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.
Mark your calendars now for our upcoming fall 2026
programs! Registration will open soon, so make sure
you’re among the first to hear by signing up for Foundation announcements!
Water Summit | October 29
Don’t miss the Water Education
Foundation’s 42ⁿᵈ annual Water
Summit in downtown Sacramento! Our premier event of
the year features leading policymakers and experts addressing
critical water issues in California and across the West.
Our Layperson’s
Guide to California Water has been completely
updated for 2026, providing a comprehensive overview of the
ways water is used, as well as its critical ecological role,
throughout the state. The 24-page publication traces the history
of the vital resource at the core of California’s identity,
politics and culture since its founding in 1850.
A group of states that use water from the Colorado River is
proposing a new way to break the deadlock in negotiations about
the river’s future: bringing in a moderator. After states blew
through a mid-February deadline for a new plan about sharing
the river’s shrinking supply, the Upper Basin states of
Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Utah are calling
for state leaders to return to the negotiating table and bring
a moderator into the room. “I really would like to see the
swords laid down,” Becky Mitchell, Colorado’s top water
negotiator, told KJZZ. “Particularly the threats of litigation.
That creates a scenario where it’s really hard to be creative.”
A plan to install a tunnel beneath a 45-mile stretch of the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta has moved closer to final approval
after a state agency determined most of the project’s
certification was consistent with a regulatory plan. … The
Delta Stewardship Council voted 6-1 Thursday to return two
issues related to the Delta Conveyance Project back to the
California Department of Water Resources for further review,
while rejecting most appeals filed by 10 groups challenging the
project’s compliance with policies. … The decision
allows the state to continue advancing permitting for the
proposed 36-foot diameter tunnel, which is intended to
move excess rain and flood water through the Delta and
deliver it directly into the State Water Project.
As California heads into its dry season, its major
reservoirs are in good shape, with statewide
storage on Friday estimated to be 20% above
normal for this time of
year. Robust rainfall in April has given a
slight boost in places — especially welcome after
an unusually dry March. The state’s overall water outlook
remains complicated, however. The Sierra snowpack,
which effectively functions as a frozen reservoir, is far below
normal. The Colorado River system, which is critical
for Southern California’s water supply, is also struggling amid
a deepening drought and below-average snowfall in the
Rocky Mountains. … The largest reservoir in California,
Shasta Lake, was at 91% of total capacity through Thursday,
which is 9% above its historical average.
The Arvin-Edison Water Storage District found invasive golden
mussels in its system last December, quickly approved a $2.5
million budget and by the first week of April had already
completed a 30-day treatment. … Time is of the essence
as golden mussel breeding ramps up with the temperature. The
mussels are tiny but cling to equipment and inside pipes,
building on each other until pipes are clogged and equipment
fails. … Meanwhile, at its April 23 meeting, the Kern
County Water Agency approved spending $350,000 to hire a
consultant to develop a mussel treatment plan. This comes more
than a month after KCWA staff notified the board that they had
already been battling an ongoing, significant infestation in a
key piece of the county’s water infrastructure, the Cross
Valley Canal.
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.
During California’s 2012–2016 drought, much of the state
experienced severe drought conditions: significantly less
precipitation and snowpack, reduced streamflow and higher
temperatures. Those same conditions reappeared early in 2021
prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom in May to declare drought emergencies
in watersheds across 41 counties in California.
