"Interior: Rumored Top Pick Draws Fire For Role In Water Project"

"An ongoing fight over a controversial pipeline project to pump water out of California's Mojave Desert has sparked allegations that the project is being pushed by the rumored pick for a top Interior post who could gain financially if the project is approved.

At issue is a memorandum from the Bureau of Land Management last week that appears to help pave the way for Cadiz Inc.'s proposal to build a 43-mile-long pipeline and pump water from an aquifer under land the company owns to 100,000 households in Southern California.

The BLM memo reverses two Obama-era instruction memorandums (IMs) that, in essence, concluded Cadiz could not avoid undergoing a federal review by routing the line along an existing federal railroad right of way. The company wants to avoid the lengthy and expensive review process."

Scott Streater reports for Greenwire April 6, 2017.