May 26, 2019
The California desert is a strange place and to really understand it and love it, you have to get close to it.
I learned that lesson many, many years ago on my first desert camping trip while participating in a wilderness basics class conducted by Sierra Club’s San Diego Chapter.
Those were the days. My knees didn’t swell and my back didn’t ache even after miles of hiking.
And everything around me looked so new and different. Who knew that there were cactus whose needles seemed to almost jump out and grab a naked leg that got too close? Who knew that there were gorgeous flowers in a parched landscape? Who knew that there really were such things as oases where water percolates up from hidden, underground water systems?
Since then, I’ve been to the desert many times. The colors, the light, the way different plants and animals have adapted—it’s all stunning.
Photo by Bob Wick, Bureau of Land Management
If everyone had the same sort of eye-opening experience with the desert that I had on my first visit, I have no doubt that big corporations that want to exploit the desert’s limited water resources would have a much harder time persuading policymakers to buy into their misguided proposals.
One of those companies is Cadiz, Inc., which has been tangling with the legislature this year. It has a project that would effectively overdraft desert aquifers—those underground water systems that feed the plants and animals and springs and oases that create the desert’s rich and varied ecosystems.
Cadiz, Inc. was founded decades ago by Keith Brackpool, who an L.A. Times columnist once described as an “investment promoter” who “came to the U.S. after pleading guilty to criminal charges relating to securities trading in Britain.” His idea with Cadiz was to purchase about 27,000 acres and then suck all the water out from the aquifers on that property and sell it to the highest bidder. It was a big bucks deal that would leave behind a withered desert.
For awhile, it seemed that the project was destined to go forward because of Brackpool’s overt political networking and financial generosity to elected officials. But then the Obama Administration, with some nudging from U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, who is a desert fan, demanded environmental review. Environmental review would reveal that the project’s impacts will be nothing short of devastating to the environment. The project suddenly was put on hold.
Fast forward to post-2016, or what has now become the Era of Embarrassment in America. The current president has taken actions designed to roll back environmental review requirements and allow Brackpool’s Cadiz, Inc., to move forward with its costly overdrafting scheme.
Last year, Senator Richard Roth introduced a bill that would have given the state lands commission the ability to prevent the project from going forward if it is found that it would cause substantial environmental impacts. The bill, because it was a so-called gut-and-amend bill that was created in the second house, flew through the assembly and then got stopped in the senate before it got to the floor.
The bill’s progress last year was hindered at least in part by complicated politics unrelated to the content of the bill. (Those politics would require a short book to describe, so suffice it to say, they existed.)
This year, Senator Roth introduced essentially the same bill with a new number in his own house. And this year, despite a small army of contract lobbyists funded to defeat it, the bill, Senate Bill 307, squeaked through on its first senate floor vote.
Now the bill goes to the assembly. If all goes well, SB 307 will be voted on the assembly floor before this legislative year ends in mid September.
You’ll be hearing more from us as the bill progresses.
In the meantime, here’s one thing you can do to help.
If your state senator voted for SB307, send a thank-you letter or email. There was a lot of pressure on senators to side with Cadiz, Inc., and those who supported the bill deserve a pat on the back for good behavior. You can see the floor vote count here.
One of the best ways to help build support for the environment is to acknowledge good environmental behavior.
If your state senator voted against the bill or abstained, a polite note asking why is a good way of reminding your senator that constituents are watching what happens in Sacramento.
The desert needs more appreciation. SB 307 is a love letter to the desert. Let’s make sure it becomes law.
Sincerely,
Kathryn Phillips
Director
Sierra Club California is the Sacramento-based legislative and regulatory advocacy arm of the 13 California chapters of the Sierra Club.
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