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DWR named ‘Climate Action Leader’; Department aggressively working to reduce emissions

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 2, 2009 at 4:03 pm

dwr-logobig_thumb.gifFrom the Department of Water Resources, this press release:

The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has been named a “Climate Action Leader” by the California Climate Action Registry (CCAR). CCAR member organizations earn this special recognition by calculating, disclosing, and independently verifying their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

“The Governor has made it clear that state agencies must lead by example in the battle against climate change,” DWR Director Lester Snow said. “Measuring and verifying the carbon footprint of our department is a major first step in achieving significant reductions in carbon emissions. DWR is absolutely committed to minimizing the carbon footprint of its operations and has an aggressive plan in place to meet greenhouse gas reduction goals.”

During 2008, DWR voluntarily measured its prior-year (2007) GHG emissions, which totaled 3.24 million metric tons. This year, DWR officially reported those emissions after receiving certification from a CCAR-approved independent, third-party verifier. A copy of DWR’s 2007 annual emissions report can be found on the CCAR Web site: https://www.climateregistry.org/CARROT/public/reports.aspx

The majority of DWR’s GHG emissions come from the power it uses to operate the State Water Project (SWP), which delivers water to 25 million Californians and irrigates 700,000 acres of agricultural lands. However, in a given year over half of the power used by the SWP to deliver water comes from zero-carbon hydroelectricity. DWR is taking aggressive actions to reduce its carbon footprint, such as equipment and pumping refurbishments to increase efficiency, the inclusion of additional renewables into the power portfolio of the SWP and a variety of other activities.

DWR expects to meet CCAR’s deadline of June 30, 2009 to report its 2008 emissions, and anticipates the independent verification of this inventory by October 31, 2009. As indicated in its report, DWR anticipates meeting the AB 32 goal of reducing carbon emissions to 1990 levels at least six years earlier than the 2020 reduction target.

The California Climate Action Registry (www.climateregistry.org) is a non-profit organization originally formed by the state to serve as a voluntary registry to encourage GHG emissions reductions. The registry provides climate change leadership by developing and promoting credible, accurate, and consistent GHG reporting standards and tools for organizations to measure, monitor, third-party verify and reduce their GHG emissions consistently across industry sectors and geographical borders. Nearly 350 leading companies, cities, agencies, environmental organizations, educational institutions, and non-profits measure and publicly report their emissions through the registry. DWR joined the CCAR in May 2007.

June 2, 2009 · Filed Under Climate change & water supply

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