OPINION: California Governor Signs Bill To Protect The Mojave Desert

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill (SB 307) that prevents proposals to export desert water without state review. The bill goes into effect on January 1, 2020.

The bill protects federal and state lands, including Mojave National Preserve and Mojave Trails National Monument. It effectively stops the Cadiz Water Project which would extract water from an underground aquifer in the Mojave Desert and export it. Developed by Cadiz Inc., the project proposes to pump 16 billion gallons of water a year from the Mojave Desert aquifer.