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.
California’s biggest water districts presented their own
framework Tuesday for how to share the Colorado River’s
dwindling water supply, including a commitment to conserve
440,000 acre-feet of water per year – enough to meet the needs
of 1.5 million households annually. Last month, the seven
western states that rely on the Colorado River missed a
federally-imposed deadline to submit a preliminary agreement
for a plan to replace the river’s operating guidelines set to
expire at the end of 2026. Those negotiations continued Tuesday
during the annual Colorado River Water Users Association’s
conference in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace. … California
is projected to cap water use at 3.76 million acre-feet in 2025
– the lowest annual use since 1949.
The board of California’s largest agricultural water district
approved a master plan Tuesday to convert over a quarter of the
land in its service area into solar farms, a sign that Central
Valley growers are looking for new business as their water
sources dry up. The board of the Westlands Water District
approved the plan to develop 136,000 acres on the west side of
the Central Valley into solar farms, complete with new
transmission lines and substations at a Tuesday morning meeting
in Fresno. The new master plan, called the Valley Clean
Infrastructure Plan, would allow for the development of up to
20 gigawatts of new solar farms, which taken together would be
the largest solar installation in the world.
If Mexicali farmers can’t cut a deal with Mexican President
Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration, the city of Tijuana’s at
risk of losing its water supply from the Colorado River.
For generations, these farmers – known as Irrigation District
14 – sold river water the Mexican government ceded to them for
agricultural production to coastal cities like Tijuana and
Ensenada. The Colorado River flows through Mexicali, but
because of this deal, it’s diverted over 100 miles the coast
via an aqueduct. But Mexico’s president has taken a hard
stance on how the country’s constitution defines ownership of
water: It belongs to the nation and cannot be privatized.
… How did entire communities find themselves in the midst of
raging fires without enough water on hand to fight them? The
answers have exposed the weaknesses of Los Angeles’ water
systems and prompted widespread calls to redesign Southern
California’s water infrastructure. Water managers and experts
said the water systems in Pacific Palisades and Altadena were
never designed for wildfires that rage through entire
neighborhoods, or for infernos intensified by climate change.
In fact, their design effectively guaranteed that hydrants
would lose pressure and fail during a giant fire. … So
far, however, local officials in Los Angeles and L.A. County
appear to have taken few, if any, concrete steps toward major
changes.
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.
