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.
Some people in California and across the West struggle to access
safe, reliable and affordable water to meet their everyday needs
for drinking, cooking and sanitation.
There are many ways to support our nonprofit mission by donating
in someone’s honor or memory, 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.
The Foundation’s 2025 programming calendar begins in just a
few months and is packed with engaging tours, workshops and
conferences on key water topics in California and across the
West. Seating is limited and tickets go quickly for all our
programs, so mark your calendar now so you don’t miss out!
Current Foundation member organizations receive access to
coveted sponsorships opportunities for our tours and
events, which are all prime networking opportunities for
the water professionals in attendance! Contact
Nick Gray for more information.
Lower Colorado River Tour: March 12-14
Be sure to catch the return of our
annual Lower Colorado
River Tour as we take you from Hoover Dam to
the U.S.-Mexico border and through the Imperial and
Coachella valleys to learn about the challenges and opportunities
facing the “Lifeline of the Southwest.”
Following the river as it winds through Nevada, Arizona and
California, the tour explores infrastructure, farming
regions, wildlife refuges and the Salton Sea. Experts discuss
river issues, such as water needs, drought management, endangered
species and habitat restoration. Get more tour details and
register
here!
Since 1977, the Water Education
Foundation has worked to inspire better understanding
and catalyze critical conversations about our most vital
natural resource: water.
This is not a mission our impartial nonprofit can carry out
alone.
Today on Giving Tuesday, a global day of philanthropy, please
consider making a
tax-deductible donation to support the important
work we do to provide impartial education and foster informed
decision-making on water issues in California and the West.
The board of California’s largest urban water supplier voted on
Tuesday to spend $141.6 million for a large share of the
preliminary planning work on the state’s proposed water tunnel
in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. With the decision,
the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California will
continue covering nearly half of the preconstruction costs for
the proposed 45-mile tunnel beneath the Delta, which Gov. Gavin
Newsom says the state needs to protect the water supply in the
face of climate change and earthquake risks. “This is about
planning for the next 100 years,” said Adán Ortega, Jr., chair
of the MWD board. The MWD’s 38-member board decided to approve
the funding after heated debate.
… The [U.S. Supreme Court] justices heard oral arguments over
the controversial stretch of track that would connect the
remote Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah to national rail lines,
allowing more waxy crude from one of the nation’s largest oil
fields to be transported to refineries on the Gulf Coast. On
its surface, the case is about the 88-mile rail line, but it
has also become a proxy battle over how far federal agencies
should go in assessing the environmental impact of highways,
pipelines and other projects before deciding whether to approve
them. … Five environmental groups and the county that
is home to Vail, Colorado, argue that [the National
Environmental Policy Act] calls for a more holistic
review, saying the rail project could have devastating impacts
on local habitats, could lead to oil spills in the
Colorado River and would quintuple oil production,
worsening climate change and pollution near refineries in the
South.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday reaffirmed his support for
building Sites Reservoir, a proposed $4.5 billion project that
would be the largest new reservoir constructed in California in
50 years, as a way for cities and farms to better prepare for
droughts made worse by the warming climate. “We are going to
continue to do everything we can to put the pressure on to get
this project done,” Newsom said. “We are going to continue to
advocate for federal resources,” he added. “Donald Trump, this
is your kind of project.” Sites would be California’s eighth
largest reservoir, a 13-mile-long off-stream lake that would
divert flows from the Sacramento River during wet winters to
provide water to 500,000 acres of Central Valley farmlands, and
24 million people, including residents of Santa Clara County,
parts of the East Bay and Los Angeles.
The Colorado River is shrinking as climate change worsens the
Southwestern drought, so the Biden administration has been
paying farmers and cities not to use water. It’s spending
nearly $5 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act to ensure
the nation’s biggest reservoirs don’t go dry. But
President-elect Trump’s campaign has threatened to cut that
funding. And as KUNC’s Alex Hager reports, people who share the
river’s water are worried.
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.
