Design and engineering firm Stantec will oversee development and construction of the $800 million Mojave Groundwater Bank project in California’s Mojave Desert, water company Cadiz announced at the end of February. The project, which will pull water from an ancient aquifer beneath the Mojave Desert, will supply California and Arizona.
When complete, the groundwater bank will be the largest new water infrastructure project in the Southwest, according to Los Angeles-based Cadiz. It will provide 2.5 million acre-feet of new water supply, 1 million acre-feet of underground storage capacity and a pipeline network spanning more than 350 miles between the Colorado River and California aqueducts.
Stantec, headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, will serve as the owner’s engineer, per the release. The firm will also assist in the selection of the contractor under a construction manager at risk delivery model and lead the engineering, procurement and construction management process.
Stantec has decades of experience working with utilities throughout California and the West, said John Hanula, senior vice president at Stantec, in the release.
“Water supply variability resulting from climate change threatens long-term water security throughout the Western U.S., and the water delivery system must be updated and expanded to safely and reliably meet the needs of our communities,” said Hanula.
Cadiz is partnering with the Lytton Rancheria tribe of California, according to Indian Gaming, to construct, own and operate the groundwater bank. It represents the first large-scale water infrastructure project off tribal lands in U.S. history, according to the firm.
Per Indian Gaming, the Lytton Rancheria will invest $50 million in the project, which is located at the base of a 2,000-square-mile watershed system roughly 40 miles north of the Colorado River Aqueduct and 220 miles east of California State Water Project facilities, which supply water to 27 million Californians as well as farmland.
At the beginning of March, the project also secured a $175 million pledge from a lead investor, an unnamed publicly traded company focused on investing in water infrastructure projects, Water Finance & Management reported.
The project has long attracted fierce opposition, however: Conservation groups say pulling water from the aquifer would threaten natural springs and wildlife in the heart of the Mojave Desert, the Palm Desert, California-based Desert Sun reported. Numerous California officials have fought the project, including the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Nonetheless, work is expected to begin in 2025, with initial water delivery targeted for as early as 2026, Indian Gaming reported.
