The largest water district in California has agreed to leave billions of gallons of water in Lake Mead this year in an effort to save America’s largest reservoir — in exchange for up to $65 million in cold hard cash.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California serves 26 different public water agencies, which in turn deliver water to about 19 million people spanning Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties. The water giant holds some of the oldest and largest rights to the Colorado River, and was founded in the 1920s to build the 242-mile aqueduct that diverts water from the river and toward Southern California’s population centers.
On Tuesday, the Metropolitan Water District Board of Directors agreed to leave up to 200,000 acre-feet of its allocated Colorado River water in Lake Mead this year. One acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons, considered enough water to serve about three households for a year. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will pay the water district $325 per acre-foot left in the lake, up to $65 million. The money comes from a fund set aside for water conservation in lower Colorado River states allocated through the Inflation Reduction Act signed by President Joe Biden in 2022.
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A record-low snowpack across the Colorado River Basin is intensifying concerns at Lake Mead, where water levels remain low in Lake Mead, Ariz., on April 30, 2026.
A record-low snowpack across the Colorado River Basin is intensifying concerns at Lake Mead, where water levels remain low in Lake Mead, Ariz., on April 30, 2026.RJ Sangosti/Denver Post via Getty Images
The move is a short-term attempt to slow the rapid decline of the reservoir as the West’s century-old water supply chain buckles under climate change and drought. This year, the Colorado River Basin saw a record-low snowpack, with the impact on reservoir levels reverberating throughout the system.
As of July 15, Lake Mead’s water level was 1,042.5 feet, which is 186.5 feet below the full pool level of 1,229 feet. Current water levels are also just one foot above the lowest water level ever recorded on the reservoir, of 1,041 feet in 2022. Federal officials have previously predicted that the water’s elevation will drop to 1,037 feet by July 2027. Even prediction markets have started betting on the rapid decline of Lake Mead.
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The fast-dropping water levels have led to a litany of challenges on the reservoir, including impacts on recreation such as toxic algae and closed hiking trails, and the looming question of what will happen to one of Southern California’s largest supplies of drinking water.
Lake Mead and the “bathtub ring” are shown along the Colorado River near the Hoover Dam in Boulder City, Nev., on March 14, 2025.
Lake Mead and the “bathtub ring” are shown along the Colorado River near the Hoover Dam in Boulder City, Nev., on March 14, 2025.Kevin Carter/Getty Images
This week, the combined storage level of Lake Mead and Lake Powell also dropped to the lowest level on record. The two reservoirs currently hold about 12.67 million acre-feet of water combined, the lowest amount since 1957, when the Glen Canyon Dam was under construction (which filled Lake Powell).
In a news release issued Tuesday, Metropolitan Water District officials said investments in other water sources, such as water recycling and groundwater recovery, made it possible to take less water from the Colorado River system this year. The district relies on imported water from the Colorado River and Northern California for nearly half of its total supplies.
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“Over the last 30 years, we’ve transformed how Southern California secures its water future. By investing in diverse water supplies, incentivizing conservation, and capturing and storing water whenever it’s available, we’ve added resilience to our system,” said Metropolitan Board Chair Adán Ortega, Jr., in the news release. “Those decades of forward-thinking investments allow us to step forward and help stabilize the Colorado River when it needs us most.”
Hoover Dam holds back the Colorado River, forming Lake Mead, where water levels remain low. As of April 2026, the reservoir is just under 35% capacity, the lowest since 2022, near Boulder City, Nev., on April 30, 2026.
Hoover Dam holds back the Colorado River, forming Lake Mead, where water levels remain low. As of April 2026, the reservoir is just under 35% capacity, the lowest since 2022, near Boulder City, Nev., on April 30, 2026.RJ Sangosti/Denver Post via Getty Images
The pay-for-conservation plan mirrors agreements made between the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and other water districts in recent years. Imperial Irrigation District, a powerful agency in the southeastern corner of California that holds the largest rights to the Colorado River, agreed in 2023 to leave approximately 100,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Mead in exchange for $77.6 million in federal funds for water conservation projects.
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The district later agreed to use 700,000 fewer acre-feet of Colorado River water between 2024 and 2026 in exchange for nearly $700 million in federal funds. Individual farmers in the region have received hundreds of dollars per acre-foot of water saved.
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Boats are moored at a marina on Lake Mead amid a drought at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, near Boulder City, Nev., on June 30, 2026.
Boats are moored at a marina on Lake Mead amid a drought at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, near Boulder City, Nev., on June 30, 2026.John Locher/AP
Near Blythe, the Palo Verde Irrigation District (which holds the oldest rights to the river water in California) agreed in 2021 to fallow fields and leave extra water in Lake Mead for $38 million.