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.
The biennial program, which will run from March to September
next year, selects about a dozen rising
stars from the seven states that rely on the river
– California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New
Mexico – Mexico and tribal nations.
The seven-month program is designed for working professionals who
explore issues surrounding the iconic Southwest
river, deepen their water knowledge, and build leadership
and collaborative skills.
Listen to
a recording of our virtual Q&A session
where executive director Jenn Bowles and other Foundation staff
provided an overview on the program and tips on applying.
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!
Hundreds of homes and businesses in Marin County were impacted
by significant weekend flooding as a large storm and
record-high tides combined to inundate coastal communities,
local officials said Monday. … Local officials said the
incident illustrated the importance of long-term resilience and
flood-prevention projects as climate change intensifies storms
and sea levels rise. For example, a levee built in the
1980s was breached by floodwater on Saturday,
requiring emergency repairs. Marin County Supervisor Mary
Sackett said the county has a plan to replace it, but is still
seeking funding for construction.
… After a relatively slow start to the winter rainy
season, a series of atmospheric river storms has sent
hundreds of billions of gallons of water pouring into
reservoirs across California over the past three weeks, easing
the concerns of water managers and significantly reducing the
likelihood of shortages next summer. … Since Dec. 16,
the state’s largest reservoir — Shasta, a massive 35-mile-long
lake near Redding — has risen by 36 feet. … Similarly,
the water level at Oroville, the state’s second-largest
reservoir, has jumped 69 feet over the same three weeks.
Arizona’s Lake Powell is in trouble. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
modeling shows the reservoir dropped roughly 36 ft between
December 2024 and December 2025, a decline that is no longer a
warning but an operating condition engineers are designing
around. The drop is compressing the margin between routine
operations and hard infrastructure limits at Glen Canyon Dam as
negotiations over post-2026 Colorado River operating rules
remain unresolved. … Basin representatives have asked
Reclamation to evaluate protecting Lake Powell elevations near
3,490 ft and to study infrastructure modifications that would
allow releases below that level. Any such work would represent
a new class of climate-driven capital investment at one of the
federal government’s most critical water and power assets.
Friant Water Authority and the City of Fresno filed suit in
2016 over a federal government decision in 2014/15 to withhold
San Joaquin River water typically sent 150
miles south down the Friant Kern Canal. The federal Bureau of
Reclamation severely limited their allocation that year due to
extreme statewide drought conditions. … The appeal of the
lower court rulings headed to the Supreme Court in 2025, some
10 years later — and as of Dec. 15, the high court “denied” the
Friant claim without comment sustaining the government’s and
lower court position that the Bureau of Reclamation who
orchestrated the Central Valley Project, owns
the 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.
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.
