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
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As atmospheric rivers blasted across California in the last few
years, they brought epic amounts of rain and snow
following a three-year drought.
Devastating and deadly floods hit parts of the state in 2022 but
not so much in 2023. With anticipated sea level rise and
other impacts of a changing climate, flood management is
increasingly critical in California.
Water Summit: Exclusive Sponsorship Opportunities Available
In case you missed the news last
week, you can now register for the Water Education Foundation’s
40ᵗʰ annual
Water Summit to be held on Wednesday, Oct. 30, in
Sacramento, with the theme, Reflecting on Silver
Linings in Western Water.
You can now register for the Water
Education Foundation’s 40ᵗʰ annual Water
Summit! The one-day conference will feature leading
policymakers and experts sharing the latest information
and insights on water in California and the West. The event
includes lunch and an evening reception for networking with
speakers and fellow attendees from a variety of backgrounds.
The Water Summit will be held Wednesday, Oct. 30, in Sacramento,
with the theme, Reflecting on Silver Linings in
Western Water. Speakers and conversations will
focus on the promising advances that have developed from myriad
challenges faced in managing the West’s most precious
natural resource.
More than half of California is experiencing abnormally dry
conditions or worse, according to a new report, as months
without precipitation as well as evaporation caused by summer
heat waves take their toll. That includes parts of the Central
Valley, which are back in abnormally dry conditions for the
first time since April 2023, according to the National Weather
Service’s Hanford branch. … Abnormally dry conditions
are not formally classified as drought, though they are a
precursor. Eight percent of California — particularly in
Modoc and Lassen counties in the north and San Bernardino in
the south — is experiencing moderate drought, the mildest
drought classification.
Under California law, anyone caught diverting water in
violation of a state order has long been subject to only
minimal fines. State legislators have now decided to crack down
on violators under a newly approved bill that sharply increases
penalties. Assembly Bill 460 was passed by the Legislature last
week and is among the water-related measures awaiting Gov.
Gavin Newsom’s signature. Other bills that were approved aim to
protect the state’s wetlands and add new safeguards for the
water supplies of rural communities.
Sen. Alex Padilla joined local elected leaders Thursday to
announce a bill intended to consolidate infrastructure projects
in two border watersheds, including the Tijuana River. The
bill, the Border Water Quality Restoration and Protection Act
of 2024, would place projects along the Tijuana River, as well
as the New River in Imperial County, under the purview of
the Environmental Protection Agency.
… Additionally, the bill proposed Thursday would allow
the EPA to manage the rivers through a water quality management
plan within 180 days of its passing, require creation of a
consensus list of projects and give the International
Boundary and Water Commission more authority to address
stormwater quality.
A New York City-based hedge fund spent $100 million to buy
farmland and water rights in Western Arizona, stirring concerns
about a future “water grab” from that rural area and of
corporate control over a major groundwater source. Water Asset
Management LLC recently bought 12,793 acres — nearly 20 square
miles — in La Paz County’s McMullen Valley Basin, County
Assessor Anna Camacho said Friday. The company paid cash for
the land, a county record shows. … The purchase may well
have been the biggest water deal in Arizona history, Mayes
said, adding it happened without a single public comment
session being held to examine it.
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.
