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.
Happy New Year to all the friends, supporters, readers of articles and participants of the tours and workshops we featured in 2025! We are deeply grateful to each and every person who engaged with us last year.
We have much to look forward to in 2026, especially as we gear up to mark and celebrate the Foundation’s 50th anniversary in 2027!
One of our most exciting projects this year will be replacing our 12-year-old website with a beautifully streamlined version that is mobile-adaptable. It will allow fora more intuitive experience as users conduct research, read our weekday newsfeed or water encyclopedia, and sign up for tours and events.
Along with our new website, we’ll be launching a new and improved Aquafornia newsfeed to better align with our reach across California and the Colorado River Basin. Stay tuned!
New Water Map & Spanish Version of California Water Guide
By summer, we’ll publish an update to our Layperson’s Guide to California Water in English and, for the first time, in Spanish. We will also publish a new Klamath River map to illustrate the nation’s largest dam removal project in the watershed straddling Oregon and California.
With social media, we’ll continue focusing on LinkedIn as our primary go-to channel as we ease off Facebook and X/Twitter where engagement has dropped. But not to fear; we’ll continue posting on Instagram.
Our array of 2026 programming begins later this month when we welcome our incoming California Water Leaders cohort. We’ll be sure to introduce them to you and let you know what thorny California water policy issue they’ll be tackling.
We’ll also be welcoming our third cohort of Colorado River Water Leaders in March.Applications are due Jan. 26 so be sure to get them in soon!
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.
… As warm and dry conditions continue in the West, the
forecasts for the amount of water flowing through the
Upper Colorado River Basin keep dropping.
… And to top it off, the [Drought Response Operations]
agreement that outlines how Upper Basin states, including
Colorado, can help out in drought years expired Dec. 31, and
it’s not yet clear from a legal standpoint what that means for
this year. … The agreement, called the DROA by the water
wonks, aimed to keep Powell’s elevation above 3,525 feet above
sea level. … It’s one of several agreements that expire this
year and must be replaced, including Mexico’s Colorado River
agreement and reservoir operation rules from 2007.
… Colorado’s mountains harbor a vital water
supply that melts and runs through four major rivers and 19
downstream states each year.
A federal courtroom in San Francisco is becoming the latest
battleground over the future of West Coast salmon. On Jan. 26,
a case brought by commercial fishing groups went before a
judge, accusing major tire manufacturers of using a chemical
additive that can be lethal to endangered fish once it washes
into rivers and streams. … At the center of the dispute is
6PPD, a compound used to prevent tires from breaking down when
exposed to air and ozone. According to the plaintiffs, that
same chemical transforms into a toxic byproduct known as
6PPD-quinone once tire particles are washed off roads during
storms. They argue this runoff can devastate salmon
populations along the California and Alaska coasts.
Things have been really dry in many parts of
Wyoming this winter but it’s not as dry as
Utah, where it’s record-breaking. As of Jan.
27, only a tenth of an inch of snow has fallen on Salt Lake
City, Utah, this winter. That’s the lowest snowfall on record,
by a significant margin. … The latest records show the
statewide snowpack is currently at 59% of the median, close to
a new historic low. … If the mid-February pivot comes to
pass, Wyoming should do well. Many of its basins are in dire
need of more snowpack, and [Cowboy State Daily meteorologist
Don] Day believes there’s a decent chance they’ll get it.
… The situation in the south isn’t as promising.
Colorado and Utah have
already reached a deficit that wouldn’t be impossible to
overcome, but it would take a lot.
Sacramento remains one of the most flood-prone areas in
the country, with significant development and
construction taking place in historic floodplains despite
ongoing efforts to shore up protections. For decades, many
people living in these high-risk areas in California and across
the country have turned to a federal program for coverage in
case of disaster — the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP),
managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA). The program has provided policies to millions,
but faces a looming deadline amid a potential government
shutdown. Without Congressional reauthorization or amendments
the NFIP could lapse at the end of the month, putting the
brakes on new insurance contracts and reducing the NFIP’s
authority to borrow funds from the U.S. Treasury.
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.
