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.
Are you an emerging leader ready to
make a greater impact on California water policy and management?
Applications are now being accepted for the Water Education
Foundation’s 2027
California Water Leaders cohort, with submissions
due Dec. 3.
Designed for rising professionals in California’s water
community, the program offers participants an unparalleled
opportunity to deepen their understanding of water issues, expand
their professional network and develop leadership skills
alongside a cohort of peers from across the state.
Visit the
application page, paying close attention
to frequently asked questions and mandatory
program dates to ensure you can fully
participate.
Confirm that you have your organization’s support and can
commit the time necessary to partipating in the program.
Interested in learning more? Join our executive director, Jenn
Bowles, and other members of the Foundation team for
a virtual Q&A session at 12:30 p.m. on Nov.
10. We’ll provide an overview of the program and
share tips for submitting a strong application. Sign up here.
What role will desalination play in
the arid West? That topic is one of many engaging conversations
that will be explored at our Oct. 29 Water
Summit revolving around this year’s theme,
Stewarding a New Era in Western Water.
Led by Central Arizona Project’s General Manager Brenda Burman,
the panel will discuss all topics worth their
salt - from emerging desalination technologies to the
latest developments in innovative desalination programs to the
regulatory challenges and opportunities that face the region.
The panel of accomplished speakers will provide deep
insight on desalination’s implications for water management
in the West.
The Water Summit is the Foundation’s premier event of
the year and returns to Sacramento on Oct. 29
with leading policymakers and experts addressing critical water
issues in California and across the West. Capacity is
limited and registration closes soon, so grab your ticket
here while they’re still available!
Stormy weather that has been battering the Pacific Northwest
and southwest Canada is expected to spread into
California in the coming days, bringing the region’s first
major dose of winter rains. The storms are arriving
amid dire forecasts that this year’s El
Niño, the climate pattern that scrambles and
intensifies weather around the globe but especially in
California, is one of the strongest on
record. … The first storm, which is likely to be
the stronger of the two, was expected to bring rain to far
Northern California as early as Thursday night and
gradually spread south through Saturday. The second
will sweep the state Sunday into Monday, forecasters said.
California’s North Coast is likely to record the most rain in
these storms, with over five inches possible.
… Several inches of snow is expected in the
Sierra Nevada.
With Colorado River water cuts looming, the city of Phoenix is
preparing to enter Stage 2 of its drought management
plan, which includes an extra charge for high-volume
users. City officials said Tuesday they expect to
enter Stage 2 in January, when a new two-year
Colorado River operating agreement with
significant cuts to Arizona’s share is scheduled to
take effect. Arizona and the fellow Lower Basin states
California and Nevada still need to approve the deal, but
Phoenix officials are working under the assumption it will be
finalized as is. … The goal of Stage 2 is to get
residents and businesses to voluntarily cut water use
by 5% and for city departments to reduce their use by
10%.
With California’s 2025–26 legislative session coming to a close
this fall, it’s time to take stock of bill outcomes. While the
legislature addressed hot-button issues during this
session—including affordability, data centers, and
wildfire—a number of bills that focused on significant
natural resource issues did not make it to the governor’s desk
or were not signed into law. … SB 872 would have
created a dedicated fund for Delta levee and State Water
Project conveyance repairs. The bill was vetoed, with
the governor citing existing funding of more than $170 million.
… And, though groundwater recharge has become an increasingly
important water supply strategy for the state, it continues to
face both legal and physical barriers. AB 2026 would
have streamlined permitting for diverting floodwater
underground. The bill did not pass the legislature.
Neighbors near a rustic, mostly unknown park east of Fresno
near the Kings River, say a gravel company’s
proposal to change how it mines could dry up their
wells and decimate an ancient oak grove in China Creek
Park. Vulcan Materials Company wants to resume “dry”
mining at its Sanger-area quarry nearly 20 years after the
county approved its switch to “wet” mining, according to Fresno
County Planning Department documents. The company wants to
switch back to dry mining, Vulcan area manager Terry Marshall
wrote in an email, because it can no longer reach the
deeper permitted reserves by wet mining. So, it is
seeking an amendment to its conditional use permit to dewater
two pits to more easily access those reserves. Marshall
confirmed that dewatering the pits would cause “a
localized drop in the water level elevation.”
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.
No portion of the West has been immune to drought during the last
century and it occurs with much greater frequency in the West
than in any other region of the country.
