PUBLIC CITIZEN ACTION ALERT

DATE: Tuesday, October 8th
TIME: 9:30 AM
WHERE: Metropolitan Water District
700 N Alameda, at Union Station Plaza, Los Angeles

We need *** YOU *** to BE THERE!!!

People are needed to show up for this Metropolitan Water District board meeting to let them know that there is widespread skepticism and opposition to the Cadiz water privatization proposal, and to call upon them to "STOP CADIZ WITHOUT DELAY!"

Given the revelations in the Los Angeles Times and other major newspapers about the severe financial and political problems of Cadiz, Inc., and its ill-fated project, the MWD Board is rumored to be leaning toward delaying the project, but this could come right back at a later date when public vigilance is gone. On Tuesday, they're going to consider whether or not to accept the Bush Administration's offer of a right-of-way for the Cadiz water privatization project. Tell them to "STOP CADIZ WITHOUT DELAY!"

Attending the meeting is the single most important act you can take now to stop this attack on your right to have clean and affordable water.

Here's what else you can do to help "STOP CADIZ WITHOUT DELAY":

*Let us know you'll be coming to "STOP CADIZ WITHOUT DELAY!!!"
Reply to Faramarz Nabavi, Stop Cadiz Coalition, at faramarz@riseup.net
Transit: Bus, Metro Red Line, Metrolink, http://www.mta.net
Car: Take 101 Fwy toward downtown, exit Alameda, turn north, turn right into Union Station entrance, MWD is on the right. Parking for MWD board meetings is free with validation at the security desk.

*If you can't come, call Phil Pace, MWD Board Chair, (213) 217-6295, and tell him to "STOP CADIZ WITHOUT DELAY!"

*Send a fax through the Internet. It's fast and easy. Do it now, before you forget! Go to http://www.citizen.org/fax/background.cfm?ID=45&source=9 and follow the simple instructions.

*Forward this email to activists across Southern California.


STOP CORPORATE WELFARE SCAM TO PRIVATIZE OUR WATER,
HARM THE DESERT ENVIRONMENT, and RAISE YOUR WATER RATES.


BACKGROUND

Your Metropolitan Water District is considering allowing Cadiz, Inc., a company with no water supply experience teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, to sell the public our water from an aquifer located near the ecologically fragile Mojave National Preserve, a pristine desert environment established by the 1994 California Desert Protection Act. The Cadiz proposal, which provides a $120 million subsidy from taxpayers, calls for a 35-mile pipeline to transport Colorado River water to the Cadiz aquifer for storage. In addition, the native groundwater, mostly under Federal land, would be sold back to Southern Californians by Cadiz for profit -- the first time a major public water provider would purchase large amounts of native groundwater from a private company. While Cadiz touts the project as a way to ensure an adequate water supply for dry years, economic, environmental, and consumer experts all agree that the Cadiz project does little to secure us during droughts, but would set a dangerous precedent that imperils the environment, endangered desert species, public health, and future supplies of clean and affordable water.

The Cadiz project would open the door to creating a water 'spot market' similar to the disastrous electricity deregulation scheme where private, out-of-state, even foriegn-owned companies could hold our water supply hostage!

If approved, Cadiz would:

1. Privatize a vital natural resource that we all have a right to use at affordable rates!!
2. Damage the desert environment and threaten the habitats of threatened and endangered species, including the desert tortoise and the desert bighorn sheep.
3. Create a possible public health hazard in terms of air pollution (dust storms).
4. Raise your water rates like the electricity scam last year.
5. Cost the Metropolitan Water District more per acre-foot of water than any other potential alternative, including conservation, purchase of agricultural water rights, desalination, even other groundwater storage locations, because Cadiz is located so far away from the river and the aquedect.
6. Thwart democratic control of our water supply and hand a portion over to a severely financially troubled corporation that experts believe is on the verge of selling out to a multinational corporation soon after the deal goes through.

For more information:
http://www.citizen.org/california/water/cadiz/
http://axelsabyss.com/


Stop Cadiz Coalition - Faramarz Nabavi: faramarz@riseup.net

*STOP CADIZ COALITION* of public interest and environmental groups:
The Wilderness Society
Western Environmental Law Center
Southern California Federation of Scientists
Southern California Watershed Alliance
Sierra Club
Public Citizen
National Parks Conservation Association
GRACE Public Fund
Desert Survivors
Desert Protective Council
Defenders of Wildlife
Center for Biological Diversity
CalPIRG
California Wilderness Coalition
Alliance for Democracy