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.
Only a handful of seats are left on the bus for our
first-ever and only Klamath River Tour and
spots are now available first come, first served! This
special water tour, Sept. 8 through Sept. 12, will not be offered
again so grab a ticket here while
they last.
The remaining handful of tickets
for our first-ever Klamath River Tour are now up
for grabs! This special water tour, Sept. 8 through Sept.
12, will not be offered every year so check out the tour
details here.
You don’t want to miss this opportunity to examine water issues
along the 263-mile Klamath River, from its spring-fed headwaters
in south-central Oregon to its redwood-lined estuary on the
Pacific Ocean in California.
Among the planned stops is the former site of Iron Gate Dam &
Reservoir for a firsthand look at restoration efforts. The dam
was one of four obsolete structures taken down in the nation’s
largest dam removal project aimed at restoring fish
passage. Grab your ticket here
while they last!
Colorado’s entire congressional delegation, Republicans and
Democrats alike, is calling for the release of $140 million in
frozen funds for Colorado River water projects. In January, the
last days of the Biden administration, the Bureau of
Reclamation awarded funding for 17 projects as part of the
federal drought-response effort in the overstressed
Colorado River Basin. Three days later,
President Donald Trump issued sweeping executive orders that
aimed to reshape federal spending priorities to match his
administration’s policies. … It stalled hoped-for
progress on everything from irrigation ditch repairs to fish
passage projects. … [The lawmakers] sent the letter Monday to
the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation,
the agencies in charge of awarding the funds.
The Bureau of Reclamation announced the start of public
negotiation sessions with the Sites Project Authority for a
Partnership Agreement for the proposed Sites Reservoir Project.
Reclamation and the Sites Project Authority are collaborating
on a plan for a new 1.5-million-acre-foot [Sacramento
River] offstream reservoir, located about 10 miles
west of Maxwell, California. The agreement will outline the
terms and conditions for both parties involved. … The
public is invited to attend these sessions [Aug. 18 and
19] and will have the opportunity to offer comments on
the contracting action. Further details and the proposed
contract will be available at the sessions.
The Tucson City Council is slated to discuss the massive and
secretive Project Blue data center proposal for the first time
at a study session Wednesday afternoon. … Mayor Regina Romero
asked the city manager to initiate a review of data center
ordinances and regulations by other Arizona cities. … In a
summary of the draft’s key elements, the document includes
Project Blue’s water-related
promises. … [e.g.]The developers of Project
Blue will fund or directly invest in Tucson Water efforts to
secure new water resources to offset their water use. Project
Blue will use minor amounts of potable water that will be
offset annually. … More information on water-related promises
of the project are included in the updated Project Blue fact
sheet shared ahead of Wednesday’s meeting.
With golden mussels now confirmed
in California waterways, the focus has shifted from
detection to defense. On Monday, local leaders toured the Port
of Stockton—where the invasive species was first spotted in
North America just 10 months ago—to highlight the growing
efforts to stop the mussels before they cause widespread damage
to critical water infrastructure. … [Rep. Josh] Harder and
other California Democrats are backing a $15 million bill in
Congress to create a task force that would research, prevent,
control and eradicate golden mussels. The bill is currently in
committee. Meanwhile, scientists at a Davis-based lab are
already testing a potential biological solution.
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.
