Achieves Gold Status for Leadership in Sustainable Water Management
Inland Empire, CA – At today’s Board of Directors meeting, the Water Foundation presented the Inland Empire Utilities Agency (IEUA/Agency) with a Gold rating for the Agency’s Sustainable Water Management Profile (SWM Profile).
IEUA earned a truly exceptional Gold rating for providing leadership and support for the planning, implementation and collaboration needed for sustainable water supply management for its member agencies, regional partners and the people who share dependence on common water supplies. These efforts, especially in recycled water, groundwater cleanup and recharge, and water efficiency, have achieved more stable and sufficient local water supplies and improved water quality.
The Water Foundation developed the SWM Profile, a pilot program, to drive improvement in regional water supply stewardship. The SWM Profile is a collaborative effort among experts in the field of water management and sustainability. Led by the Water Foundation, the SWM Profile project team includes representatives from Environmental Science Associates, The Bay Institute, and Sonoma Ecology Center, as well as technical support from M.Cubed and Mike Antos of California State University, Northridge.
The SWM Profile assesses how a water supply agency is performing by examining the water supplies it directly or indirectly relies upon. Using simple metrics, the SWM Profile identifies the vulnerability of water systems to key stressors (also known as risks or threats) in the areas of environment, supply, demand and finance. The SWM Profile evaluates management responses to these stressors by the water agency and the broader region.
“IEUA recognizes the need for long-term sustainability of water supplies and the importance of collaboration beyond our service area while always considering the future. IEUA continues to work with its member agencies, the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority (SAWPA), the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and others to achieve sustainability,” stated IEUA Board President Steve Elie. “Collaboration and demonstrated progress are two identifiers which led to our excellent ranking. We will continue to both lead and collaborate to achieve long term regional sustainability.” “IEUA leads the way in sustainability.
“The SWM Profile demonstrates this by revealing IEUA’s accomplishments,” stated Susan Longville, SAWPA Chair and San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District Board President. “I appreciate our collaborative efforts with IEUA, and would like to see other agencies evaluated in the future. This evaluation reveals ideas that help chart the future for sustainability. The SWM Profile ranking is in-depth and rigorous, which is something that we need.” “The SWM Profile was created to provide a framework to encourage progress on the path of sustainability. Very few, if any, profile subjects are expected to achieve a Gold rating given the profound gap between what is presently considered to be ‘leading practice’ water management and true sustainable water management,” stated Mike Myatt, Water Foundation Program Officer. “I applaud IEUA for taking part in the SWM Profile. IEUA has taken accountability and responsibility for sustainable practices and continues to demonstrate progress toward this goal. This process has proved to be useful in providing a model for those that think achieving sustainability is beyond their reach.”
For more information and to see the Technical Report visit http://waterfdn.org/resources/swmprofile.
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The Water Foundation is a non-profit philanthropy that strives to improve the long-term availability of clean, safe water for cities, farms and the environment. As an advocate for better water policies and management, the Water Foundation invests in a sustainable, resilient future for the American West. The Sustainable Water Management Profile is a tool for advancing long-term water supply resilience and water resource stewardship at a regional scale. The Profile provides standards for assessing water supply vulnerability to key stressors, and for evaluating the responses of water supply agencies to those stressors.
The Inland Empire Utilities Agency covers 242-square miles, distributes imported water, provides industrial/municipal wastewater collection and treatment services, and other related utility services to more than 875,000 people through its member agencies which include Chino, Chino Hills, Cucamonga Valley Water District, Fontana, Fontana Water Company, Montclair, Monte Vista Water District, Ontario, and Upland.