As Lake Mead’s historically low water level continues to decrease, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California on Tuesday approved an agreement with the federal government in an effort to bring more water into the reservoir.
The agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will provide the MWD up to $65 million to keep up to 200,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water in the lake this year. An acre-foot is roughly 326,000 gallons, enough water to serve approximately three households, according to MWD officials.
Under the agreement approved by the MWD Board of Directors, the Reclamation Bureau will pay the district $325 per acre-foot to keep these water supplies in Lake Mead this year.
The funding is from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act’s Lower Colorado River Basin System Conservation and Efficiency Program.
Officials said the agreement came to fruition because of 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,” MWD Board Chair Adán Ortega Jr. said in a statement.
He added that Metropolitan and its ratepayers have invested $1.7 billion in conservation, water recycling and groundwater recovery since 1990. The result has been the production of 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 said. “That’s why flexibility in how we operate is so important — so we can take advantage of opportunities like this one to help when the water is available.”
The board also approved two other agreements with the Quechan Tribe located in the Arizona-California border area and Bard Water District, allowing the federal government to pay for up to 19,000 acre-feet of additional conserved agricultural water to Lake Mead annually over the next two years.
The agreements followed a record-low snowpack in the Colorado River Basin this year that has caused Lake Mead’s water level to significantly recede.
If Lake Mead loses too much water, hydropower generation at Hoover Dam could decrease by 70% and limit the electricity supply for the Southwest U.S.
Metropolitan General Manager Shivaji Deshmukh said the agreements are temporary solutions and longer-term commitments are needed. That would require consensus among the seven states in the Colorado River Basin on how to proceed after current guidelines expire at the end of this 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.”
The MWD worked with agricultural entities and the federal Reclamation Bureau on similar agreements in 2023 to preserve water in Lake Mead, officials said.
Hoover Dam and Lake Mead are on the border of Arizona and Nevada in the Colorado River’s Black Canyon, about 35 miles southeast of Las Vegas. The reservoir has dropped 160-170 feet since its record high water level set in 1983, according to Reclamation data.
Since 2000, shrinking snowpacks, rising temperatures, agricultural irrigation demand and increasing populations have strained the Colorado River and its reservoirs Lake Powell and Lake Mead, according to the Grand Canyon Trust.
MWD service areas are in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.
