                         CADIZ INC.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:           CONTACT:
October 8, 2002                  Wendy Mitchell
                                 Director, External Affairs
                                 (310) 899-4700

  METROPOLITAN WATER DISTRICT BOARD VOTES ON CADIZ PROGRAM
Board Rejects Terms and Conditions of Federal Right-of-Way Grant

     Santa Monica, CA - Cadiz Inc. (Nasdaq: CLCI) announced
today that the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Water
District of Southern California (Metropolitan) voted against
the Metropolitan staff's recommendation to approve the terms
and conditions of the right-of-way grant issued by the
Department of the Interior for the Cadiz Groundwater Storage
and Dry-Year Supply Program (the Cadiz Program) by a vote of
47.11% in favor and 47.36% against the recommendation.
Instead, the Board voted for an alternative motion to reject
the terms and conditions of the right-of-way grant and to
not proceed with the Cadiz Program by a vote of 50.25% in
favor and 44.22% against.

     Cadiz management is evaluating its options with respect
to the decision of the Metropolitan Board of Directors.
Cadiz management firmly believes that the Cadiz Program is
viable and will continue to pursue its implementation
because the Cadiz Program is of tremendous value to
California's future water needs and California's ability to
live within its annual 4.4 million acre-foot entitlement
from the Colorado River.  The Cadiz Program is the only
California-based storage and supply project along the
Colorado River Aqueduct to receive all of its federal
environmental approvals.

     "The Metropolitan Board of Directors vote today is
contrary to the opinion of the Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Land Management, County of San Bernardino and
other governmental agencies, all of which have spoken out in
favor of the Cadiz Program and granted all requisite
approvals and permits," said Keith Brackpool, Cadiz Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer.  "The Board's vote is
astonishing since it was without the benefit of any hearings
or briefings on the current environmental safeguards
approved by the Department of the Interior or status of the
contractual negotiation process.  Further, the vote
contradicted their own staff's recommendation and defied the
many thousands of hours of work their staff and other
government agency staff had put into completing the
environmental review documentation.  We firmly disagree with
Metropolitan in that we believe the decision ignores both
the letter and spirit of Metropolitan's contracts with
Cadiz, which collectively obligate Metropolitan to complete
the environmental review process and turn the entitlements
over to its venture partner Cadiz."

                     Page 2-2-2

     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 also 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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