Cadiz Inc.
Cadiz Inc. (CDZI)
Overview
Cadiz Inc. is a California-based land and water resources company, founded in 1983 and headquartered in Los Angeles, that owns roughly 70 square miles of land with significant groundwater rights in the eastern Mojave Desert. The company has about 31 employees and reported fiscal 2025 revenue of $16.31 million, up nearly 70% year over year, though it remains deeply unprofitable, with a net loss of $39.23 million for the year (about 8% wider than 2024's loss). Trailing-twelve-month revenue as of mid-2026 was roughly $11.84 million. Cadiz's market capitalization of about $299 million reflects investor optimism about several large infrastructure and water-supply projects advancing through permitting rather than current cash flow, which remains small relative to the company's long-term ambitions. Recent milestones include Bureau of Land Management approval of right-of-way permits for its Northern Pipeline Project, execution of guaranteed-maximum-price construction contracts, a $51 million investment agreement with the Lytton Rancheria of California tied to the Mojave Groundwater Bank project, and a $194 million federal WIFIA loan application to help finance conveyance infrastructure.
What They Do & How They Make Money
Cadiz operates through two segments: Land and Water Resources, and Water Filtration Technology. The Land and Water Resources segment is the core of the business — Cadiz controls senior water rights and a large natural aquifer beneath its Mojave Desert land holdings, and it is developing this asset in two ways: selling and delivering water through long-term supply agreements with California public water agencies and municipalities, and monetizing groundwater storage capacity through "banking" arrangements, where imported water (such as Colorado River water in wet years) is stored underground and later withdrawn during dry years. Its Northern Pipeline Project and the Mojave Groundwater Bank, developed together with partners like the Lytton Rancheria, are central to this strategy, alongside a smaller legacy agricultural operation (primarily alfalfa/grain cultivation) on part of its land. The Water Filtration Technology segment commercializes proprietary treatment technology for removing contaminants such as PFAS, arsenic, and other constituents from groundwater, which Cadiz can sell or license to other water agencies and industrial users facing tightening water-quality regulation. Revenue today comes mostly from smaller near-term agreements, technology licensing, and construction-related activity tied to the pipeline build-out, while the bulk of the long-term revenue opportunity depends on completing permitting and construction of the water conveyance and banking infrastructure.
Business Segments
- Land and Water Resources — Water supply, storage, and conveyance development on Cadiz's Mojave Desert land and aquifer holdings, anchored by the Northern Pipeline Project and Mojave Groundwater Bank, plus limited agricultural revenue.
- Water Filtration Technology — Proprietary groundwater treatment and contaminant-removal technology marketed to water agencies and industrial customers.
Competitive Position
Cadiz's principal asset — outright ownership of a large, contiguous tract of land sitting atop a substantial natural aquifer in a water-scarce region of California — is genuinely difficult for competitors to replicate; there are few comparable privately controlled groundwater storage sites of this scale near major California water infrastructure. That gives Cadiz a real, if narrow, structural advantage in California water banking and supply, an increasingly valuable niche given chronic Western water scarcity, drought cycles, and regulatory pressure to develop local water storage rather than rely solely on long-distance imports. The company's weakness is execution risk and time: it has spent decades navigating environmental review, permitting, and financing for its flagship projects, and continues to post large net losses while revenue from operating agreements ramps slowly. Competitors are less other water-rights holders (there are few directly comparable assets) than the broader set of alternatives water agencies could pursue — desalination, additional imported-water contracts, or other groundwater banking partners — meaning Cadiz's ultimate success depends on completing its pipeline and banking infrastructure and converting its unique land/water asset into signed, revenue-generating long-term agreements before capital costs and continued losses erode the balance sheet.