Metropolitan Water District of Southern California

About the Utility

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a wholesale water agency created by state law to build and operate the Colorado River Aqueduct. Its 26 member agencies, comprising cities, municipal water districts and one county water authority, deliver its supplies to nearly 19 million people across approximately 5,200 square miles in portions of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties. It sells water at wholesale rates and has historically provided between 40 and 60 percent of the water its member agencies use. A Board of Directors adopts its budgets and the rates charged to member agencies.

Water System

Metropolitan depends on two imported sources: the Colorado River, drawn on since 1941, and the State Water Project, of which it is the largest contractor, with a maximum contracted volume of 1.9 million acre-feet. The Department of Water Resources' initial allocation for 2026 is 10 percent of requested supplies, and Lake Mead is projected to stay in a shortage condition that year. Metropolitan reports treated water equal to or better than public-health requirements, with no PFAS above the reporting detection limit in 2025. Sales vary widely and were 1,304 thousand acre-feet in fiscal 2023.

Infrastructure & Performance

Metropolitan’s infrastructure links distant sources to member agencies. The Colorado River Aqueduct carries water across 242 miles of desert, and Hoover and Parker dams supply more than half the energy needed to power its pumps. The distribution system runs to approximately 830 miles, of which 163 miles are prestressed concrete cylinder pipe, with a long-term programme to rehabilitate approximately 100 miles of it in five pipelines. Storage capacity held at 1,072 thousand acre-feet throughout the decade to fiscal 2023. As a wholesaler, Metropolitan is not required to report distribution-system water loss.

Investment & Priorities

Renewal of an ageing system is the immediate priority. In April 2026 the Board adopted a two-year budget that raises the Capital Investment Plan by more than $300 million, to $1.025 billion, to clear a backlog of projects replacing and refurbishing treatment and delivery infrastructure. It includes $150 million for planning and final design of Pure Water Southern California's first stage, funding design rather than construction. Member agencies face overall rate increases of 6.2% in January 2027 and January 2028.

Sustainability & Resilience

Metropolitan’s Climate Action Plan, adopted in May 2022, sets a path to carbon neutrality by 2045 for emissions within its operational control, including the Colorado River Aqueduct. Those emissions follow pumping: organisation-wide emissions were estimated at 264,766 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2024, as sharply higher aqueduct pumping raised electricity use. The Climate Adaptation Master Plan for Water joins resource, climate and financial planning, using signposts and time-bound targets to guide incremental investment decisions.

Key Challenges

1. Securing imports as Colorado River guidelines expire at the end of 2026 and State Water Project allocations start low.
2. Renewing ageing infrastructure, including 163 miles of prestressed concrete cylinder pipe.
3. Financing a larger capital plan alongside 6.2% rate increases in 2027 and 2028.
4. Deciding how far to scale Pure Water, estimated at $3,578 million for 45 MGD and $11,315 million for 150 MGD.
5. Reducing pumping-driven emissions toward carbon neutrality by 2045.

Major Projects