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!
Much like a household puts money into a savings account,
Southern Nevada has been setting aside part of its allocated
Colorado River water in Lake Mead for the last two
decades. At the end of 2025, the state had approximately
890,000 acre-feet of that water in the proverbial bank,
according to the Bureau of Reclamation’s annual water
accounting report. Nevada’s bank holds nearly three
years’ worth of the water the state can take from the
river, which is capped at 300,000 acre-feet a year.
… But under federal rules for the river, most of the
water can’t be taken out once Lake Mead drops below 1,000 feet
above sea level. Water levels at the lake sat at 1,037
feet on Oct. 18, according to the Bureau of Reclamation.
… The bank may also stop growing. Under Reclamation’s
river operating rules, no new water can be added to the
bank after Dec. 31 unless the Lower Basin reaches an
agreement.
The concrete is barely dry from the repairs made when storms in
2023 hammered California’s Central Coast and beyond. Yet
already many of the hard-hit coastal communities are bracing
for another possible drubbing with El Niño. From Santa Cruz to
Big Sur to Pacifica, local leaders say they’re doing what they
can to safeguard vulnerable infrastructure while
heeding lessons from the past to improve their emergency
response and better prepare residents for disaster.
Such seaside landmarks as Santa Cruz’s West Cliff Drive,
Capitola Village, scenic Highway 1 south of Monterey and the
beaches of Half Moon Bay are among the areas where officials
anticipate potential problems over the next few months. Many of
these sites remain in various states of recovery from
the turbulent atmospheric rivers of late 2022 and early
2023, which prompted a federal disaster declaration
across much of the state.
After floods inundated homes, washed out roads and destroyed
bridges across southern Utah over the past two
weeks, Gov. Spencer Cox on Friday declared a 30-day
state of emergency in San Juan and Washington
counties. This declaration allows the state to support local
recovery efforts and potentially receive federal assistance,
according to the governor’s office. San Juan County
declared a state of emergency on Nov. 1 and the town of Bluff
declared an emergency on Oct. 25. Leaders and residents across
the county have also told The Tribune in recent weeks that they
want the state to declare an emergency as well to mobilize
additional resources. … The declaration may
bring in federal aid to add to the assistance that’s
already been expended in southwest Utah.
Construction crews have finished a huge new $307 million outlet
tunnel at Anderson Dam, completing a key step in a $3.2 billion
seismic project to rebuild the largest dam in Santa
Clara County —and reduce the risk of flooding
this winter in San Jose as a historically strong
El Niño winter approaches. The new tunnel,
which is 24 feet high and 1,736 feet long with a
13-foot-diameter steel pipe running through the middle, has
been under construction for two years. It will allow the
sprawling reservoir east of Highway 101 near Morgan Hill
to be drained more quickly in the event of an
earthquake, extreme storm or other incident.
… The dam’s previous outlet pipe was very small, which
contributed to the floods in downtown San Jose during
major storms in 2017.
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.
