… But protecting areas in national parks, preserves and monuments has not been enough to stop the Los Angeles-based Cadiz Corporation from threatening our traditional territory with its proposal to extract groundwater from a fragile desert aquifer. Our tribe has opposed the Cadiz Project proposal since the early 2000s, knowing it would pump and drain 25 times more groundwater each year than the aquifer can replenish. What would this over-pumping mean for our environment and people? The underground water table would lower, drying up many desert springs fed by the aquifer. These springs are sacred to our Tribe, giving life year-round to plant and animals, including bighorn sheep, mountain lions and bobcats. These springs are part of a connected landscape found in the stories, songs, trails and rituals of the Nuwuvi people.
—Written by Ron Escobar, director of the Tribal Historic Preservation Office for the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe. 

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