WATER POLITICS

For many sovereign tribal nations who call the desert home, water insecurity is a reality that shapes everyday life. For too long, the needs of tribal communities across the country have been overlooked in critical decisions regarding vital water resources, leaving many with unreliable water access. Tribes in the Pacific Southwest are now in a position to change that. 

For the first time in history, Indian tribes have a seat at the table, and together with Cadiz, Inc., are creating what will be the first major water infrastructure project to be majority owned by tribes for the benefit of tribes, farmworker and other historically underserved communities. 

The Mojave Groundwater Bank will utilize a large aquifer with 30-50 million acre-feet of water in storage, located at Cadiz in California’s Mojave Desert, to provide reliable and affordable water to communities that currently lack clean, secure water supplies. The aquifer is naturally recharged by 1,000 years of rain and snowmelt from surrounding high desert mountains. Water currently lost to evaporation will be captured, stored and redistributed to surrounding communities for generations to come. 

One of the unique features of the Mojave Groundwater Bank is its year-round monitoring of sensitive desert ecosystems, including springs and cultural resources that are sacred to tribal communities.

The Mojave Groundwater Bank’s design includes advanced monitoring systems to ensure that healthy groundwater levels are maintained, and any adverse impacts can be avoided before they occur. Tribes interested in assessing the project’s impacts have full and free access to all monitoring data.

Cadiz’s partnership approach to developing this groundwater bank puts tribal communities at the forefront of water delivery in the region, ensuring that decisions about the region’s water supply will be guided by those with deep connections to the land. Indeed, the reason I joined the effort to develop this important project is because Cadiz has chosen to partner with tribes, including the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians and the Lytton Rancheria of California, which recently announced a proposed investment of up to $50 million in the project.  

This is a historic opportunity, not only for tribes to secure and protect their water rights and advance tribal sovereignty, but for all communities in the desert that depend on thoughtful, inclusive water management for survival. 

Tribal leadership in this project will blend knowledge with innovation, history with foresight, technology with tradition, including repurposing fossil fuel infrastructure designed for oil and gas to instead deliver water. Cadiz made the historic announcement last month that the project will repurpose steel from the Keystone XL pipeline project to convey water in the desert.

Former Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, captured the importance of celebrating victories and rewarding courage in the era of climate change: “It’s inspiring to see that sometimes hope and history align. The steel from the Keystone pipeline has found a new purpose—now transporting what gives life to everything: water. I commend the Cadiz leadership for their vision of creating a better future for our children.”

Water is life. By managing this project responsibly, tribes will take their place as stewards of their ancestral lands and ensure that the benefits of this great Mojave aquifer flow to all who call this region home.