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11 “Friends” File Briefs In Support Of Cadiz Water Project

How broad and wide is support for the Cadiz Water Project? Just look at the 11 diverse organizations that just filed amicus (Friend of the Court) briefs in support of Cadiz with the California Court of Appeals:

  • From the water community: American Groundwater Trust, the Association of California Water Agencies and the California Association of Sanitation Agencies.
  • From Government: California State Association of Counties.
  • From Business: Building Industry Legal Defense Fund, Building Industry Association of the  Bay Area, California Building Industry Association, California Business Property Association, California Chamber of Commerce.
  • From Labor: Southern California District Council of Laborers.
  • And from the NGO community: Property & Environment Research Center and the  Groundwater Trust, mentioned above.

All litigation against the project was dismissed last December after being heard in Orange County Superior Court.

Appeals filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, a litigious environmental group, and Tetra Technologies Inc., a Texas-based oil and gas conglomerate that strip mines dry lakes near the Cadiz property, “have sought to needlessly defer the project’s many benefits for the Southern California region,” said Scott S. Slater, Cadiz CEO and President. Those benefits include a drought-proof supply of 50,000 acre-feet of water a year delivered sustainably and with no significant environmental impact, and jobs and economic stimulation valued at almost $1 billion.

Here are some quotes from the Cadiz news release on the filing:

“In a time of unprecedented drought and with the herculean efforts that will be required to solve our state’s water challenges, supporting a project that will carefully protect the resource and generate water by curtailing evaporation was the right thing to do as a friend of the Court.” – James Markman, water law expert and pro bono amici counsel for the AGWT and PERC briefs.

“[T]he Project provides resource protection and makes available for beneficial use an enormous amount of water now being uselessly evaporated in desert dry lakes,” – PERC and AGWT joint amici brief.

“[M]ulti-jurisdictional projects are crucial to California’s future, and clear and proper application of CEQA [The California Environmental Quality Act] is critical to their expeditious development. Accordingly, the legally incorrect assertions advanced by Appellants … should be soundly rejected.” – ACWA amicus brief

“CEQA has been described as the guerrilla war of attrition, where project opponents try to wear down project applicants…[T]he rules appellants have urged this Court to adopt would have adverse implications across this state and …are at odds with the plain text of CEQA.” – Cal Chamber and Laborers joint amici brief

All of the amici briefs are available on line, at these links:

 

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