Watch our series of short videos on the importance of the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, how it works as a water hub for
California and the challenges it is facing.
When a person opens a spigot to draw a glass of water, he or she
may be tapping a source close to home or hundreds of miles away.
Water gets to taps via a complex web of aqueducts, canals and
groundwater.
Learn more about our team in the office and on the Board of
Directors and how you can support our nonprofit mission by
donating in someone’s honor or memory, or becoming a regular
contributor or supporting specific projects.
Unlike California’s majestic rivers and massive dams and
conveyance systems, groundwater is out of sight and underground,
though no less plentiful. The state’s enormous cache of
underground water is a great natural resource and has contributed
to the state becoming the nation’s top agricultural producer and
leader in high-tech industries.
A new era of groundwater management began in 2014 in California
with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. The landmark law
turned 10 in 2024, with many challenges still ahead.
Our 42ⁿᵈ annual Water
Summit, an engaging day of discussions addressing
critical water issues in California and across the West, will be
held on Thursday, Oct. 29, in Sacramento with the theme,
Stewarding a New Era in Western Water.
Speakers and conversations will highlight emerging topics related
to the challenges and opportunities facing management of the
West’s most precious natural resource.
Lively conversations will focus on topics such
as:
The mandate to identify 9 million acre-feet of additional
water supply in California by 2040
The need for clarity in the ongoing AI/data center discourse
related to water resources management
The latest developments in desalination efforts and their
implications for the arid West
A full agenda will be posted soon, and speakers
include:
Joel Metzger | Deputy Director, Statewide
Water Resources Planning, California Department of Water
Resources
Sandi Matsumoto | California Water Program
Director, The Nature Conservancy
Cannon Michael | President, Bowles
Farming
Craig Miller | General Manager, Western
Municipal Water District
Dave Pederson | General Manager, Las Virgenes
Municipal Water District
As previously announced,
the day will open with a keynote address from Tom
Gibson, the new director of California’s Department of
Water Resources. An attorney who has held several roles in
the state’s Natural Resources Agency and its various departments,
Gibson was appointed by Gov. Newsom on June 29 and sworn in on
July 6 to lead DWR and its nearly 4,000 employees.
As your summer adventures wrap up, be sure to reserve your spot
for our popular fall programs. Seating is limited and will fill
up quickly!
Water Summit | October 29
Our 42ⁿᵈ
annual Water Summit is the Foundation’s
premier event of the year and returns to Sacramento October 29
with leading policymakers and experts addressing critical water
issues in California and across the West.
Just one year after the signing of Senate Bill 72, the Summit will
feature a panel discussion of California’s 2028 Water
Plan Update as it undergoes a legislatively
mandated shift from being just a guidance document to a blueprint
providing a framework for implementation of actions.
A bill that exemplifies the lack of water for farming in
California just passed the state Legislature. It makes
it easier for farmers to convert their fields to solar
panels. Decades ago, state lawmakers were concerned
about too many farms being turned into new subdivisions. So in
1965, the state started giving tax breaks to growers who agreed
to keep their land in farming. But now farmers who want to
switch to solar are finding the strict rules are like expensive
locks on their property, with high fees to get out of the
agreements. The bill adopted Monday night targets areas
where growers are now limited in how much groundwater they can
pump and are being forced to leave some of their land
dry and unplanted.
As El Niño continues to strengthen, data is increasingly points
to a clear pattern this upcoming snow season: a wet winter for
California, and a warm winter for the Pacific Northwest. …
With models projecting an inch or three or extra snowfall for
the first month of 2027, a below-average snow year is looking
increasingly unlikely. … There are, of course, a few
caveats. First, this is only modeled snowfall, not
standing snowpack. Warmer temperatures
brought on by El Niño’s extra heat could work to melt
additional snowfall even at higher elevations. Indeed,
both the climate prediction center’s new seasonal outlook and
our suite of climate models point to
warmer-than-average temperatures across Northern
California this winter.
California lawmakers will spend up to $125 million in state
funds to help buy and turn Golden Gate Fields, the 161-acre
former horse racing track along the East Bay shoreline, into a
public park — a priority of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s. The
funding will come from Proposition 4, the
voter-approved $10 billion bond for climate projects such as
drinking water, wildfire prevention and land
conservation, despite concerns from environmental
advocates and lawmakers that diverting the money would
drain limited resources from those other priorities.
… Newsom’s proposal is now included in Assembly
Bill/Senate Bill 113, which lawmakers are poised to
adopt by Tuesday.
One of the most striking signs of the low snowpack and
drought that has plagued Colorado this year can be
found by driving by Green Mountain Reservoir in Grand County.
The reservoir, first filled in the 1940s, sits at its lowest
level since the 1960s, when it was drained for maintenance
work. Low snowpack is driving this summer’s low levels. The
reservoir has dropped so far that people can cross it on foot
without getting their feet wet. But that’s proving to be a bit
of an advantage, as Northern Water is using that low
level to make critical repairs to the reservoir that will save
both time and money. Notably, the spillway apron for
the dam is 80 years old and in need of repair.
Operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the
Bay Model is a giant hydraulic replica of San Francisco
Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta. It is housed in a converted World II-era
warehouse in Sausalito near San Francisco.
Hundreds of gallons of water are pumped through the
three-dimensional, 1.5-acre model to simulate a tidal ebb
and flow lasting 14 minutes.
As part of the historic Colorado
River Delta, the Salton Sea regularly filled and dried for
thousands of years due to its elevation of 237 feet below
sea level.
The most recent version of the Salton Sea was formed in 1905 when
the Colorado River broke
through a series of dikes and flooded the seabed for two years,
creating California’s largest inland body of water. The
Salton Sea, which is saltier than the Pacific Ocean, includes 130
miles of shoreline and is larger than Lake Tahoe.
Drought — an extended period of
limited or no precipitation — is a fact of life in California and
the West, with water resources following boom-and-bust patterns.
No portion of the West has been immune to drought during the last
century and it occurs with much greater frequency in the West
than in any other region of the country.
