Truckee Meadows Water Authority’s vision is “to enhance the quality of life in the Truckee Meadows by delivering exceptional, customer-focused water services.” In doing so, TMWA takes on projects that improve the reliability of high-quality water while protecting the environment, and evaluating economic and financial impacts of those decisions. Because water is one of the greatest resources in our community, it’s important to protect its viability for generations down the road.
As environmental concerns grow within the Reno-Tahoe community, so does TMWA’s corporate responsibility. TMWA is dedicated to continually reducing its carbon footprint and reevaluate its energy consumption.
It takes energy to divert, treat and deliver high-quality water to TMWA’s customers. Although gravity does a lot of the work, it requires an average of 50 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year to maintain water operations. Three run-of-the-river hydroelectric plants, on the Truckee River and just west of Reno, provide enough clean, renewable power to make TMWA carbon neutral during a normal precipitation year.
TMWA has several other green strategies in place:
- Using off-peak energy to operate the treatment plants and pump stations whenever possible
- Ensuring capital improvement projects incorporate energy savings wherever possible
- Installing other renewable energy projects with reasonable payback periods
- Running our fleet of work trucks on biodiesel fuel
- Reducing, reusing and recycling as many office products as possible
For details on TMWA’s green initiatives and to find out more, visit here.
