Lake Mead Is Dry as a Bone. California Is Coming To Help.

The largest water district in California has agreed to leave billions of gallons of water in Lake Mead this year in an effort to save America’s largest reservoir — in exchange for up to $65 million in cold hard cash.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California serves 26 different public water agencies, which in turn deliver water to about 19 million people spanning Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties. The water giant holds some of the oldest and largest rights to the Colorado River, and was founded in the 1920s to build the 242-mile aqueduct that diverts water from the river and toward Southern California’s population centers.