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.
Denver Water can finish its Gross Dam expansion and fill the
controversial reservoir in western Boulder County, the 10th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday, lifting an
injunction by a lower court judge and confirming the dam’s
permits as sound. The appeals court said the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers had acted responsibly in issuing
construction permits for the $600 million expansion,
which is largely complete and will be filled using
water rights Denver holds in the Colorado River basin
on the western side of the Continental Divide. While a
federal district judge in Denver had issued the injunction
after declaring the Corps had failed to consider less-damaging
alternatives, or the fact that climate change could rob
Colorado of river water, the appeals court rejected that
view.
As the region braces for the looming threat of flooding posed
by a strengthening El Niño system expected to batter much of
the West Coast this winter, Sonoma County’s
northernmost city is working to safeguard critical power and
water infrastructure from flood damage. The Cloverdale
City Council earlier this month unanimously passed a
resolution declaring a local emergency — the first in Sonoma
County — in anticipation of what’s expected to be another
heavy, if not, historically stormy winter. … The city,
which sits directly adjacent to the Russian
River, is no stranger to the chaos unleashed by
atmospheric rivers that have in recent years drenched the
region and led river levels to rise.
San Diego County officials presented preliminary findings
Tuesday from a long-awaited study that estimates the Tijuana
River sewage and pollution crisis costs the regional economy
between $125.6 million and $503.5 million annually,
with unmitigated losses potentially reaching $7.9
billion over 20 years. The Board of Supervisors
received the draft report during its regular meeting, though no
action was required. The board directed the county’s chief
administrative officer in September 2025 to commission the
study, which was ultimately awarded to the consulting firm
ECOnorthwest. Supervisor Paloma Aguirre said the
findings will bolster the county’s case for outside
intervention and aid in this crisis.
From neighborhood protests to countywide moratoriums, water-
and energy-intensive data centers have united protesters who
distrust the industrial behemoths. … There are now
more than 70 data centers either operating in or
planned for Nevada, but as more are planned, Nevadans
across the state are turning out in droves at public meetings
to speak against their construction. … Water
consumption per data center varies. … City of Reno
planning numbers forecast the Keystone and Webb data centers —
which are on the “smaller” side for data centers, requiring
less than 30 megawatts of power per project — will each require
around 650,000 gallons of water a year. … Across
Southern Nevada, data centers account for about 0.5
percent of water usage. Golf courses account for more than 5
percent while casinos use 7 percent.
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.
