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 Water Education Foundation’s
2025 Annual
Reportis now available in an interactive,
digital format and recaps how we accomplished a lot of
“firsts” last year.
A standout moment was our first-ever Klamath River
Tour, where we brought 45 participants into the heart of
the watershed that underwent the nation’s largest dam removal
project.
Big Day of Giving may be ending soon but
you have until midnight to support the Water Education
Foundation’s tours, workshops, publications and other programs
aimed at building water literacy across California and the West!
Donate
now to help us reach our $10,000
fundraising goal by midnight - we are only
$4,120 away!
At the Foundation, we believe that education is as precious as
water. Your donations help us empower next-generation
leaders from all sectors of the water world to broaden their
knowledge and build their collaborative skills through our
popular Water Leader programs in
California and the Colorado River Basin.
The federal agency responsible for approving Pacific Gas &
Electric Co.’s bid to decommission two Eel River damsand a
downstream hydroelectric powerplant has signaled its support
for the utility’s plans, despite last-ditch efforts by
those who oppose the teardown to keep the waterworks in Lake
and Mendocino counties intact. In a May 22 scoping
document that provides an overview of proposed actions and
potential resource issues, the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission noted it “proposed to eliminate … alternatives” to
full decommissioning, including a proposed takeover of the dams
either by the federal government or other public agency.
Federal takeover of two PG&E dams and shuttered powerplant,
known as the Potter Valley Project, would require congressional
approval.
A funding agreement signed this week between Cadiz,
Inc. and the US Bureau of Reclamation has put fresh
attention on one of the American Southwest’s most contested
water infrastructure proposals: the Mojave Groundwater
Bank, a conjunctive-use groundwater storage project in
southeastern California that has been seeking regulatory
approval for nearly three decades. Under the
agreement, Cadiz will finance Reclamation’s technical
review of the project, covering validation of water supply
resources, assessment of proposed water exchange mechanisms
within the Colorado River system, and
identification of steps required to enable potential federal
investment. … It is designed to connect the Colorado
River and California State Water Project systems through new
pipeline infrastructure, including converted fossil fuel
pipelines.
A late-season storm is rolling through the Sierra Nevada this
week, bringing snowfall, high winds and
lightning. Although the storm system is expected to target
the whole region, the most snow is likely to fall in the
central and southern Sierra. From Tuesday through Thursday,
up to about 8 inches [of snow] could stick on the
highest peaks, according to the National Weather
Service office in Reno. … There’s about an 80% chance of
at least light precipitation regionwide, as temperatures dip 15
to 20 degrees below the averages for late May. Snow levels
could drop to 5,500 feet by Wednesday morning; hover between
6,500 and 7,500 feet from Wednesday through Thursday morning;
and then rise up to 8,000 feet by Thursday afternoon.
PFAS, often referred to as “forever chemicals,” were frequently
found in surface water and sediment in 10 counties across
California, according to a new study. The analysis from
the Environmental Working Group showed that as much as
50% of California surface water samples contained
PFAS, stemming from their use in agricultural
pesticides. … Using data from California’s Surface Water
Database from 2020 to 2024, samples were taken from waterways
across several counties, including Butte, Colusa, Imperial,
Merced, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Stanislaus,
Sutter and Yolo. Each study found some level of contamination
near agricultural areas, with some at higher concentrations
than others.
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.
