The takeaway from the “500-plus plan,” the recently inked effort to save Lake Mead, can be summed up in just three words:
We’re. Not. Done.
That doesn’t make the deal any less consequential.
Like a sinister specter that won’t vanish, drought was already writing the playbook for water supplies in Utah and the rest of the West as early as fall of 2020.
The year 2021 may have been months ahead, but extremely dry conditions during those last few months of 2020 amplified the reality of what was to come: drought, and a nasty one.v
Trying to stave off dangerously low levels of water in Lake Mead, officials in California, Arizona and Nevada have reached an agreement to significantly reduce the amount they take from the Colorado River.
The problem took on new urgency this summer when the federal government declared a first-ever water shortage in the 86-year-old reservoir near Las Vegas.
The San Diego County Water Authority has earned Climate Registered gold status from The Climate Registry for verifying and publicly reporting its greenhouse gas emissions. The effort fosters transparency for the agency’s climate mitigation initiatives and will help the Water Authority track and validate emissions reductions in the future.
The Climate Registry operates North America’s largest voluntary registry for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Water Authority’s 2019 and 2020 inventories were verified and published in The Climate Registry’s public database in November, earning the agency gold status for both years.
A recent new round of heavy rain and snow following a dry November soaked a thirsty California landscape – but it wasn’t enough to significantly improve the state’s water levels, according to data from the California Department of Water Resources.
The San Diego County Water Authority has earned Climate Registered gold status from The Climate Registry for verifying and publicly reporting its greenhouse gas emissions. The effort fosters transparency for the agency’s climate mitigation initiatives and will help the Water Authority track and validate emissions reductions in the future.
The Climate Registry operates North America’s largest voluntary registry for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Water Authority’s 2019 and 2020 inventories were verified and published in The Climate Registry’s public database in November, earning the agency gold status for both years.
“Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the face of climate change is a critical part of our commitment to environmental stewardship,” said Water Authority Board Chair Gary Croucher. “We take our responsibility as a climate leader seriously, and we are developing forward-thinking resource solutions to ensure a sustainable environment for generations to come.”
The Water Authority works with its 24 member agencies to deliver water affordably and efficiently across San Diego County, and the agency has championed energy efficiency and environmental sustainability for decades. For instance, about half of the agency’s water is from the nation’s largest conservation-and-transfer program, and the agency is a leader in developing pumped energy storage to maximize the use of renewable wind and solar resources.
As a centerpiece of its sustainability efforts, in 2014 the Water Authority voluntarily developed a Climate Action Plan and updates it every five years, comparing GHG emissions against a baseline and tracking progress toward State of California goals. Since the Plan’s adoption, the Water Authority has conducted annual GHG inventories and provides updates to the board of directors. Verification of the annual inventory by a third-party was another step toward validating the Water Authority’s climate mitigation efforts for stakeholders.
The Climate Registry is a nonprofit organization governed by U.S. states and Canadian provinces and territories. The registry designs and operates voluntary and compliance GHG reporting programs globally, and assists organizations in measuring, reporting and verifying the carbon in their operations in order to manage and reduce it. The registry also builds capacity for emissions reductions among government agencies, and spearheads innovative projects such as the Water-Energy Nexus Registry. More information is at www.theclimateregistry.org
“Organizations that become Climate Registered are the leaders in a growing movement to address climate change by managing and reducing emissions at the subnational level,” said Amy Holm, executive director of The Climate Registry. “We have just over a decade to take action that will ensure we avoid the worst effects of climate change. This kind of leadership is needed now more than ever.”
The San Diego County Water Authority has earned Climate Registered gold status from The Climate Registry for verifying and publicly reporting its greenhouse gas emissions. The effort fosters transparency for the agency’s climate mitigation initiatives and will help the Water Authority track and validate emissions reductions in the future.
State water agencies in Arizona, California and Nevada announced a $200 million investment in Colorado River conservation projects on Wednesday, in a last-ditch effort to keep the basin’s biggest reservoir from dwindling to dangerously low levels.
The cross-border collaboration, which also includes the Department of the Interior, will aim to add 500,000 acre-feet of additional water to Lake Mead — the Colorado River’s largest reservoir — in 2022 and 2023, by facilitating initiatives that promote water conservation in the Lower Colorado River Basin, according to the partners.
That additional water, which is enough to provide for 1.5 million households each year, would boost the reservoir’s level by 16 feet, a news release from the agencies said.
To help stave off another round of mandatory cutbacks, water leaders for Arizona, Nevada and California are preparing to sign an agreement that would voluntarily reduce Colorado River water to the lower basin states by 500,000 acre-feet — enough to supply about 750,000 households for a year — for both 2022 and 2023.
The agreement, known as the “500+ Plan”, would require millions of dollars from each state over two years — $60 million from Arizona, $20 million from Nevada and $20 million from California with federal matching dollars — to fund payments for water use reduction and efficiency projects that result in supply savings throughout the lower basin.
The signing is expected to take place Wednesday at the Colorado River Water Users Association annual meeting in Las Vegas, amid urgency to negotiate new rules for managing the depleted river beyond 2026 when the 2007 interim guidelines expire.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
