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As part of a broad push toward greater environmental sustainability, Metropolitan Water District’s Board of Directors today voted to approve a set of strategies to cut its greenhouse gas emissions and achieve carbon neutrality by 2045.

The Climate Action Plan identifies actions to reduce Metropolitan’s carbon footprint in the face of climate change, increasing the district’s climate resiliency and energy independence while supporting California’s GHG reduction goals.

“Climate change is not just about the environment, it is about protecting the future for our communities,” board Chairwoman Gloria D. Gray said. “It is our responsibility to address the urgent threats we face due to climate change so that Southern Californians will continue to have clean, reliable drinking water and a good quality of life.”

The CAP helps Metropolitan reach California’s aggressive goals to cut GHG emissions by 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2030 and achieve complete carbon neutrality by 2045. The plan sets targets and strategies for reducing GHG emissions from Metropolitan’s operations, including its conveyance, storage, treatment and delivery of water throughout its 5,200 square-mile Southern California service area.

Strategies include phasing out natural gas combustion at district facilities, transitioning to a zero-emissions vehicle fleet, utilizing carbon-free electricity, improving energy efficiency, increasing waste diversion to achieve zero waste, increasing water conservation and local supplies, and evaluating carbon capture and sequestration opportunities.

“It is clear that our climate is already rapidly changing. We’re seeing it right before our eyes with the extraordinary drought we are facing today,” said Metropolitan General Manager Adel Hagekhalil. “The impacts on our water supplies will change the way we provide our services and operate our water system. The CAP will ensure we are part of the solution to prevent further stresses to our climate.”

The comprehensive plan, led by Metropolitan’s new Sustainability, Resiliency and Innovation Office, will guide policy and planning decisions on operations, water resources, capital investments, and conservation and resource programs, while mitigating the GHG impacts from Metropolitan’s operations and future capital projects under the California Environmental Quality Act.

“These strategies will help improve our infrastructure reliability, give us greater energy resiliency and provide cost-effective solutions for energy purchases and maintenance,” Chairwoman Gray said.

Metropolitan has already been making progress on its commitment to greater sustainability and resiliency. Through a partnership with the Clean Power Alliance, the agency recently switched to 100 percent green power at several of its smaller meters and operational sites, reducing its GHG emissions by about 100 tons annually, equivalent to the amount of carbon absorbed by 118 acres of forest in one year. Metropolitan has also switched over 300 of its Southern California Edison accounts to 100 percent Green Power Rates to purchase renewable energy. This amounts to over 11,900,000 kWh of annual use which represents the annual electricity consumption of 1,400 average households.

Metropolitan has also approved more than $840 million in conservation and local resource programs, funded over $350 million in turf-removal program rebates, installed solar facilities at its Joseph Jensen, Robert A. Skinner and Frank E. Weymouth water treatment plants, and approved battery energy storage systems at the Jensen and Skinner plants.

Budget includes 5 percent annual rate increases over next two years

A two-year budget that strikes a balance between investing in reliable water supplies for Southern California while managing rates to address rising operational costs and reduced revenues due to lower water sales and severe drought was adopted by Metropolitan Water District’s Board of Directors.

The board on Tuesday (April 12) unanimously adopted a $1.9 billion budget for fiscal year 2022-23 and a $2.0 billion budget for 2023-24, with associated 5 percent overall rate increases in Metropolitan’s wholesale water rates in calendar years 2023 and 2024.

“We are in the midst of unprecedented times – we face a deepening drought emergency as we emerge from a worldwide pandemic and confront national supply shortages and high inflation,” said Metropolitan General Manager Adel Hagekhalil. “We must take bold actions today to invest in the future of our region so that we are more resilient to climate change and drought. But we must also limit overall rate increases for our member agencies, which are contending with their own investment needs and affordability concerns.”

