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 executive 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!
The San Juan River crested below historic levels officials had
feared, but flooding continued across southwestern Colorado on
Monday as saturated ground and additional rain heightened the
risk of more water inundating communities and roads. As of 6
a.m. Monday, the San Juan River stood about 16 feet,
which is above major flooding levels but below the levels
forecast Sunday. … With the ground already
saturated and infrastructure damaged by last week’s storm,
Sunday’s rain compounded flooding problems across the region.
… Rain is forecast to continue to fall Monday
and widespread flooding and washed-out roads will make
travel nearly impossible, the National Weather Service said.
The agency also warned of a high risk of landslides,
rockfalls and debris flows.
Kern County water managers and officials were left scratching
their heads after the California Governor’s Office of Emergency
Services (CalOES) refused to declare an
emergency due to golden mussels because
“…there is no identified long-term solution to eliminate or
control the continuation of the Golden Mussel
Invasion,” according to a letter from CalOES. Without
an emergency declaration, local water agencies aren’t eligible
for California Disaster Assistance Act funding to help defray
what’s conservatively estimated to be more than $36
million in annual costs to combat the invasive pest.
… Meanwhile, the best locals can do is tamp down
infestations within their own systems, which has become an
expensive ongoing game of Whac-a-Mole for some.
Microplastics are everywhere — including in Nevada’s snowpack.
After years of skiing on freshly fallen snow in remote
locations across the Sierra Nevada, Aleksandra Karapetrov — an
environmental toxicologist at the University of California,
Riverside — wondered how pristine the snow really
was. Over six months, Karapetrov and a team of University
of California, Riverside scientists tested fresh
snowfall at seven sites across the Sierra Nevada and found
something they did not expect: a steady delivery of tiny
plastic fibers, even in the most remote locations.
… The study, published this month in the journal
Environmental Science and Technology, found significant
amounts of microplastics in fresh snowfall at both remote and
populated sites across the Sierra Nevada, which
supplies about 60% of freshwater in northern Nevada.
Arizona is turning up the heat on a new federal plan for
managing the Colorado River. Major cutbacks are coming for the
state’s water supply. Top water officials say the cuts are
unfair and illegal. Now, they’re taking that argument to court.
The Arizona Department of Water Resources filed a motion to
intervene in Nevada’s lawsuit against the federal government.
The Central Arizona Project — which operates a 336-mile canal
system that carries Colorado River Water to the Phoenix and
Tucson areas — did the same less than two weeks later. …
Water law experts say this case will take a while to
play out, and reading between the lines of its
argument, states are propping the door open for a much
more consequential court battle some call the “nuclear
option.” So, what does the latest lawsuit do, what
doesn’t it do, and what does it mean for the future of
Arizona’s water?
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.
