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.
Registration for our first water tour of 2026 along the lower
Colorado River is now open and the bus will fill up quickly! You
can also find more information below on next year’s programming
calendar packed with engaging tours, workshops and conferences.
And don’t forget that current Foundation member organizations
receive access to coveted sponsorship options for our
tours and events, which are all prime networking
opportunities for the water professionals in attendance! Contact
Nick Gray for more information.
Lower Colorado River Tour | March 11-13
Be sure to catch the return of our
annual Lower Colorado
River Tour as we take you from Hoover Dam to
the U.S.-Mexico border and through the Imperial and
Coachella valleys to learn about the challenges and opportunities
facing the “Lifeline of the Southwest.”
Following the river as it winds through Nevada, Arizona and
California, the tour explores infrastructure, farming
regions, wildlife refuges and the Salton Sea. Experts discuss
river issues, such as water needs, drought management, endangered
species and habitat restoration.
In anticipation of high demand, space is limited to two
tickets per organization so reserve your spot soon while
tickets last. Get more tour
details and register here!
Since 1977, the Water Education
Foundation has worked to inspire better understanding
and catalyze critical conversations about our most vital
natural resource: water.
This is not a mission our nonprofit can carry out alone.
Today on Giving Tuesday, a global day of philanthropy, please
consider making a
tax-deductible donation to support the important
work we do to provide impartial education and foster informed
decision-making on water issues in California and the West.
Western states are brawling over the future of the Colorado
River — with President Donald Trump looming in the background.
Talks kicking off Tuesday in Las Vegas will help determine
whether the Trump administration has to step in and take the
political heat of deciding how to divide the shrinking river’s
water supplies among powerful industries and more than 40
million people — a fight that includes the swing states of
Arizona and Nevada, politically influential farmers and
ranchers, and burgeoning semiconductor and artificial
intelligence companies. It’s the highest-stakes water
fight the U.S. has seen in more than a century.
After nearly four weeks without rain, Californians are finally
seeing precipitation return to the forecast. The wet pattern
arriving this week comes in pieces, and the Bay Area should see
significant rain from the final storm, while temperatures will
remain cool. … Unfortunately, neither of the first two
storm systems will provide much relief for the
snow-starved Sierra Nevada. Snow levels for
both systems will remain high, hovering near 8,000 feet,
meaning precipitation will fall as rain at most Sierra ski
resorts. Only the highest elevations are likely to see light
snowfall.
Other snowpack and water supply news around the West:
The United States and Mexico have signed a new binational
agreement known as Minute 333, establishing a detailed plan to
address the toxic sewage crisis that has polluted the
Tijuana River Valley and repeatedly closed
beaches in Imperial Beach and Coronado. … Under Minute 333,
Mexico will, by December 2028, build the Tecolote-La Gloria
Wastewater Treatment Plan, which will be able to process 3
million gallons per day. Mexico will also construct a new
sediment basin in Matadero Canyon — near Smuggler’s Gulch along
the border — before the 2026-27 rainy season to capture
polluted runoff. In addition, Mexico will develop a Tijuana
Water Infrastructure Master Plan within six months.
As firefighters battled catastrophic fires in Los Angeles last
January, one question reverberated across the country: Where
was the water? … A team of researchers, led by
Gregory Pierce, director of the UCLA Water Resources Group, set
out to uncover whether the intense focus on water supply meant
that dry hydrants had uniquely hampered the Palisades
firefight, or whether this was a common occurrence. In a
policy brief published Monday, the researchers used media
reports to confirm that when fires burn urban areas, hydrant
flows often sputter out — the result of lost pressure as burnt
homes hemorrhage water and too many hoses simultaneously draw
on a limited supply.
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.
