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.
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Directors and how you can support our nonprofit mission by
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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.
Time is running out to register for this month’s Water
101 Workshop in Sacramento where you’ll
go beyond the headlines and gain a deeper understanding of
how water is managed and moved across California. And come one,
come all to our annual Open
House & Reception on May 7!
California’s water managers have long looked for ways to adapt to a hotter, drier future where the impacts of climate change leave less water to meet the state’s needs.
At our annual Water 101 Workshopon March 26 in Sacramento, participants will hear from Joel Metzger, deputy director for statewide water resources planning, on efforts underway by the California Department of Water Resources to achieve a target of identifying 9 million acre-feet of additional water supply by 2040, roughly equal to the capacity of two Shasta Reservoirs.
The agenda for the workshop features some of the leading policy and legal experts in California who will detail the historical, legal and political facets of water management in the state. Seating is limited and filling up quickly, so don’t miss out!
Tribal leaders and U.S. senators spoke out in support of a
measure that would solidify access to water for three tribes
with land in Arizona during a Wednesday hearing at the Senate
Indian Affairs Committee. The Northeastern Arizona Indian Water
Rights Settlement, or NAIWRSA, would settle claims to water by
the Navajo, Hopi and San Juan Southern Paiute tribes, and
provide $5 billion to build new water delivery systems
and help the tribes access their water. The settlement
would need to be authorized by congress to go into effect. At
Wednesday’s Senate committee hearing, impassioned pleas to
bring water to tribal communities ran up against federal
concerns about the cost of a settlement, and talks of
hesitation from some states that use the Colorado
River.
… An “extraordinary and prolonged March heatwave,” was how
Daniel Swain, University of California climate scientist,
described the days ahead. It will “break records and decimate
mountain snowpack across the U.S. Southwest, including much of
California.” … Karla Nemeth, director of the California
Department of Water Resources, said warm temperatures and
below-average snowpack — statewide snow water content
is around 53% of the normal for this time of year —
are creating challenges. … “For public safety reasons,
we have to release much of it to make space for flood control.
That means we forgo having stored that water for release later
in the summer, when rivers and streams run lower and warmer,”
Nemeth said.
Other snowpack and weather forecast news around the West:
In a direct response to the persistent water crisis gripping
the American West, Rep. Raul Ruiz (CA-25) joined a coalition of
California lawmakers this week to introduce the Drought Relief
Obtained Using Government Help Today (DROUGHT) Act. … The
bill, led by Reps. Scott Peters (CA-50) and John Garamendi
(CA-08), would adjust the funding limits for the Water
Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA). Under
current law, the federal government cannot cover more than 80%
of a project’s cost. The DROUGHT Act would raise that cap to
90% for projects in areas facing extreme drought or serving
historically disadvantaged communities.
Two bills in the Arizona Legislature would let groundwater from
western Arizona be sold to cities like Phoenix, drawing
criticism from local leaders who warn it could harm rural
communities House Bills 2757 and 2758 would affect groundwater
in McMullen Valley and Butler Valley in western Arizona.
Investment group Water Asset Management owns thousands of acres
of farmland in both areas and could profit by moving and
selling groundwater from the aquifer under those lands,
according to critics of the bills. … Rep. Gail Griffin,
a sponsor of the legislation, said looming Colorado River cuts
are driving the need for the bills.
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.
