Metropolitan Water District Statement on Colorado River Multi-Species Agreement.PHOENIX -- Dennis B. Underwood, vice president on Colorado River Colorado River River, south-central Argentina. Its major headstreams, the Grande and Barrancas rivers, flow southward from the Andes Mountains and meet to form the Colorado near the Chilean border. It flows southeastward across northern Patagonia and the southern Pampas. Resources for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is the largest bulk water supplier for municipal use in the world. The name is usually shortened to the "Metropolitan Water District" or simply "MWD". , releases the following statement regarding today's signing of a Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program Memorandum of Agreement A memorandum of agreement (MOA) or cooperative agreement is a document written between parties to cooperatively work together on an agreed upon project or meet an agreed upon objective. The purpose of an MOA is to have a written understanding of the agreement between parties. : "This agreement is a major step toward long-term, 50-year compliance for existing and future Colorado River water and power operations. It partners federal and state agencies to provide for the conservation of 27 species of fish, birds, mammals, reptiles and plants, and more than 8,000 acres of associated habitat, from Hoover Dam to the Mexican border. "It also will protect crucial drinking water drinking water supply of water available to animals for drinking supplied via nipples, in troughs, dams, ponds and larger natural water sources; an insufficient supply leads to dehydration; it can be the source of infection, e.g. leptospirosis, salmonellosis, or of poisoning, e.g. and electrical supplies for Nevada, Arizona and California, including those needed by urban Southern California's 18 million people and $600 billion economy. "Currently, the Colorado River Basin is experiencing its fifth year of drought, with some areas actually in their sixth year. But that will not last. Today's Memorandum of Agreement leads to Endangered Species Act The federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) (16 U.S.C.A. §§ 1531 et seq.) was enacted to protect animal and plant species from extinction by preserving the ecosystems in which they survive and by providing programs for their conservation. compliance for the three states over the next 50 years, including existing and future Colorado River water transfers, potential drought and shortage river management operations, and hydropower hy·dro·pow·er n. Hydroelectric power. operations. "This agreement adds to other recent major achievements in improving Colorado River and water supply management, including the offstream Interstate Colorado River Banking Rule, California's Quantification Settlement Agreement, Interim Surplus Guidelines, and the Inadvertent Water Use Overrun Payback Policy." The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a cooperative of 26 cities and water agencies serving 18 million people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource-management programs. |
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