Above, photo of Colorado River courtesy of Metropolitan Inspection Trip Manager Greg Widman.

Municipal and public water providers in the Upper and Lower Colorado River Basin signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Wednesday, affirming their commitments to implement comprehensive and innovative water conservation programs, initiatives, policies, and actions within their communities.

“Forging a sustainable future for the Colorado River will take a commitment from all of us to use less water. More than two dozen water agencies from cities across the Southwest have made this commitment on behalf of the millions of people they serve,” said Metropolitan General Manager Adel Hagekhalil. “This MOU is a key step towards bringing the River into balance, and powerful proof that working together, we can build solutions.”

Read the press release.

The Ventura County Fire Department will save up to 40 million gallons of water over five years through the first-of-its-kind use of pump pods, which re-circulate water at full flows during training exercises to meet watering restrictions. VCFD acquired three of these pods through the help of Metropolitan's Water Savings Incentive Program, Calleguas Municipal Water District and California Water Service.

VCFD is the first fire department in Southern California to use this innovative training system that is saving millions of gallons of water during training exercises during this historic drought. 

To help provide customers with recommendations to improve landscape and indoor water use efficiency, Metropolitan offers free virtual indoor and outdoor residential water use surveys as well as in-person surveys for commercial large landscapes throughout the district’s six-county service area. 

The surveys help identify old devices and leaks, while helping customers learn how to save more water both indoors and outdoors, like using a smart sprinkler controller which can save up to 40 gallons a day.

Apply for a survey at bewaterwise.com/waterusesurvey.