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!
The Newsom administration is coming under fire for paying $180
million to a private investment firm that speculates on water
in exchange for a relatively small amount of additional water
for Sacramento River salmon. Some environmental advocates fear
it could set a precedent for overcharging California
taxpayers in a water-constrained future. State
officials and supporters of the deal say it’s not that simple
because, among other things, it’s a one-time payment
for water in perpetuity, not just for one year. This
year, the Newsom administration reached the deal to purchase
water used by a Northern California farm, saying the goal was
to leave the water in the river to help fish and the
environment. … The $180 million was paid to RRG Capital
Management, based in Los Angeles and part of Renewable
Resources Group. … The water will come from a
7,500-acre farm called Fair Ranch, located along the Sacramento
River.
An atmospheric firehose could soon take aim at California,
raising the prospects of a wet and stormy Halloween and
Election Day. The massive pattern change is likely to
take shape during the last week of October and may persist into
the first full weekend of November. … Several
models are calling for upwards of 1 to 3 inches of rain around
the Bay Area by the first weekend of November. Even more
precipitation is forecast for southern California and
the Sierra. Exact amounts aren’t guaranteed by any
means at this time range, but the trend is hard to
ignore. California is primed for rain this winter, in part
due to unusual ocean heat associated with this year’s
extremely powerful El Niño.
For all the headlines about Arizona’s shrinking water supply,
some Phoenix-area realtors say it has not yet had a major
impact on business. At a recent event that brought together
real estate professionals with water, power and economic
experts, home sellers said few of their clients seem
concerned about future water availability, and
projected optimism about the ability of local utilities to plan
ahead for those challenges. … Mandatory cuts to
Arizona’s share of the Colorado River are expected to
slash the amount of water flowing through the Central Arizona
Project, a 336-mile canal system that carries water to the
Phoenix and Tucson areas. That has forced some hand wringing
and the deployment of expensive backup plans from local
utilities, which is expected to drive up residential
water bills over the coming years and decades.
Three environmental and public health groups are suing the
Environmental Protection Agency over its failure to establish
water quality protections for a widely used weedkiller
that’s contaminating rivers and streams across the
country, including parts of the Mountain
West. Atrazine is primarily used on crops like corn
and sorghum. While most contamination is concentrated in the
Midwest, affected watersheds extend into eastern
Colorado and New Mexico. A recent report from the
Center for Biological Diversity estimates that atrazine
contaminates 25% of river miles in the continental U.S. at
levels the EPA considers harmful to aquatic life.
… Scientific research has linked atrazine exposure to
harmful effects on aquatic plants and
wildlife. The pesticide has also raised
concerns about human health and drinking water.
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.
