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.
As we wrap up our year at the Water Education Foundation, we
are busy looking ahead to our 2026 slate of engaging
tours, workshops and conferences on key water topics in
California and across the West. Make sure to save the dates
below!
Meanwhile, as we approach the
holidays, we want to remind everyone:
Giving Tuesday is right after
Thanksgiving and a national day to support nonprofits. You
can support water education across California and the West on
Dec. 2 or anytime by
donating here!
Calling all future water leaders! Are you an emerging leader
passionate about shaping the future of water in California
or across the Colorado River Basin?
The Water Education Foundation will
be hosting two dynamic water leadership programs in 2026 – one
focused on California water
issues and the other on the Colorado River
Basin. These competitive programs are designed for
rising stars from diverse sectors who are ready to deepen their
water knowledge, strengthen their leadership skills and
collaborate on real-world water challenges.
The city of Antioch is doing what many Bay Area communities
have only talked about: turning salt water into drinking water.
The city’s new $120 million desalination
plant, which began operating in September, was built
to ensure that the local water supply, from the vast
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, would
remain drinkable despite its rising salinity. The city now can
get up to 30% of its total water from desalination. …
Across California, communities are looking to firm up their
water supplies in the face of myriad climate pressures,
including increasing droughts and decreasing
snowpack. Several water agencies are turning to desal.
For Las Vegas to keep its taps flowing, Rep. Susie Lee says
this one drought measure must survive federal spending purges:
water recycling. Lee, D-Nev., and Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz.,
introduced the Large-Scale Water Recycling Reauthorization Act
in Congress on Thursday to reauthorize a federal grant program
that will sunset in 2026. While it doesn’t currently add any
more money to the program, Lee said it would allow the Bureau
of Reclamation to dole out $125 million in unused funds,
extending the program to 2031.
California reservoir water levels are in “incredible shape,”
with all of the state’s major reservoirs at or above 100
percent of historical average for this time of year, according
to data from the state’s Department of Water Resources (DWR).
… California’s water storage levels have surged to some of
the highest seen in recent years, providing critical relief
after years of persistent drought. All of the state’s major
reservoirs, which serve as key water sources for nearly
40 million residents and vast agricultural operations,
now hold 100 percent of the average capacity for this time of
year or above, helping to safeguard water supplies for the
hotter, drier months ahead.
… On Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed to
strip federal protections from millions of acres of wetlands
and streams, narrowing the reach of the Clean Water
Act. On Wednesday, federal wildlife agencies announced
changes to the Endangered Species Act that
could make it harder to rescue endangered species from the
brink of extinction. And on Thursday, the Interior Department
moved to allow new oil and gas drilling across nearly 1.3
billion acres of U.S. coastal waters, including a remote region
in the high Arctic where drilling has never before taken place.
If the Trump administration’s proposals are finalized and
upheld in court, they could reshape U.S. environmental policy
for years to come, environmental lawyers and activists said.
Other federal water and environmental policy news:
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.
