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Would The Cadiz Project Benefit From Water Bond?

This week, the California Legislature passed, and Gov. Jerry Brown signed, a $7.5 billion water bond that will appear as Proposition 1 on November’s ballot. Water4SoCal.com applauds this good news and encourages all voters concerned about the future of the state to make its passage a priority.

If passed, the bond would allocate funds toward various types of programs that would help to better prepare the state for droughts. There’s $2.5 billion for new storage projects, including “underground storage” (groundwater banking), like what is planned for Phase 2 of the Cadiz water project. There’s also $810 million for regional water reliability projects and $900 million for groundwater sustainability projects.

Could any of these funds be used to build or operate the Cadiz water project?

Before answering that question, it’s important to point out two things. First, the bond names no specific projects; instead, the money will be allocated through competitive grants, which should result in money being directed to the most worthy projects. Second, quoting Cadiz CEO Scott Slater, “The approval and implementation of the Cadiz Project is not dependent upon public grants, loans or tax dollars in any way.”  Instead, the project is designed as a public-private partnership, with the private sector footing the bill and taking the risk.

However, if the bond passes, public agencies participating in the Cadiz project could apply for funds through one of the grant programs, and could use the grant funds to reduce their costs of participating in the Cadiz project.

For California to become more resilient in the face of drought will require a bandolier of silver bullets, not a silver bullet. If passed, Proposition 1 would be one of the higher caliber bullets in the bandolier.

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