Cadiz has signed an option agreement with Southern California water provider Jurupa Community Services District (JCSD) for conserved water and carry-over storage capacity from its Cadiz Valley Water Conservation, Recovery and Storage project.

JCSD, which serves customers in parts of western Riverside County, will participate in the project, along with Santa Margarita Water District, Three Valleys Municipal Water District, Golden State Water Company and Suburban Water Systems.

JCSD said it will have the right to acquire a firm, annual supply of 5,000-acre-feet of water and will also have the option to acquire storage capacity in the project to manage this new supply in complement with its other water resources.

These rights will be exercisable upon completion of the project’s California Environmental Quality Act review, which is currently underway.

JCSD Board of Directors president Jane Anderson said the Cadiz Valley project offers a new way to minimize variability in JCSD’s annual supplies and improve reliability for its customers at a competitive cost.

Cadiz general counsel Scott Slater said the project is committed to improving long-term water supply reliability in Southern California without harm to the desert and watershed environment at the project area.

Cadiz is engaged in a combination of water supply and storage, organic farming and solar energy projects.