Our California Water Map, recently updated, is one of our
most popular products. We also offer magazines, documentaries,
posters, layperson guides and more. Our catalog offers a wide
array of resources to help you understand the complex issues of
water in California and the Southwest.
Project WET is an award-winning, nonprofit water education
program and publisher. The program facilitates and promotes
awareness, appreciation, knowledge, and stewardship of water
resources.
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.
California’s groundwater is a great natural resource and has
contributed to the state becoming the nation’s top agricultural
producer and a leader in high-tech industries. Groundwater is an
asset that is increasingly relied upon by municipalities,
industry and agriculture and it will play an important role in
the future sustainability of California’s overall water supply.
The Colorado River Basin’s 20 years
of drought and the dramatic decline in water levels at the
river’s key reservoirs have pressed water managers to adapt to
challenging conditions. But even more extreme — albeit rare —
droughts or floods that could overwhelm water managers may lie
ahead in the Basin as the effects of climate change take hold,
say a group of scientists. They argue that stakeholders who are
preparing to rewrite the operating rules of the river should plan
now for how to handle these so-called “black swan” events so
they’re not blindsided.
The deadliest and most destructive
wildfire in California history had a severe impact on the water
system in the town of Paradise. Participants on our Oct. 2-4
Northern California
Tour will hear from Kevin Phillips, general manager of
Paradise Irrigation District, on the scope of the damages, the
obstacles to recovery and the future of the water district.
The Camp Fire destroyed 90 percent of the structures in Paradise,
and 90 percent of the irrigation district’s ratepayer base. The
fire did not destroy the irrigation district’s water storage or
treatment facilities, but it did melt plastic pipes, releasing
contaminants into parts of the system and prompting do-not-drink
advisories to water customers.
The Colorado River Basin’s 20 years of drought and the dramatic
decline in water levels at the river’s key reservoirs have
pressed water managers to adapt to challenging conditions. But
even more extreme — albeit rare — droughts or floods that could
overwhelm water managers may lie ahead in the Basin as the
effects of climate change take hold, say a group of scientists.
The Trump administration rolled back a key provision of the
Clean Water Act on Thursday, doing away with protections for
many wetlands and streams across the country… The repeal of
the Waters of the United States rule, however, will not
directly affect landowners and businesses in California. State
regulators in April passed a sweeping wetlands policy that
secured state oversight of California’s waterways…
The flood insurance program has been plagued for years by
outdated maps of at-risk flood zones and billions of dollars in
accumulating debt, compounded by rising sea levels and
increasingly powerful storms strengthened by warming oceans.
… The result is that insurance premiums fail to reflect the
true risks to properties…
The deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California
history had a severe impact on the water system in the town of
Paradise. Participants on our Oct. 2-4 Northern California Tour
will hear from Kevin Phillips, general manager of Paradise
Irrigation District, on the scope of the damages, the obstacles
to recovery and the future of the water district.
Wetlands are among the most important ecosystems in the world.
They produce high levels of oxygen, filter toxic chemicals out of
water, reduce flooding and erosion, recharge groundwater and provide a diverse
range of recreational opportunities from fishing and hunting to
photography. They also serve as critical habitat for wildlife,
including a large percentage of plants and animals on
California’s endangered species
list.
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.
No portion of the West has been immune to drought during the last
century and drought occurs with much greater frequency in the
West than in any other regions of the country.
