The driest start to the calendar year in recorded history is
taking a toll on water resources during California’s third
year of drought. Find resources to stay up-to-date with the
latest on drought.
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.
Join the Water Education Foundation, an impartial
nonprofit, in its mission to create a better understanding
of water issues and help resolve water problems through
educational programs.
Register today for the return of our
in-person fall tours offering
participants a firsthand look at issues such as drought in
California’s two largest watersheds that have implications for
the entire state.
Our Northern
California Tourexplores the Sacramento
River and its tributaries to learn about key reservoirs and
infrastructure that conveys vital water resources across
California. Our San Joaquin River
Restoration Tourreturns this year to dive
into the story of bringing back the river’s chinook salmon
population while balancing water supply needs.
Mark your calendars now for our full schedule of fall programs,
including a reunion of our Water Leaders graduates to celebrate
the 25th anniversary of the program as well as the in-person
return of our 38th annual Water Summit.
Our fall programming also includes tours exploring California’s
two largest rivers, the Sacramento and the San Joaquin, to learn
more about infrastructure, the impacts on farms and habitat from
a third year of drought and salmon restoration efforts.
Check out the details below to learn more about these fall
programs.
A bill which would change the way groundwater wells are
approved in California took a step forward Wednesday as it
survived a fight in a California state Senate committee. The
legislation was introduced by Assemblymember Steve Bennett,
Democrat from Ventura, and would change the way new and
expanded water wells are approved in California; focusing on
areas that are experiencing rapid decline in groundwater
reserves.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday dealt a major blow to the
Environmental Protection Agency’s power to regulate carbon
emissions that cause climate change. The decision by the
conservative court majority sets the stage for further
limitations on the regulatory power of other agencies as well.
By a vote of 6 to 3, the court said that any time an agency
does something big and new – in this case addressing climate
change – the regulation is presumptively invalid, unless
Congress has specifically authorized regulating in this sphere.
At issue in the case were rules adopted by the Trump and Obama
administrations and aimed at addressing the country’s
single-largest carbon emissions problem – from coal-fired power
plants.
Unprecedented dryness across the western United States is
meeting with increasingly warm temperatures to create climate
conditions so extreme that the landscape of California could
permanently and profoundly change, a growing number of
scientists say. The Golden State’s great drying has already
begun to reduce snowpack, worsen wildfires and dry out soils,
and researchers say that trend will likely continue, along with
the widespread loss of trees and other significant shifts. Some
say what’s in store for the state could be akin to the
conditions that drove people thousands of years ago to abandon
thriving cities in the Southwest and other arid parts of the
world as severe drought contributed to crop failures and the
crumbling of social norms.
Register today for the return of our
in-person fall tours offering participants a
firsthand look at issues such as drought in California’s two
largest watersheds that have implications for the entire state.
Our Northern
California Tour explores the Sacramento River and
its tributaries to learn about key reservoirs and
infrastructure that conveys vital water resources across
California. Our San Joaquin
River Restoration Tour returns this year to dive
into the story of bringing back the river’s chinook salmon
population while balancing water supply needs.
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.