The plan serves as a transitional budget as the board deliberates a new direction that will guide Metropolitan’s future rate structure and potentially a new business model while meeting near- term challenges, such as high inflation and a deepening drought emergency. Future rate increases are expected to be higher, including an anticipated rate increase of 7 percent in 2025.

“Our ongoing strategic planning efforts will guide how we adapt to climate change and meet our mission for the next century,” Metropolitan board Chairwoman Gloria D. Gray said. “These efforts will involve major investments in storage, local supplies and water efficiency. As we ask people to use less water and our water sales drop, we have to figure out a way to pay for these investments.”

The approved budget will fund priority operations and maintenance projects as well as important drought-proofing local supply projects. It includes nearly 450 capital projects, including planning activities for Metropolitan’s full-scale Regional Recycled Water Program that, if approved, would deliver enough water to serve roughly 500,000 Southern California households. It also provides continued support for conservation, development of local resource projects and planning for drier years.

To avoid a higher rate increase in 2023 and 2024, the biennial budget cuts $53 million from the agency’s operations budget, with substantial reductions in materials and supplies, research and planning, travel, training, conferences, and director inspection trips of water facilities. In addition, Metropolitan continues its search for new funding sources, which potentially include state and federal grant opportunities, beneficial water exchanges and partnerships that leverage investments in Metropolitan’s system.

“We all must recognize that the cost of providing water is increasing as we face extraordinary challenges,” Hagekhalil said. “We are continuing to work with the state and federal government to advocate for funding that supports Southern California’s water future.”

With California moving into a third year of severe drought, Metropolitan is expanding its call for residents and businesses to use water as efficiently as possible to help ensure the region has the water it needs for the coming months.

Metropolitan’s Board of Directors today approved entering a $10.5 million agreement to expand advertising and outreach efforts to increase public awareness of the drought and the need for conservation. The multilingual campaign will bring the conservation message to radio, digital, social media and outdoor advertising platforms through a three-year agreement for media placement services with GP Generate, a minority-owned, small business advertising agency based in Los Angeles.

“We’re asking everyone across Southern California to immediately look at their water use and consider what they can do to use less,” Metropolitan board Chairwoman Gloria D. Gray said. “We’ll be out there to help, in communities throughout our service area, reminding people what they can do – with rebates and tips to save money and save water – and helping our region be more resilient, more sustainable and more successful as we navigate this drought and long-term climate change.”

While the call to conserve is being made across Southern California, it is particularly strong in communities more dependent on water from the State Water Project, including parts of Ventura, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. These communities have been particularly affected by the severely limited deliveries from Northern California during the state’s ongoing drought because they cannot physically receive water from the Colorado River and have limited local supplies.

“The limited rain and snowfall we’ve received this winter is far from enough to meet the state’s water demands. That means another year of further drawing down our already depleted reservoirs. We can’t do that forever. But the less water we use now, the longer we can stretch these stored supplies into the summer and fall, and next year, if needed,” Metropolitan General Manager Adel Hagekhalil said.

“We’re your partner in the effort to use water wisely,” he added.

Metropolitan offers a multitude of resources at bewaterwise.com to help residents and businesses save water, including rebates for water-efficient appliances, irrigation and landscaping; classes and water-saving tips.

The latest outreach effort builds on a conservation campaign launched last August, featuring popular Southern California lifestyles and designed by in-house staff. That campaign – featured on digital and social media, outdoor billboards and radio – has generated 85 million impressions and more than 100,000 visits to bewaterwise.com

With drought conditions continuing unabated, Metropolitan remains under a drought emergency, declared in November, and a water supply alert, declared in August.

Metropolitan also is making immediate and long-term investments to help make Southern California more resilient to drought and climate change, including investing in local supplies, conservation, storage and system flexibility, and seeking state and federal support for these investments.

“We’re seeing climate conditions unlike anything we’ve ever experienced and far sooner than anticipated. We need to take action now. And we need everyone to join us,” Hagekhalil said.