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they receive from Metropolitan. Metropolitan manages a statewide integrated conveyance system consisting of its
<br />participation in the State Water Project (SWP), its Colorado River Aqueduct (CRA) including Colorado River water
<br />resources, programs and water exchanges, and its regional storage portfolio. Along with the SWP, CRA, storage
<br />programs, and Metropolitan’s conveyance and distribution facilities, demand management programs increase the
<br />future reliability of water resources for the region. In addition, demand management programs provide system-wide
<br />benefits by decreasing the demand for imported water, which helps to decrease the burden on the district’s
<br />infrastructure and reduce system costs, and free up conveyance capacity to the benefit of all member agencies.
<br />Metropolitan’s costs are funded almost entirely from its service area, with the exception of grants and other
<br />assistance from government programs. Most of Metropolitan’s revenues are collected directly from its member
<br />agencies. Properties within Metropolitan’s service area pay a property tax that currently provides approximately 8
<br />percent of the fiscal year 2021 annual budgeted revenues. The rest of Metropolitan’s costs are funded through rates
<br />and charges paid by Metropolitan’s member agencies for the wholesale services it provides to them.1 Thus,
<br />Metropolitan’s member agencies fund nearly all operations Metropolitan undertakes to reduce reliance on the Delta,
<br />including Colorado River Programs, storage facilities, Local Resources Programs and Conservation Programs within
<br />Metropolitan’s service area.
<br />Because of the integrated nature of Metropolitan’s systems and operations, and the collective nature of
<br />Metropolitan’s regional efforts, it is infeasible to quantify each of Metropolitan member agencies’ individual reliance
<br />on the Delta. It is infeasible to attempt to segregate an entity and a system that were designed to work as an
<br />integrated regional cooperative.
<br />In addition to the member agencies funding Metropolitan’s regional efforts, they also invest in their own local
<br />programs to reduce their reliance on any imported water. Moreover, the customers of those member agencies may
<br />also invest in their own local programs to reduce water demand. However, to the extent those efforts result in
<br />reduction of demands on Metropolitan, that reduction does not equate to a like reduction of reliance on the Delta.
<br />Demands on Metropolitan are not commensurate with demands on the Delta because most of Metropolitan member
<br />agencies receive blended resources from Metropolitan as determined by Metropolitan—not the individual member
<br />agency—and for most member agencies, the blend varies from month-to-month and year-to-year due to hydrology,
<br />operational constraints, use of storage and other factors.
<br />Colorado River Programs
<br />As a regional cooperative of member agencies, Metropolitan invests in programs to ensure the continued reliability
<br />and sustainability of Colorado River supplies. Metropolitan was established to obtain an allotment of Colorado River
<br />water, and its first mission was to construct and operate the CRA. The CRA consists of five pumping plants, 450 miles
<br />of high voltage power lines, one electric substation, four regulating reservoirs, and 242 miles of aqueducts, siphons,
<br />canals, conduits and pipelines terminating at Lake Mathews in Riverside County. Metropolitan owns, operates, and
<br />manages the CRA. Metropolitan is responsible for operating, maintaining, rehabilitating, and repairing the CRA, and
<br />is responsible for obtaining and scheduling energy resources adequate to power pumps at the CRA’s five pumping
<br />stations.
<br />Colorado River supplies include Metropolitan’s basic Colorado River apportionment, along with supplies that result
<br />from existing and committed programs, including supplies from the Imperial Irrigation District (IID)-Metropolitan
<br />Conservation Program, the implementation of the Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA) and related
<br />agreements, and the exchange agreement with San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA). The QSA established
<br />the baseline water use for each of the agreement parties and facilitates the transfer of water from agricultural
<br />agencies to urban uses. Since the QSA, additional programs have been implemented to increase Metropolitan’s CRA
<br />supplies. These include the PVID Land Management, Crop Rotation, and Water Supply Program, as well as the Lower
<br />Colorado River Water Supply Project. The 2007 Interim Guidelines provided for the coordinated operation of Lake
<br />Powell and Lake Mead, as well as the Intentionally Created Surplus (ICS) program that allows Metropolitan to store
<br />water in Lake Mead.
<br />1 A standby charge is collected from properties within the service areas of 21 of Metropolitan’s 26 member agencies, ranging from
<br />$5 to $14.20 per acre annually, or per parcel if smaller than an acre. Standby charges go towards those member agencies’
<br />obligations to Metropolitan for the Readiness-to-Serve Charge. The total amount collected annually is approximately $43.8 million,
<br />approximately 2 percent of Metropolitan’s fiscal year 2021 annual budgeted revenues.
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