Championing Strategic Leadership in Water and Forest Sustainability

Elvy Barton is the Water and Forest Sustainability Senior Manager at Salt River Project (SRP). She leads SRP’s water conservation and forest health initiatives. Before joining SRP, Elvy worked as a Senior Policy Advisor at the Arizona Legislature, covering natural resource and environmental policy issues. In addition to working at SRP, she is an academic associate at the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University. She holds a Masters in Public Administration and an Executive Masters in Sustainability Leadership from Arizona State University.

In an exclusive interview with Energy Business Review, Barton shares her insights on the nuances of forest and water sustainability and discusses the sector’s challenges and opportunities.

1. Please provide a brief overview of your current role and responsibilities at Salt River Project.

In my current role at Salt River Project, I lead a team dedicated to growing SRP’s forest health and water conservation projects, partnerships, and policy initiatives. I work closely with government agencies, non-profit organizations, corporations, and customers to develop and fund nature-based solutions and water conservation projects. Our nature and conservation financing are centered around leveraging SRP funding to secure additional grants and donations. We also have an innovative partner model that attracts corporate investments. We have secured five corporate partners investing over $5 million across 14 nature-based projects to date. On average, our  team secures $6-8 million every year in funding from various partners that want to invest in our collaboratively developed, stakeholder-driven projects. Our nature-based projects are landscaped-scale public land restoration projects trying to achieve beneficial ecological outcomes while meeting social and economic demands.

2. What are the most significant challenges and successes you’ve encountered in your efforts to improve forest health and sustainability?

We have encountered two interrelated challenges in our efforts to scale forest health and sustainability. The first challenge is that almost all of the land in need of restoration and with a high wildfire risk is National Forest System Land managed by the US Forest Service. Federal land ownership presents challenges to providing a consistent supply of forest projects and timber to the forest product industry. A consistent supply chain is a critical ingredient to ensuring a stable forest product industry.

 

It is incredible how much collective funding can bring about exponential change

The second challenge is sustaining and growing our forest product industry. Volatile timber markets, an aging workforce, inflation and increased costs put a lot of strain on an industry with tight profit margins. It is hard to sustain the existing industry while also growing and diversifying it. Without a robust and stable forest product industry, it is impossible to scale restoration work to substantially reduce wildfire risk.

3. Can you share examples of successful collaborations between industry, government, and non-profits in forest management?

Yes! One of my favorite partnerships is with the U.S. Forest Service and the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management. This unique partnership, made possible through the Good Neighbor Authority, granted by Congress, allows this federal, state, and utility partnership to tackle more projects every year. We currently have two MOUs and are bringing on two new MOUs under this partnership that will help thin up to 166,000 acres over ten years.

My other favorite partnership is our SRP Resilient Water and Forest Initiative. This initiative allows us to partner with businesses with shared water resiliency goals. The corporate partners help fund thinning projects and we provide them with quantified water benefits that they can use to meet water resiliency goals. To date, we have received corporate commitments over $5M for 14 projects.

4. What are your long-term forest and water sustainability goals, and how do you plan to achieve them?

SRP’s forest health goal is to help thin 800,000 acres by 2035. Reaching this goal will be challenging, but we believe that through unique partnerships and innovative financing mechanisms, we will be successful.

5. What advice do you have for organizations dealing with the complexities of sustainability?

I think step one is to understand the risk of wildfire and postwildfire flooding on your assets and customers. Sometimes, the risk is direct or indirect. If possible, try to understand the economic impact associated with the direct and indirect risks. The next step is investing in voluntary actions that reduce your risk and provide longer-term resiliency. For SRP, that meant that we invest in landscape-scale forest thinning activities. Investment can start small and grow over time. You can also leverage your investment to bring others to the table and draw down federal and state grants. It’s incredible how much collective funding can bring about exponential change.