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.
Are you an emerging leader ready to
make a greater impact on California water policy and management?
Applications are now being accepted for the Water Education
Foundation’s 2027
California Water Leaders cohort, with submissions
due Dec. 3.
Designed for rising professionals in California’s water
community, the program offers participants an unparalleled
opportunity to deepen their understanding of water issues, expand
their professional network and develop leadership skills
alongside a cohort of peers from across the state.
Visit the
application page, paying close attention
to frequently asked questions and mandatory
program dates to ensure you can fully
participate.
Confirm that you have your organization’s support and can
commit the time necessary to partipating in the program.
Interested in learning more? Join our exeuctive director, Jenn
Bowles, and other members of the Foundation team for
a virtual Q&A session at 12:30 p.m. on Nov.
10. We’ll provide an overview of the program and
share tips for submitting a strong application. Sign up here.
What role will desalination play in
the arid West? That topic is one of many engaging conversations
that will be explored at our Oct. 29 Water
Summit revolving around this year’s theme,
Stewarding a New Era in Western Water.
Led by Central Arizona Project’s General Manager Brenda Burman,
the panel will discuss all topics worth their
salt - from emerging desalination technologies to the
latest developments in innovative desalination programs to the
regulatory challenges and opportunities that face the region.
The panel of accomplished speakers will provide deep
insight on desalination’s implications for water management
in the West.
The Water Summit is the Foundation’s premier event of
the year and returns to Sacramento on Oct. 29
with leading policymakers and experts addressing critical water
issues in California and across the West. Capacity is
limited and registration closes soon, so grab your ticket
here while they’re still available!
Colorado water managers say a state-run conservation
program planned for 2027 is in jeopardy as they wait
on an agreement with federal officials. Before they open
the application period for a new conservation program,
state officials want assurance from the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation that conserved water they store in Lake Powell
won’t just be released downstream for Lower Basin use.
In September, the state water board approved
the application review process and criteria for what
state officials are calling Colorado’s near-term contribution
program for 2027. The program aims to use nearly $100
million in funding from Reclamation to pay water users in the
Upper Basin states (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and
Wyoming) to voluntarily cut back.
The Central Arizona Project has filed a motion to intervene in
Nevada’s lawsuit challenging a federal plan to curtail Colorado
River water to those two states and California. CAP,
which delivers water from the river to the Phoenix and Tucson
areas, has strenuously objected to the U.S. Department
of the Interior’s new “framework” for managing the river in the
coming decade in a manner that theoretically could
deplete all of the canal’s supply during the driest of years
while not forcing any new cuts on the four upstream
states collectively known at the river’s Upper Basin.
Now it is joining Nevada’s challenge to that plan.
… Arizona had previously joined Nevada’s
lawsuit, and announced it had done so on Oct. 16.
San Diego approved higher water rates Tuesday for low-volume
users and cheaper water for golf courses and other high-volume
users to comply with a controversial court ruling that
essentially outlaws rewarding conservation. City
officials also dashed hopes that a new state law might allow
them to revive rates rewarding conservation as soon as 2028,
contending they must wait for the state Supreme Court to rule
on the issue. The new rates, which kick in Jan. 1, represent
the same overall increase of 14.5% for calendar year
2027 that the council approved last fall. But the
increase will now be divided up differently, with
larger hikes for low-volume single-family homes and
smaller hikes for high-volume single-family homes, apartment
buildings and golf courses.
More water — or less — could be sent cascading down the
San Joaquin River through Stockton as a result
of a State Water Resources Control Board meeting
starting Wednesday. The board is considering revisions
to the Bay-Delta Water Quality Plan, the document that
sets goals for the amount and quality of what flows
through major rivers surrounding the Delta. It’s the
latest update to a plan that started in 1978 and has seen
updates three times since. Because it involves California’s
most precious commodity — water — any changes are sure to bring
disagreements. The latest issue pits farmers, Native American
tribes, water districts, environmentalists and others
trying to get sufficient water to meet their
divergent needs. At issue is just how much water
should course through Northern California rivers to ensure that
badly depleted fish stocks can be replenished.
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.
No portion of the West has been immune to drought during the last
century and it occurs with much greater frequency in the West
than in any other region of the country.
