In an effort to address the historic-low water level at Lake Mead, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California on Tuesday approved an agreement with the federal government to help add water to the reservoir.
On Tuesday, Metropolitan’s Board of Directors approved an agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which will provide the agency up to $65 million to keep up to 200,000 acre-feet of its Colorado River supplies in the lake this year.
That’s about $325 per acre-foot. An acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons, enough to serve roughly three Southern California households a year, according to MWD officials.
Federal funding comes from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act’s Lower Colorado River Basin System Conservation and Efficiency Program.
Officials said they moved forward with the agreement because of major investments in water sources, storage and conservation efforts.
“Over the last 30 years, we’ve transformed how Southern California secures its water future. By investing in diverse water supplies, incentivizing conservation, and capturing and storing water whenever it’s available, we’ve added resilience to our system,” Metropolitan Board Chair Adán Ortega Jr. said in a statement.
Ortega noted that MWD and its ratepayers have invested $1.7 billion in conservation, water recycling and groundwater recovery since 1990, producing over 8.8 million acre-feet of water.
“Those decades of forward-thinking investments allow us to step forward and help stabilize the Colorado River when it needs us most,” Ortega added.
The board also approved two other agreements with the Quechan Tribe and Bard Water District, allowing the federal government to fund the addition of up to 19,000 acre-feet of conserved agricultural water to Lake Mead annually in 2027 and 2028.
The agreements come in the wake of a record-low snowpack in the Colorado River Basin this year — resulting in Lake Mead’s water level dropping to a near historic low.
If Lake Mead drops too low, hydropower generation capacity at Hoover Dam could be reduced by 70%, meaning a significant impact on electricity supply for the Southwest region.
Metropolitan General Manager Shivaji Deshmukh emphasized the agreements are temporary solutions and more long-term commitments are needed, which would require consensus among the seven Colorado River Basin states for how they will move forward after current guidelines expire at the end of the year.
“We’re grateful to be in the position this year to help reduce the impacts of drought on the Colorado River system as it faces unprecedented challenges,” Deshmukh said in a statement.
“But while these agreements provide important near-term support, lasting progress will require long-term solutions. If we all commit to reducing our use, we can avoid deeper cuts and create lasting change that will benefit future generations who rely on the Colorado River Basin,” Deshmukh added.