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California was the last state in the West to regulate groundwater
when lawmakers passed the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management
Act.
Widely considered the most important water law in 100 years, SGMA
for the first time empowered local agencies to adopt groundwater
management plans tailored to the resources and needs of their
communities.
Capitol Weekly and the University of California, UC Center are
sponsoring their third annual conference devoted to California
water policy.
The day-long Water: 2016 in Sacramento on April 28 will be filmed
for broadcast by the California Channel. Register
here to take advantage of discounted prices that end after
Monday.
Join us for our new San Diego
Tour in May and be among the first to visit the new Carlsbad
ocean desalination plant, the largest such facility in the
Western hemisphere.
After more than 10 years of development, the desal plant built
by Poseidon formally launched in December, desalting and then
pumping out 50 million gallons of fresh water each day into San
Diego’s local supply.
What will happen with water year 2016? Reservoirs started
the year at record lows but recent storms have boosted
storage levels. Will it be enough to lift California out of its
historic drought? And what are the operation plans for
California’s two big water projects – the State Water Project and
the federal Central Valley Project?
These are just a few of the topics to be discussed at our
free April 26
briefing “Water Year 2016: The Challenges of Water Project
Operations.” The day-long event will be held at the Alice
Peters Auditorium (PB 191) in the University Business Center at
CSU Fresno.
Pat Mulroy, a leading figure in Western water and the former
general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority who
oversaw the agency during a major period of growth and
drought, will deliver this year’s Anne J. Schneider
Lecture.
The annual water law and policy lecture will be held on April 6,
2016 at Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento.
Mulroy will speak on “Interdependent Resilience: Beyond the
Doctrine of Prior Appropriation.”
When the nation’s civil engineers rated America’s infrastructure
in 2013, they issued an overall grade of D+.
California’s scores, assessed by the American Society of
Civil Engineers’ report card, were not much better: Wastewater,
C+; drinking water, C; levees and flood control, D.
The grades underscore two of the biggest challenges facing all
levels of government: How to fund system improvements and how to
finance new multi-purpose infrastructure.
A lively panel discussion at the Water Education
Foundation’s March 17 Executive
Briefing in Sacramento will examine traditional public
funding and Prop. 218, private financing and the idea of
impact investment to boost water infrastructure.
Our tours give you unparalleled access into California’s water
management and the challenges facing our future water supplies.
On the annual Central
Valley Tour April 13-15, you will be face-to-face with
authorities creating Groundwater Sustainability Plans in the
lands most threatened by groundwater overdraft.
They will give you their personal experience with the Sustainable
Groundwater Management Act and how this new regulatory structure
will impact California.
Seawater desalination is the focus of the latest issue of the
Water Education Foundation’s flagship publication, Western
Water, now available in a quarterly format with new
features. In the Winter 2016 issue, Writer Gary Pitzer explores
the emerging interest in and growing role of desalination in
California.
The Bay-Delta is always in the news. But 2016 will see headlines
about some significant developments – particularly in relation to
the $15.5 billion twin tunnels proposal.
The “State of the Delta: Tunnels, Habitat and
More” panel at the March 17 Executive
Briefing will feature five leading experts representing a
broad slate of stakeholders. Some of the key issues to be
discussed:
Attending our March 17 Executive
Briefing is more than just hearing in-depth discussions on
the hottest water topics. Besides a hosted reception afterward,
you get the chance to bid on some fun events, outings and baskets
of food grown in California during an auction that benefits the
Water Education Foundation’s Water
Leaders program.
Sign-ups are underway for the Foundation’s April 13-15
Central Valley Tour,
which gives participants a better understanding of water use and
issues in the San Joaquin Valley as they weave through the
nation’s breadbasket.
The tour visits farms and major infrastructure, such as Friant
Dam near Fresno and San Luis Reservoir, the nation’s largest
off-stream reservoir in the United States and a key water
facility serving both the State Water Project and the federal
Central Valley Project.
Karen Ross, California’s food and agricultural chief, and Lester
Snow, former Natural Resources Secretary, are among the key
speakers at an international groundwater conference this summer
in San Francisco.
This annual must-attend event
features provocative discussions examining the new normal – how
climate change will impact the hydrology of water supplies in the
West – Delta tunnels, SGMA: Part Two, and more.
The Water Education Foundation’s annual flagship event will
be held March 17, 2016 in Sacramento. The theme for this year’s
Executive Briefing is “Defining the New Normal.”
What will happen with water year 2016? Reservoirs were at record
lows. Recent precipitation has boosted storage levels but will it
be enough? What is the operation plan for the state and federal
water projects?
Early bird prices end Tuesday for our upcoming Lower Colorado River
Tour, lauded for its broad range of speakers on issues key to
the “lifeblood of the Southwest” as the three-day tour winds
through Nevada, Arizona and California.
In addition to meeting with water experts across the Southwest
and touring key infrastructure such as Hoover Dam, the tour
offers some recreational and cultural attractions.
Take the mystery out of how water laws are developed and discover
how legislation involving key water issues evolves through the
California Legislature during our upcoming Water 101 Workshop in
West Sacramento on Feb. 4.
Dennis O’Connor, Principal Consultant for the Senate Committee on
Natural Resources and Water, will also give the latest
information on water-related bills, including the potential for a
public good charge on water and those connected to the
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
Financing water infrastructure, implementing the Sustainable
Groundwater Management Act, the latest developments on the
Bay-Delta and new climate change research are all topics of
discussion at the 33rd Annual Executive Briefing on March 17 in
Sacramento.
“Defining the New Normal” – the conference theme – will feature
some top speakers, including State Water Board Chair Felicia
Marcus.
A select group of young professionals from a variety
of water stakeholder groups were chosen to
participate in the 2016 class of the highly respected William R. Gianelli Water Leaders program
put on by the Water Education Foundation.
The yearlong program begins Jan. 28 in Sacramento at the
Foundation’s office.
California’s complicated water rights system was highlighted
in the last few years as water rights were curtailed by state
regulators due to the drought. That action prompted some
water rights holders to go to court to retain their rights.
Others called for a revamping of the water rights system all
together.
Arguments aside, what’s the difference between a senior water
right and a junior water right as highlighted in many news
articles? Or a riparian right and an appropriative right? And how
are they determined?
