Advancing Resilience: Distributed Stormwater Capture & Conservation

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD or District) is at an inflection point. Like much of the western United States, the region of Southern California served by MWD is facing an increasingly uncertain water future. Prolonged drought over the past decades has diminished the amount of water available to MWD from in-state watersheds. At the same time, deepening aridification across the Colorado River basin, exacerbated by the effects of climate change, has resulted in a 15 percent diminution in flows in that critical water supply. Accelerate Resilience Los Angeles (ARLA) applauds MWD for launching the Climate Adaptation Master Plan for Water (CAMP4W) to identify strategies that build resilience to this enduring challenge. The CAMP4W process and One Water commitments expressed by MWD leadership and Board of Directors specifically call for MWD contributions to environmental and economic justice outcomes. Leadership on these issues requires MWD to make financial investments in programs that deliver community benefits—these investments, in turn, can drive partnerships with member agencies, local governments, and other entities that leverage and expand upon the level of funding provided by MWD.

This Roadmap provides steps and strategies to support MWD in leading Southern California to build water and community resilience by incentivizing distributed multi-benefit outdoor conservation, landscape transformation, and stormwater capture projects through rebate programs.