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.
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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 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.
Time is running out to register for next Thursday’s Water
101 Workshop and go beyond the headlines to gain a
deeper understanding of how water is managed and moved across
California. Plus, only a handful of seats remain for the
opportunity to extend your ‘beyond the headlines’ water education
experience on the optional watershed tour the next day!
The latest forecasts for Colorado River water supply are
strikingly poor, and the impacts of a dry winter on the region
are starting to come into sharp, upsetting focus. Wide swaths
of the Rocky Mountains saw meager snowfall, setting the region
on course for the driest conditions in recorded
history. That shortage could threaten major
reservoirs, dams and the water supply for central Arizona.
About 85% of the Colorado River starts as mountain snow,
largely in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. Scientists described the
conditions as “seriously dry,” “dismal” and “depressing” in an
otherwise rote briefing on the state of Western drought hosted
by federal forecasters.
U.S. intelligence agencies are “urgently warning”
private-sector companies nationwide that Iranian actors are
conducting cyber operations targeting critical U.S.
infrastructure, a campaign that has already caused disruptions.
… [T]he EPA warned that Iran’s cyberattack had already
disrupted “commonly used operational technology at
drinking water and wastewater systems,” and
that the federal government is “diligently working to ensure
that Americans can rely on clean and safe
water.” “Cyberattacks on drinking water and wastewater
systems directly threaten public health and community
resilience,” Jeffrey A. Hall, the EPA’s assistant administrator
for enforcement and compliance assurance, said in a statement.
The state Water Resources Control Board unanimously approved
releasing the Delta-Mendota subbasin from potential enforcement
actions at its April 7 meeting. … Landowners in the
region will escape probation, which requires growers to meter
wells, register them at $300 each and pay $20 per acre foot
pumped. In order to avoid state sanctions, the 23 Groundwater
Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) that cover the Delta-Mendota
subbasin submitted one coordinated groundwater plan that
addressed negative impacts, such as land sinking and decreased
water levels. … Delta-Mendota is the fourth subbasin in
the San Joaquin Valley to avoid state intervention.
The Bureau of Reclamation announced Tuesday that it will
temporarily release more water from Keswick Dam into the
Sacramento River to help juvenile Chinook salmon safely
make their journey to the ocean. The move came about
two weeks after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released
more than 6.2 million young salmon from Coleman Hatchery into
Battle Creek, prompting conservationists to urge the agency to
increase dam-releases into Sacramento River that’s facing low
flows. … Meanwhile, the announcement also came as the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service announced its plan to release more
than 2 million salmon into Battle Creek on Tuesday.
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.
