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.
Learn more about our team in the office and on the Board of
Directors and how you can support our nonprofit mission by
donating in someone’s honor or memory, or 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 Water Education Foundation’s
2025 Annual
Reportis now available in an interactive,
digital format and recaps how we accomplished a lot of
“firsts” last year.
A standout moment was our first-ever Klamath River
Tour, where we brought 45 participants into the heart of
the watershed that underwent the nation’s largest dam removal
project.
Big Day of Giving may be ending soon but
you have until midnight to support the Water Education
Foundation’s tours, workshops, publications and other programs
aimed at building water literacy across California and the West!
Donate
now to help us reach our $10,000
fundraising goal by midnight - we are only
$4,120 away!
At the Foundation, we believe that education is as precious as
water. Your donations help us empower next-generation
leaders from all sectors of the water world to broaden their
knowledge and build their collaborative skills through our
popular Water Leader programs in
California and the Colorado River Basin.
A proposed 12-month moratorium on data centers in Cheyenne was
rejected on a 9-1 City Council vote after nearly four hours of
emotional, and at times angry, testimony Tuesday night.
… Cheyenne’s debate over whether to halt data centers
mirrors a broader national conversation unfolding as
communities grapple with the explosive growth of artificial
intelligence infrastructure and the enormous power and
water demands tied to hyperscale data centers.
… Lawmakers in at least 14 states have recently
introduced or considered legislation aimed at slowing or
temporarily pausing new data center construction while
governments study long-term impacts on energy grids, water
supplies and community growth.
U.S. lawmakers are pushing for a stronger federal response to
golden mussels, an invasive species found on the U.S.
west coast that can cause massive damage to waterways and
infrastructure. … At the federal level, Schiff
and U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-California) have introduced
the Golden Mussel Eradication and Control Act in the Senate
[May 20] to help address the threat. If passed, the legislation
would establish a demonstration program to prevent, eradicate,
and control golden mussels, track their dispersal and create an
early warning systems for future infestations, and provide
grant funding for local or state efforts to tackle golden
mussels. … A companion bill was introduced in the U.S.
House of Representatives in June 2025 by U.S. Representative
Josh Harder (D-California).
… The Golden State Salmon Association is urging Californians
to contact their Assembly members and oppose AB 2215, a bill
designed to advance the proposed Delta Tunnel by bypassing the
normal water rights review process at the State Water Resources
Control Board. A California court recently ruled that the
Department of Water Resources does not currently hold the water
rights needed to divert additional water through the proposed
tunnel. Rather than going through the standard review process,
which includes public oversight and scientific evaluation, AB
2215 would attempt to change those expired 60-year-old water
rights through legislation.
Casually surveying the urban landscapes in much of Colorado’s
Front Range, you’d never know that the Colorado River — the
source for roughly half the water of the cities — has
deteriorated to its most pitiful shape of perhaps the last
century. Oh, yes, some utilities — notably Denver Water and
Aurora Water, which together serve 1.9 million residents — have
imposed rigorous stage-one drought watering restrictions.
Outdoor irrigation is allowed twice per week and never during
the heat of day. Other water utilities that tap Colorado River
water, however, have asked only for voluntary cutbacks, if any
at all. Jeff Lukas, a water consultant with several decades
invested in climate change work, says this seeming aloofness of
some cities will not persist indefinitely.
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.
