VET VOICE FOUNDATION STRONGLY OPPOSES THE CADIZ WATER MINING PROJECT
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Vet Voice Foundation is vigorously opposing the Cadiz Water Mining Project, on the heels of the new peer-reviewed, published study which demonstrates that one of the largest springs in the Mojave Desert—Bonanza Spring—is proven to be connected to the aquifer that Cadiz would mine water from in order to sell to Coastal communities in Southern California.
The new study, published in Environmental Forensics, shows that Cadiz used a hydrology model that produced flawed analysis and a flawed monitoring, management, and mitigation plan. Cadiz’s hydrology models assumed that Bonanza Spring water comes from local precipitation above the spring. That hypothesis is now proven wrong, based on definitive chemical signatures of Bonanza Spring water that the new study presents in detail.
Major General, U.S. Army (Ret) and Managing Director for the Vet Voice Foundation Paul Eaton said, “Our opposition to the Cadiz project is based on our intent to protect our public lands as well as a lack of credible science from Cadiz to demonstrate that this project can move forward without causing significant harm to the environment, communities, and recreational opportunities cherished by veterans.”
“In particular, impacts to Bonanza Spring, the largest spring system in Mojave Trails National Monument, would be harmful to the human history, wildlife, plant-life, connectivity, and ecology of our desert public lands,” he added.
The Trump Administration recently reversed key environmental policies governing the Cadiz Water Mining Project, including the requirement that the project undergo federal NEPA review. That requirement was important to ensure that the project would disclose its full impacts to the environment. The new study shows that the public has been misled by Cadiz’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and science.
Vet Voice Foundation opposes the Cadiz Water Mining Project and seeks to have full reckoning of the impacts this project would cause to our environment, our communities, and our national monuments.
Read the “Understanding the source of water for selected springs within Mojave Trails National Monument, California” report here.
Vet Voice Foundation mobilizes veterans to become leaders in our nation’s democracy through participation in the civic process. VVF offers veterans the opportunity to continue serving their communities by finding a new mission in domestic and foreign policy campaigns that are important to America. Vet Voice Foundation is a non-profit, non-partisan organization, organized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, for charitable and educational purposes.
