SANTA ROSA, CA – The Lytton Rancheria of California and Cadiz have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) for Lytton to invest up to $50 million in the company’s groundwater banking project in the Mojave Desert. Lytton’s investment would be the first major investment by a Native American tribe in large-scale water infrastructure off tribal lands in U.S. history. With 2.5 million acre-feet of new water supply and an estimated 30 million acre-feet of water in storage today, the Mojave Groundwater Bank will be the largest new groundwater bank in the Southwest.
The partnership between Lytton and Cadiz signifies a landmark collaboration in water resource management, with tribes holding a majority ownership stake in the Mojave Groundwater Bank.
“As a tribal government, we take our responsibility to be good stewards of the land and the environment seriously,” said Lytton Tribal Chairperson Andy Mejia. “Working with other tribal governments, Cadiz and other responsible environmental investors to develop a sustainable, responsibly managed water source in these shifting times is something we want to be involved in. With tribal involvement in the direction and operation of this project, we can ensure that all people have a chance to benefit from this critical water resource.”
The Mojave Groundwater Bank is expected to include more than 300 miles of pipelines that intersect California’s water transportation network to provide new clean water supply and storage resources to underserved, disadvantaged and tribal communities in the Mojave River Basin, the Colorado River Basin and California’s Inland Empire that presently lack access to clean, reliable water.
The project is expected to begin in 2025 with initial water delivery targeted for as early as 2026.
