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.
Are you an emerging leader ready to
make a greater impact on California water policy and management?
Applications are now being accepted for the Water Education
Foundation’s 2027
California Water Leaders cohort, with submissions
due Dec. 3.
Designed for rising professionals in California’s water
community, the program offers participants an unparalleled
opportunity to deepen their understanding of water issues, expand
their professional network and develop leadership skills
alongside a cohort of peers from across the state.
Visit the
application page, paying close attention
to frequently asked questions and mandatory
program dates to ensure you can fully
participate.
Confirm that you have your organization’s support and can
commit the time necessary to partipating in the program.
Interested in learning more? Join our exeuctive director, Jenn
Bowles, and other members of the Foundation team for
a virtual Q&A session at 12:30 p.m. on Nov.
10. We’ll provide an overview of the program and
share tips for submitting a strong application. Sign up here.
What role will desalination play in
the arid West? That topic is one of many engaging conversations
that will be explored at our Oct. 29 Water
Summit revolving around this year’s theme,
Stewarding a New Era in Western Water.
Led by Central Arizona Project’s General Manager Brenda Burman,
the panel will discuss all topics worth their
salt - from emerging desalination technologies to the
latest developments in innovative desalination programs to the
regulatory challenges and opportunities that face the region.
The panel of accomplished speakers will provide deep
insight on desalination’s implications for water management
in the West.
The Water Summit is the Foundation’s premier event of
the year and returns to Sacramento on Oct. 29
with leading policymakers and experts addressing critical water
issues in California and across the West. Capacity is
limited and registration closes soon, so grab your ticket
here while they’re still available!
People and agencies facing the effects of proposed changes to
a major California water plan spoke in waves
Wednesday, making their cases to the state’s water board. The
State Water Resources Control Board is proposing amendments to
the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta water
quality control plan. The plan sets water quality goals
for the Bay-Delta, a massive watershed that provides drinking
and municipal water to some 30 million people, along with
irrigation water for 4 million acres. The law requires
periodic updates to the plan, leading to a multiyear process
that culminated in a two- to three-day meeting that began
Wednesday. The water board did not vote on the proposed
changes that day.
Leaders from three tribes in northeastern Arizona urged
Congress on Wednesday to pass legislation settling their water
rights, saying the agreement would ensure their access
to the vital resource and provide greater certainty for water
users across the Colorado River basin. The
legislation, known as the Northeastern Arizona Indian Water
Rights Settlement Act, was the focus of a panel discussion. …
It featured leaders from the Hopi Tribe, San Juan Southern
Paiute Tribe and Navajo Nation. A settlement would resolve the
tribes’ outstanding water claims, fund a pipeline from
Lake Powell to deliver water and create trust funds for the
three tribes. It would also establish a reservation
for the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe and allow the Navajo
Nation and Hopi Tribe to lease their Upper Basin
Colorado River water to other Arizona users — a
provision that Upper Basin states oppose.
San Diego has unveiled its long-awaited plan to prevent
a major flood at Lake Hodges Dam: spend $30 million to $50
million to structurally shrink the unsound dam by
lowering its spillway from 315 feet to 280 feet. The proposed
project, which will take an estimated seven years to complete,
is unpopular with civic groups near the 108-year-old
dam, who prefer a higher water level for recreational
and wildfire-prevention reasons. City officials say
the seven-year project is considered an “interim solution” and
that they are still pursuing a nearby replacement dam
that might start being built shortly after the existing dam’s
spillway is lowered. Civic groups, including Friends
of Lake Hodges, are questioning the financial sensibility of
pursuing the interim spillway-lowering project when a long-term
solution might be built so quickly afterward.
… A historically strong El Niño is poised
to raise water levels higher than ever [in San
Rafael]. … It’s a particular concern for San
Rafael’s Canal District, where nearly one-fifth of city
residents are already living largely below sea
level. City officials are warning that muddied
seawater could fill neighborhood streets and take hours or even
days to recede. Since the only two evacuation routes
are at risk of flooding, emergency responders would have to
rescue stranded residents by boat. … Earlier
this month, the city declared a local state of emergency. It
set aside $500,000 in city funds and secured $3 million from
the county for flood preparedness and
response. These funds will go toward more water
pumps and community outreach, but it may not be enough.
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.
