Addressing Climate Change

An aerial shot of low reservoir levels at Lake Oroville, courtesy of DWR.

Addressing Climate Change

Climate change presents a monumental challenge to the long-term reliability of Southern California's water supplies. Every watershed our region depends on is becoming more stressed and less dependable. Extreme weather conditions in recent years − abruptly swinging the state from periods of severe and extended drought to record-setting wet seasons, as well as wildfires, extreme heat and sea level rise − have presented Southern Californians with an unsettling preview of the challenges we face amid the cascading effects of a warming planet. There is no question that climate change is here and putting mounting pressure on the year-to-year management of our infrastructure and available water resources.

To manage the complexities and uncertainties of climate change, Metropolitan has developed a new Climate Adaptation Master Plan for Water. In addition, Metropolitan has committed as an organization to reducing our carbon footprint through our Climate Action Plan.

Metropolitan's CAMP4W (Climate Adaptation Master Plan for Water) logo

Metropolitan’s groundbreaking Climate Adaptation Master Plan for Water is a roadmap that will guide our future capital investments and business model as we confront our new climate reality in the years and decades ahead.

While Metropolitan has conducted long-range planning for its water resources portfolio since the mid-1990s with our Integrated Water Resources Plan, CAMP4W is an ongoing planning and decision-making tool that accounts for the complexities and uncertainties of climate change. Metropolitan's board approved the CAMP4W Implementation Strategy at its April 2025 meeting. Metropolitan is now evaluating proposed projects based on the criteria set in the Implementation Strategy, including reliability, affordability and environmental co-benefits. These assessments will help Metropolitan’s board decide which projects to support, at what scale, and when.

A photo of Metropolitan's Jensen water treatment plant on a sunny day.

CAMP4W Objectives

Informed & Transparent Decision-making

Founded nearly a century ago to bring a new source of water for a growing Southern California, Metropolitan has long been a leader in developing innovative, collaborative long-term solutions that support our member agencies and the entire region. CAMP4W builds on that legacy. A Joint Task Force comprised of Metropolitan board directors, general managers from the district’s member agencies and Metropolitan staff guided plan development. The plan was also developed through extensive engagement with water leaders, business interests, environmental groups, community-based organizations and the public across the region, and engagement continues through implementation.

The board oversees implementation through the Subcommittee on CAMP4W. Meetings are open to the public and streamed live on our board calendar website.

CAMP4W creates a standardized methodology to evaluate climate-adaptation projects, allowing for a more informed and transparent decision-making process. Staff is preparing assessments for proposed projects, including Pure Water Southern California, Sites Reservoir, Delta Conveyance Project and increased investments in water conservation, which will be presented to Metropolitan’s board and the public starting in the Fall of 2025 and continuing into 2026.

These assessments will analyze how each project performs according to six criteria set in the Implementation Strategy:

Reliability
Resilience
Financial sustainability and affordability
Adaptability and flexibility
Equity
Environmental co-benefits

“Whatever is done should be done for the benefit of the whole, and whatever is done for the benefit of the whole should be shared by the parts.”

— W.P. Whitsett, Metropolitan's first board chair, 1930

Improving System Resilience & Reliability

Through the CAMP4W process, Metropolitan is analyzing long-term improvements to create a climate-resilient network of facilities to ensure the reliability of our region's water supplies.

The record-low water deliveries we received from the State Water Project between 2020 and 2022 revealed a vulnerability in Metropolitan's regional water delivery system that impacted six of our 26 member agencies and nearly 7 million people. Due to constraints of the water delivery system, as well as limited access to other local supplies, these communities were forced to rely on extremely reduced water deliveries from the SWP. Metropolitan enacted emergency drought reductions to ensure these communities had enough water to get through the extreme drought.

Our board has since made a commitment to address these inequities and fast-tracked a number of construction projects, including the Sepulveda Feeder Pump Stations project, to improve water supply reliability for all member agencies. To date, we have secured $50 million from the state to help offset the cost of these projects.

A photo of ongoing construction upgrades to the Wadsworth Pumping Station at Diamond Valley Lake.

a photo of a directional sign leading to Metropolitan's Pure Water Southern California demonstration facility in Carson.

Expanding Our Water Resource Portfolio

CAMP4W incorporates real-world trends and is designed to help Metropolitan respond to the region’s evolving needs. The challenges of the future will likely require us to invest in more local supplies and conservation, while preserving and extending the use of our imported water supplies.

For decades, Metropolitan has incentivized local supply projects through the Local Resource Program, which offers financial incentives for member agencies to develop and expand the network of local resources across Southern California. This initiative has resulted in recycled water programs, groundwater storage initiatives and desalination projects.

Through the CAMP4W process, Metropolitan will assess the need and value of developing more local supplies, including its own collaborative partnerships. For example, our Pure Water Southern California regional recycling project, a joint venture with Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, could become one of the world's largest water purification programs, producing up to 150 million gallons of new water supply daily. Another partnership with Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency to develop the High Desert Water Bank could provide Metropolitan more than 91 million gallons of additional storage, with nearly 23 million gallons of those reserves accessible on an annual basis.

Ensuring Equity, Affordability & Financial Sustainability

While many Californians understand the challenges facing water reliability, most also are concerned about the cost of water. CAMP4W emphasizes equity, affordability and financial sustainability. We're committed to offsetting the costs of our strategic climate adaptation investments through creative cost-sharing partnerships and the pursuit of additional state and federal funding. Since 2022, we've received more than $150 million in funding for projects that are giving us an early start on CAMP4W implementation.

US Bureau of Reclamation Federal Grant Ceremony 05.28.2024

L to R: Central Arizona Project Program Manager Vineetha Kartha, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton, and Metropolitan General Manager Deven Upadhyay

Climate Adaptation in Action

Metropolitan is adapting to more extreme weather patterns and climate whiplash with smart planning, investments in diverse supplies and storage opportunities and critical partnerships across the regional, state and federal levels.