The largest water providers from the states of the Colorado River basin Wednesday announced a commitment to “substantially expand existing efforts to conserve water, reduce demands and expand reuse and recycling of water supplies.”

The providers from both the upper and lower basin states include Denver Water, Colorado’s largest water provider as well as the largest drinking water provider in the country, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Other Colorado providers include Colorado Springs, Aurora and the Southeastern Water Conservation District. The Southern Nevada Water Authority, which provides water for Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, is also in the group. 

The water providers also invited other utilities in the basin to take part in the commitment to reduce water demand and indicated other utilities are awaiting final approval before joining in.

The commitment formed the basis for a memorandum of understanding, delivered to Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton Wednesday. 

“We are developing prudent municipal water conservation actions that every community that relies on the Colorado River should be using,” the letter to Touton said. “While we have significantly reduced demands the onset of the drought, there is more we can and must accomplish. Achieving the protection storage volumes needed to preserve water and hydropower operations within the Colorado River basin cannot be met by a singular country, basin, state, or water use sector. While municipal water use represents only a small fraction of total Colorado River water use, progress begins with one and then many until we are all moving in the same direction.”

The agreement calls for:

• Developing programs to replace non-functional or passive cool weather turf grass (grass that serves primarily a decorative role and is otherwise unused) with drought- and climate-resistant landscaping, while maintaining vital urban landscapes and tree canopies where appropriate. Colorado’s legislature passed a bill this year to start up an incentive program; Aurora City Council is currently considering an ordinance that would ban future warm-weather turf in favor of cool-weather turf.   
• Increasing water reuse and recycling programs where feasible. 
• Expanding conservation and efficiency programs to accelerate water savings, including indoor fixtures and appliances; adopting conservation-oriented rate structures; and increased coordination between land use and water planning efforts. 

The MOU states that the initial municipal providers in the agreement have cut annual water usage by 1.153 million acre-feet since 2000, while at the same time increasing populations by 3.7 million people.

The MOU, however, does not identify a targeted amount of water savings. 

“The water supply challenges we are facing on the Colorado River are accelerating at an alarming pace. Everyone who relies on the Colorado River must take bold and immediate action to reduce their use on this vital water source,” said Adel Hagekhalil, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Colorado River water supplies 25% of the water used by his district.

“With climate change and aridification affecting the entire Basin, improving the health of the Colorado River system requires a swift and collective effort of all water users – in all sectors – to reduce water use and implement actionable strategies, policies and programs to protect this vital resource and balance water supplies with demands,” said John Entsminger, Southern Nevada Water Authority general manager. Entsminger was among the most vocal critics last week when the seven states could not come up with a plan to reduce Colorado River water usage. 

“…despite the obvious urgency the situation, the last sixty-two days produced exactly nothing in terms of meaningful action to help forestall the looming crisis,” he said in a letter to Touton and the Department of the Interior on August 15. 

Jim Lochhead, CEO of Denver Water, added that “climate change and overuse of the Colorado River have put us squarely within the crisis we long saw coming. The bottom line now: We all need to work on solutions, no matter our individual impacts on river flows.”