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Cadiz Water Free of Groundwater’s Primary Challenges

An article by Molly Peterson, the environment reporter for public radio station KPCC, list three problems that stand in the way of California’s use of groundwater to meet the challenges of drought. She writes:

As the drought grinds on, water managers in Southern California are trying to make the region less dependent on water piped in from elsewhere: They’re focusing on local sources, especially those underground. But ongoing challenges make exploiting groundwater more difficult than just digging a well.

She then lists these three groundwater challenges: intrusion of saltwater into underground aquifer, pollution from industrial sources and underground gasoline tanks, and tapping aquifers that don’t naturally replenish themselves.

Cadiz is hundreds of miles from the ocean, where saltwater intrusion is a problem. The Fenner Valley Aquifer will be carefully managed by Cadiz and the Fenner Mutual Water Company to keep saline water that is “downstream” from the fresh water aquifer where it is: downstream.

No industrial pollutants have been found in the Fenner Valley watershed. Constant water quality monitoring will ensure Cadiz water meets all water quality standards.

Finally, detailed and peer-reviewed hydrological analysis using the U.S. Geological Survey’s model for desert aquifers shows that the aquifer does have a significant recharge rate. With this knowledge, the aquifer can be managed sustainably.

Click here for the KPCC article.

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