On Tuesday, Metropolitan’s Board of Directors voted to support a state-federal project to modernize the state water system and help improve supply reliability for the Southland. Metropolitan's board approved the district's 26 percent share of financing the California WaterFix project as well as moving forward on a governance structure to build and finance the $17 billion project. Metropolitan’s share is about $4.3 billion. Read press release and view how each board member voted. (Pictured above, Board Chairman Randy Record, left, and General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger.)

Catch up on the meetings:

• Watch the July 10 committee discussion and staff presentation and read the policy paper and fact sheet on infrastructure.
• Watch the July 25 committee discussion and staff presentation and read the policy paper and fact sheet on operations.
• Watch the Aug. 14 committee discussion and staff presentation and read the policy paper and fact sheet on finance and cost allocation.
• Watch the Sept. 26 committee discussion and staff presentation and read the Q&A.
• Watch the Oct. 10 board meeting.

Read the General Manager's H2outlook blogs "California WaterFix: History's Winding Road to 'Yes' " and "California WaterFix: How a Big Project Looks Smaller."

Watch new California WaterFix videos:

• Latest social media videos:
  • Gov. Jerry Brown Visits Southern California to Advocate for California WaterFix
  • What is the Timeline for California WaterFix?
  • Who Would Pay for California WaterFix?
  • Who Supports California WaterFix?
  • Perspectives on California WaterFix:
    • Business
    • Labor
    • Community
    • Environment

Find out more about California WaterFix by viewing a suite of online materials and online resources that includes the WaterFix website and toolkit, as well as publications, fact sheets, videos, detailed policy papers, enewsletters (read the latest one) and other material.

Metropolitan took a big step toward local water sustainability when it broke ground on the Regional Recycled Water demonstration facility in Carson. MWD directors, local, state and federal elected officials, community leaders and representatives from environmental groups gathered for the event. The Advanced Purification Center is a joint venture of Metropolitan and the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County. Once built, it is expected to operate for about a year and produce data needed to consider a full-scale project that could become the nation’s largest water recycling plant.

View the new recycled project website, watch a video explaining the project, and view a video recap of the event.

Metropolitan General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger issued a statement regarding the California Supreme Court decision to deny the San Diego County Water Authority’s petition for review of the state Court of Appeal’s decision on litigation challenging Metropolitan’s water transportation rates. Read more.

Metropolitan isn’t just a leader when it comes to Southern California water issues. It also played a leading role in negotiating an historic agreement between the United States and Mexico to manage shared Colorado River resources. The new agreement provides additional funding for water efficiency projects in Mexico and some of the conserved water could be used by U.S. funding agencies. Mexico has also committed to voluntary reductions in water use when Lake Mead hits specified low elevation targets. Some of this newly-conserved water would keep Lake Mead levels higher and provide improved environmental flows in the Colorado River Delta that will benefit species and habitat. Metropolian’s board approved the plan at its September meeting and the binational agreement was finalized two weeks later.

The new redesigned bewaterwise.com web page makes finding the large universe of water-saving rebates easier than ever to find. From residential indoor and outdoor water conservation tools and devices to those for business and industry, the bewaterwise.com rebates page is the one-stop place to find the many ways to save water while saving money too.

The latest phase of Metropolitan’s ongoing Love Letters water conservation campaign includes the installation of two "Spectaculars." These are oversized billboards that extend beyond the edges of a traditional billboard to attract attention. The eye-catching spectaculars show a beautiful butterfly thanking Southern Californians for saving water "for the birds and the bees and me." The billboards are located on the northbound Long Beach/710 freeway near Firestone Boulevard and in San Diego along the westbound 8 Freeway near the Fairmount Avenue exit. Read more about the campaign in Los Angeles magazine.

The U.S. EPA recently awarded Metropolitan with the 2017 WaterSense Excellence Award for its comprehensive program of incentives and rebates to advance conservation and promote WaterSense labeled products throughout its service area. Read more.

On Wednesday, the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, Rancho California Water District, Eastern Municipal Water District, and Metropolitan signed a historic agreement enabling the Tribe to augment its local supply of water, as confirmed through the Pechanga Water Settlement Agreement.

Watch our updated video on progress made on the Lake Oroville spillway.

While recently doing field survey work involving the Rialto Feeder near Fontana, Metropolitan Field Survey Team surveyors Mike Starr and Nick Ellis happened upon a rabbit trapped in a small vent pipe several feet below ground. Using equipment on hand – a level and level rod – Mike wedged the rabbit and carefully brought him up to the surface and freedom. Said Mike: “It made our day when he hopped away into the desert.” View a video from that day.

Radiologist Barry D. Pressman was seated on Tuesday as the city of Beverly Hills' representative on Metropolitan's board of directors. Pressman replaces Robert Wunderlich, who had served on the board since July 2007. Read press release.

Metropolitan is participating in many events in October to educate the public on the value of our projects, services, water systems and conservation programs. Recently, Metropolitan participated in CicLAvia's heart of downtown Los Angeles annual event.

California’s first-ever Water Professionals Appreciation Week launched Oct. 7 as part of a new annual designation to highlight the important role of water industry professionals and local public water agencies in ensuring safe and reliable water, wastewater, and recycled water in our state. Metropolitan celebrated employees during the week and will continue to through the end of the month. Read more.