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.
Mark your calendars now for our upcoming fall 2026
programs! Registration will open soon, so make sure
you’re among the first to hear by signing up for Foundation announcements!
Water Summit | October 29
Don’t miss the Water Education
Foundation’s 42ⁿᵈ annual Water
Summit in downtown Sacramento! Our premier event of
the year features leading policymakers and experts addressing
critical water issues in California and across the West.
Our Layperson’s
Guide to California Water has been completely
updated for 2026, providing a comprehensive overview of the
ways water is used, as well as its critical ecological role,
throughout the state. The 24-page publication traces the history
of the vital resource at the core of California’s identity,
politics and culture since its founding in 1850.
… Cave Creek, which gets about 95% of its water from the
Colorado River, will be among the first to feel the impact of
those cuts. … Colorado River water travels to Cave Creek
through the Central Arizona Project, a 336-mile canal that
carries water from the state’s western border to the Phoenix
and Tucson areas. The federal government has suggested major
cuts to the amount of water the CAP carries each year, forcing
Cave Creek officials to find a backup plan quickly. They will
be able to keep taps flowing in the short term, but the future
is uncertain, as long-term fixes are expensive and complicated.
With the Colorado River poised for a dry future, Cave
Creek’s struggles could provide lessons for other
cities that might feel the pinch of shortages in the
future.
As California experiences its second-worst snow drought
in 50 years, new images show a stark comparison with
last year’s snow levels. This year, the Sierra snowpack peaked
on Feb. 25. It was only 73% of average, then rapidly dwindled
from there. Then, summerlike heat in March broke monthly
records in many areas of the Western United States. Daniel
Swain, a climate scientist with UC Agriculture and Natural
Resources, described it as one of the most “extreme heat events
ever observed in the American Southwest.” Though a spring
storm dropped up to 3.5 feet of snow in California’s Sierra
Nevada mountains last week, extending ski season, snow levels
remain extremely low.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass has released a new plan setting goals for
the city to combat climate change and adapt to a warmer future.
Bass’ Climate Action Plan calls for doubling local solar power
in Los Angeles by 2030 and reducing the use of fossil fuels in
buildings and city buses. It outlines how the city intends to
reduce emissions of greenhouse gases at the Port of Los Angeles
and L.A. International Airport. And it sets targets for
reducing water use, addressing risks from extreme
heat, and expanding parks and green spaces to cool
neighborhoods and restore natural habitat. … The mayor
spoke about the plan on Thursday at the Donald C. Tillman Water
Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys, where construction is underway
on a new water recycling project.
Although the Ukiah Valley has received a lot less rain so far
this year than in 2025, new storage procedures at Lake
Mendocino have allowed a lot more of that water to remain in
the reservoir than ever before, regional water officials
reported this week. “Without (Forecast Informed Reservoir
Operations) and that ability to retain more water, the
reservoir would be below 68,000 acre-feet (instead of at 84,000
acre-feet),” said Donald Seymour, Deputy Chief Engineer for
Sonoma Water, speaking Wednesday during a virtual update on the
status of both Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma.
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.
