It’s never too early to start thinking about applying for our preeminent water leadership programs.

Applications for the 2026 cohorts will be available in the fall for:

• The William R. Gianelli Water Leaders program, focused on California participants. This program starts in January 2026.
• The biennial Colorado River Water Leaders program, focused on participants from across the basin. This program starts in March 2026.

The goal of both programs is to build a network of water leaders from diverse backgrounds who will deepen their water knowledge, build their leadership skills and learn to take a collaborative approach to decision-making about water resources.

Participants go on tours, attend conferences, spend time with a mentor who is a leading expert and develop a policy paper on an assigned topic.

Are You an Ideal Applicant or Do You Supervise One?

Consider now whether you or someone at your organization is an emerging leader in their early to mid-career and would be a good fit for one the programs. Ideally, they have spent at least five years working on water issues in California or across the Colorado River Basin for the respective programs.

Participants have come from a variety of organizations, such as water and irrigation districts, environmental groups, agricultural interests, tribal nations, law and engineering firms, nongovernmental organizations, and state and federal agencies, such as the Bureau of Reclamation. You can check out our past cohort rosters here.

Those interested should sign up for our announcements to find out when:

• Applications will be available.
• We will host virtual question-and-answer sessions prior to application deadlines.

Our application pages will include more details about the program requirements and tuition as well as frequently asked questions.

Water Leader Alums - Stay Connected!

Since 1997, nearly 500 engineers, farmers, environmentalists, lawyers and others have graduated from our William R. Gianelli Water Leaders program across California. In 2022, we graduated our first Colorado River cohort, followed by the 2024 cohort.

If you are a graduate of either program, check out our alumni network webpage to help participants get connected and keep in touch. There, you can find out how to update your contact information if you have changed jobs since you participated in the program.

You can join the Water Leaders alumni group on LinkedIn for continued networking and collaborative opportunities among graduates.