FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:              CONTACT:
August 29, 2002                     Wendy Mitchell
                                    Director, External Affairs
                                    (310) 899-4700


                   CADIZ PROGRAM RECEIVES
            FINAL FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL APPROVAL
  U.S. Department of the Interior Issues Record of Decision

     Santa Monica, CA - Cadiz Inc., (Nasdaq: CLCI) announced
today that the U.S. Department of the Interior has approved
the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Cadiz
Groundwater Storage and Dry-Year Supply Program and issued
its Record of Decision (ROD). This marks the final step in
the federal environmental review process for the Cadiz
Program, a public/private partnership between Cadiz and the
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
(Metropolitan).

     "Issuance of the ROD culminates many years of diligent
work and tireless cooperative effort by the federal
agencies, Metropolitan, the County of San Bernardino, and
Cadiz on this important water program for Southern
California's future," said Keith Brackpool, Cadiz Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer.  "Through this collaborative
process, we are proud to have developed an environmental
protection plan unrivaled within California's water
industry."

     The ROD amends the California Desert Conservation Area
plan to provide an exception to the utility corridor element
and offers to Metropolitan a right-of-way grant necessary
for the construction and operation of the Cadiz Program.

     The issuance of the ROD completes a comprehensive
federal environmental review process by the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) in cooperation with the U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS) and National Park Service (NPS) and affirms
the environmental soundness and technical viability of the
Cadiz Program.  Metropolitan and Cadiz embarked upon a joint
federal and state environmental review process under several
contracts, starting in August 1998, which provided for a
joint effort to expend funds to complete the environmental
review process and apply for and obtain all of the federal
permits for the Cadiz Program.

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     The environmental review process included the issuance
of a biological opinion from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, which concluded that the Cadiz Program will not
harm plants and wildlife, including the desert tortoise, and
a conformity determination from the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, which concluded that the Cadiz Program
complies with the Clean Air Act and will have no adverse
impact on air quality in the area.

     A cornerstone of the Cadiz Program is the Groundwater
Monitoring and Management Plan (Management Plan) designed by
water and air quality experts from the federal agencies
(BLM, USGS, and NPS), County of San Bernardino,
Metropolitan, and Cadiz. The Management Plan includes a
comprehensive network of monitoring and data collection
features, which will form a protective perimeter around the
Cadiz Program area. These installations are designed to
provide an "early warning" system to ensure that operation
of the Cadiz Program will have no adverse impact on the
regional aquifer system or any other natural resources in
and surrounding the program area.  The authors of the
Management Plan unanimously agree that, with implementation
of the Management Plan, adverse impacts to critical
environmental resources will be avoided regardless of the
amount of natural recharge to the program area.

     Governance procedures in the Management Plan ensure
that BLM, advised by a Technical Review Panel including the
USGS, NPS and the County of San Bernardino, will have the
ultimate authority to ensure corrective measures are
implemented to protect the desert's critical resources.

     All told, the Management Plan will be one of the most
technologically advanced and comprehensive environmental
protection plans ever developed for a water project in
California.

     U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein has expressed concerns
that the Cadiz Program may adversely affect the future of
the California desert and suggested a temporary cap on the
amount of water that could be exported from the program.
Cadiz appreciates and shares the Senator's interest in
protecting the critical environmental resources of the
desert.  After careful consideration of the Senator's
concerns, the Office of the Secretary of the Interior
responded to Senator Feinstein that the Management Plan
collaboratively developed by the federal agencies,
Metropolitan, and the County of San Bernardino and based
upon science, offers the best available mechanism to
safeguard these resources and provides more legal and actual
certainty for the protection of resources than an arbitrary
limitation.  Cadiz looks forward to working with Senator
Feinstein to address any remaining concerns she may have
about the Cadiz Program and its environmental safeguards.

     The Cadiz Program will assist Metropolitan in
maximizing the efficient use of its Colorado River Aqueduct
and in providing a reliable, high quality water supply for
the 17 million Southern Californians it serves.  The Cadiz
Program is cited as a key component

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in California's official plan to reduce its draw from the
Colorado River.  In "wet" years, the Cadiz Program will
store surplus Colorado River water, up to one million
acre-feet at any one time, beneath the Company's landholdings
in the eastern Mojave Desert. During "dry" years, the stored
Colorado River water and indigenous groundwater will be
extracted, in compliance with the Management Plan and returned
to the aqueduct for use within Metropolitan's service area.

     The Cadiz Program still awaits certification under
state law of the joint Final Environmental Impact
Report/Environmental Impact Statement by the Metropolitan
Board of Directors and approval of the final agreements
between Metropolitan and Cadiz that will be based upon the
definitive economic terms and responsibilities approved by
Metropolitan's Board of Directors in April 2001.

     Founded in 1983, Cadiz Inc. is a publicly held water
resource management and agricultural firm.  With its
subsidiary, Sun World International, Inc., Cadiz is one of
the largest vertically integrated agricultural companies in
California.  Cadiz owns significant landholdings with
substantial water resources throughout California. Further
information on Cadiz can be obtained by visiting its
corporate web site at www.cadizinc.com.

     This release contains forward-looking statements that
are subject to significant risks and uncertainties,
including statements related to the successful
implementation of the Cadiz Program.  Although Cadiz
believes that the expectations reflected in its forward-
looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance
that such expectations will prove to be correct.  Factors
that could cause actual results or events to differ
materially from those reflected in Cadiz' forward-looking
statements include timing and terms of various approvals
required to complete the Program, and other factors and
considerations detailed in Cadiz' Securities and Exchange
Commission filings.

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