On September 26, 2024, DOI announced that it has signed five new water conservation agreements to protect the Colorado River Basin. Agreements with the Imperial Irrigation District (California), the Bard Water District (California), and the Metropolitan Water District (California) are short-term agreements through the Lower Basin System Conservation and Efficiency Program. Agreements with the Gila River Indian Community (Arizona) represent the first long-term agreements to be signed under DOI’s $700 million investment announced in June 2024 to support long-term drought and climate resilience of the Lower Colorado River Basin.
The short- and long-term conservation agreements are supported by IRA section 50233, which appropriated $4 billion for grants to public entities and Indian tribes to conduct drought mitigation activities.