peer reviewed the report – that faulting and the geologic
nature of the fractured rock creates physical barriers that prevent
the Project from ever impacting Bonanza Spring,” continued
Slater.
Dr. Kenney is a certified professional geologist with a
doctorate in geology and a specialty in faulting from the
University of Oregon. He has more than 20 years of experience
working in the Mojave Desert studying rock formations and has
previously conducted an extensive geologic study of the region of
the nearby Marble and Ship Mountains less than six years ago. The
recent work Dr. Kenney conducted in the Clipper Mountains was a
continuation of that study.
Dr. Kenney’s geologic evaluation is the first site-specific
assessment of Bonanza Spring and provides important new information
for future study. He spent six days performing field mapping
consisting of observations of lithologic units, fracturing,
faulting and other structures, and spent an additional two to three
weeks mapping via historical imagery in Google Earth in order to
map the entire western Clipper Mountains. Dr. Kenney also worked
with Mr. Foreman to conduct a detailed review of available
scientific literature.
“The most compelling finding is that we identified two
relatively robust fault zones that show evidence of being
impermeable to groundwater and that intersect essentially exactly
at Bonanza Spring,” Dr. Kenney said. “Fault zones are well known to
be groundwater barriers, and we found that to be the case
here.”
Foreman, who has conducted groundwater basin analyses in
California for more than 40 years, co-authored the study with Dr.
Kenney. He added: “The geology evidences a distinct separation
between the alluvial aquifer where Cadiz wells will be situated and
the fractured crystalline igneous rocks where the spring occurs.
Therefore,” Foreman continued, “the long-term sustainability of
Bonanza is not related to pumping at Cadiz but rather is dependent
on the precipitation that provides recharge to the spring
catchment. As a result, climate change is a bigger threat to
Bonanza than Cadiz ever would or could possibly be.”
As part of the Bonanza Spring study, 10 experts were invited to
observe physical conditions at the spring in December 2017 and
comment on the assessment.
Dr. John Sharp, a hydrogeology professor at the University of
Texas at Austin, participated in the site visit and peer-reviewed
the final report. He commented: “Dr. Kenney knows more about
the geology of this area than anyone else and he’s the expert.
Having reviewed the mapping and explanation of the geology in the
area, I am convinced that the projected pumping for Cadiz is not
going to have any measurable effect on Bonanza Spring at all.”
The Cadiz Water Project will capture groundwater that is
presently lost to evaporation at the base of a 1,300-square-mile
watershed, creating a new water supply for approximately 400,000
people in Southern California. The Project was reviewed and
approved under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); its
certified Final Environmental Impact Report concluded that project
operations would have no significant impacts on the environment,
including springs in the surrounding mountains.
As part of CEQA, San Bernardino County, the local agency
responsible for regulating the use of groundwater in Cadiz,
approved an extensive Groundwater Management, Monitoring and
Mitigation Plan for the Project that mandates monitoring of Bonanza
and two additional springs farther from the project area. It also
imposed a floor on Cadiz’s groundwater use so that the Project
cannot deplete the aquifer to unsafe levels regardless of the
area’s recharge rate. The environmental reviews and the groundwater
management plan have been upheld in court.
Baseline monitoring of the springs is now underway and final
arrangements are being made to convey water conserved by the
Project to communities across Southern California.
To view a copy of the final study, images from the scientists’
site visit, and related materials, please visit
http://www.cadizwaterproject.com/2018-bonanza-spring-study/
About Cadiz
Founded in 1983, Cadiz Inc. is a publicly-held
renewable resources company that owns 70 square miles of property
with significant water resources in Southern California. The
Company maintains an organic agricultural development in the Cadiz
Valley of eastern San Bernardino County, California and is
partnering with public water agencies to implement the Cadiz Water
Project, which over two phases will create a new water supply for
approximately 400,000 people and make available up to 1 million
acre-feet of new groundwater storage capacity for the region.
Cadiz abides by a wide-ranging “Green Compact” focused on
environmental conservation and sustainable practices to manage its
land, water and agricultural resources. For more information,
please visit www.cadizinc.com.
Contact: Courtney
Degener213.271.1603cdegener@cadizinc.com
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENT: This release contains
forward-looking statements that are subject to significant risks
and uncertainties, including statements related to the future
operating and financial performance of the Company and the
financing activities of the Company. Although the Company
believes that the expectations reflected in our forward-looking
statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such
expectations will prove to be correct. Factors that could
cause actual results or events to differ materially from those
reflected in the Company’s forward-looking statements include the
Company’s ability to maximize value for Cadiz land and water
resources, the Company’s ability to obtain new financing as needed,
the receipt of additional permits for the water project and other
factors and considerations detailed in the Company’s Securities and
Exchange Commission filings.
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