L to R: Metropolitan Interim GM Deven Upadhyay, Bard General Counsel Meghan Scott, IID GM Jamie Asbury, USBR Commissioner Camille Touton and Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Lewis. (Courtesy of Bureau of Reclamation)

Nearly 150 residents from across the district’s six-county service area participated in the first hybrid public forum earlier this month on Metropolitan’s Climate Adaptation Master Plan for Water, exploring and discussing regional approaches to address climate change in water planning.

The Sept. 12 forum featured breakout sessions focused on identifying regional priorities, potential partnerships to achieve regional priorities and future opportunities to build and strengthen community engagement through the CAMP4W process. Highlighting the shared water equity objectives of CAMP4W and regional environmental justice efforts, keynote speakers Zoe Cunliffe and Tianna Shaw-Wakeman of Black Women for Wellness emphasized the importance of water quality as an environmental justice issue for communities and pregnant women across Southern California.

Watch the forum video.

Metropolitan’s board voted this month to support a

$10 billion bond measure on the November ballot that would fund projects to help the state adapt to climate change. Proposition 4, the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024, also known as the Climate Bond, includes $3.8 billion for projects to protect the availability and quality of water supplies and protect communities against drought and flooding.

The bond also identifies $610 million for water quality and safe drinking water, $550 million for flood protection, $480 million for dam safety, $386 million for recycling and desalination projects, $386 million for groundwater management, and $75 million each for conservation, storage and regional conveyance. At least 40% of bond funds must be used to benefit vulnerable populations or disadvantaged communities, and at least 10% on severely disadvantaged communities.

Read the press release.

“As our climate gets hotter and drier, we cannot ensure safe and reliable water supplies for the next generation without significant investments in new local supplies, storage and flexible conveyance systems. This bond will support

some of those investments.”

Metropolitan board Chair Adán Ortega, Jr.

Metropolitan’s board recently voted to support pilot studies exploring the effects of improved watershed health on water quality, water supply, habitat protection, wildfire risk reduction and carbon sequestration. The board-authorized funding will support three forest restoration programs in the northern Sierra – headwaters of the State Water Project, which delivers on average 30% of the water used in Southern California.

“We know that healthy forests have many benefits. But we want to better understand the connection between the health of this watershed and our state project supply to see if the benefits can be quantified,” said Metropolitan Interim General Manager Deven Upadhyay.

Courtesy of Sierra Nevada Conservancy

“With state supplies increasingly stressed by drought, climate change and wildfires, these studies will give us the data we need to more confidently identify cost-effective measures that can be deployed quickly and efficiently to protect watershed health,” he added.

Read the press release.

Metropolitan kicked off the celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month with an opening reception on Sept. 17 for the Las Fotos Project exhibit currently on display in the district’s headquarters building rotunda. Board Chair Adán Ortega, Jr. spoke at the reception, hosted by Metropolitan’s Hispanic Employees Association.

Las Fotos Project was launched in 2010 to provide opportunities for teenage girls and gender expansive youth to leverage the power of photography as a catalyst for change by placing students at the heart of social justice efforts in their respective communities.