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Water articles on key water topics and more!
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Today on Giving Tuesday, a global
day of generosity, consider supporting the Water Education
Foundation by making a
donation.
The Foundation, an impartial nonprofit that has garnered the
highest level of recognition (platinum rating) by GuideStar,
has been educating people about water issues in California and
the West since 1977.
Apply by Dec. 7 for our 2022
Water Leaders class and be part of the cohort that will mark the
25th anniversary of California’s pre-eminent water leadership
program.
The Water Leaders class, which started in 1997, is aimed at
providing a deeper understanding of California water issues
and building leadership skills by working with a mentor, studying
a water-related topic in-depth and crafting policy
recommendations on that topic with your cohort.
The deadline to apply for the 2022 class is Dec.
7 at 5 p.m. Find the online application form and other
required items for your application
package here.
Our water tours are lauded because
they are both fun and educational, so don’t miss your chance to
experience our last online tour event of the year. Register now
for our Tuesday, Nov. 9, Headwaters Tour
and we’ll take you on an engaging virtual journey across the
upper watershed of a major Sierra-fed river to learn the
important role forests play in California’s water supply.
The virtual Headwaters Tour travels through portions of the
American River watershed, beginning at the crest of the Sierra
Nevada mountains and heading down into the foothills and
eventually ending at Folsom Lake near Sacramento.
You can more easily support the
important work done by the Water Education Foundation in
California and across the West by making a tax-deductible gift
via a one-time payroll deduction through your employer or a set
amount per pay period.
The contributions through Workplace Giving programs support our
nonprofit’s mission to inspire understanding of water and
catalyze critical conversations to build bridges and inform
collaborative decision-making.
As the year comes to a close, so does our schedule of educational
programming with just two more virtual journeys remaining this
Thursday and next Tuesday. And don’t miss your chance this
Thursday to learn more about applying for our 2022 Water
Leaders program, now in its 25th
year.
You still have an opportunity to experience the Foundation’s remaining virtual
journeys this fall (see below) as your favorite
tour guide Nick Gray whisks you
away to explore key California rivers and water
regions. Each tour will run from 2:30-5:30 p.m.
PT and includes:
An overview presentation of the region’s
critical topics
A guided video tour of key locations — farms,
wetlands, dams and reservoirs, wildlife habitats — to gain a
stronger understanding on a variety of water supply issues and
the latest policy developments
Live Q&A with experts in chat rooms so
participants can dive deeper into the topics, including the
drought gripping California.
As we wind down 2021 at the Water Education Foundation, we are
hosting a few more educational events and fun virtual journeys to
boost your water knowledge.
Water Summit, Oct. 28:
Despite the deluge of rain sparked
by an atmospheric river in Northern California this week, the
state is still gripped by an unprecedented drought.
Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water
Resources, and others will discuss how the drought has impacted
wildlife, farms, cities and more at our Water Summit on
Thursday, and explore what longer-term projects and
partnerships are aiming to make the state more drought resilient.
Click here
to find out more and register for
Thursday’s Water Summit virtual forum and the optional
in-person reception cruise aboard an open-air yacht on the
Sacramento River. Foundation members get discounted prices
to attend.
Karla Nemeth, director of the
California Department of Water Resources, will be among the
speakers at our Water
Summitvirtual forum next week to examine
what’s being done to get through a drought once again gripping
California and explore some of the creative efforts and
collaborations being developed to address the challenges
moving forward.
Our annual premier event, with the theme Pivoting
Today’s Pain into Tomorrow’s Gain, is hosted this year
as an engaging virtual experience on the afternoon of
Oct. 28, followed by an optional in-person
reception. The forum will feature a broad spectrum of
perspectives from across the state, including Nemeth, who will
detail current on-the-ground impacts of the drought and the
efforts being taken in the short-term to navigate through
it.
Applications are now available for
our yearlong Water
Leaders class.
One of our most popular programs, the Water Leaders class is
aimed at providing a deeper understanding of California
water issues and building leadership skills with class members by
studying a water-related topic in-depth and working with a
mentor.
The Water Education Foundation has won a national award for its innovative partnership with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to train schoolteachers across the state on climate science and how they can bring hands-on activities into their classrooms connected to local examples of climate change impacts.
The award was presented today by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions and The Climate Registry during their virtual Climate Leadership Series and Awards Showcase, Oct. 13-15. The Climate Leadership Awards is a national program that recognizes exemplary corporate, organizational and individual leadership in response to climate change. In all, 24 organizations nationwide were honored this year.
Learn about the drought now plaguing
California and steps being taken to abate the impacts at our
annual Water Summit
later this month, and gain a deeper understanding of the
state’s biggest watershed relied on by millions for drinking
water during our Northern California
Tour this Thursday.
Register now for next week’s virtual
Northern
California Tour on Oct. 14 to explore the
Sacramento River and its tributaries and learn about issues
associated with a key source for the state’s water supply,
including the drought now gripping California.
During the afternoon online event, you’ll visit rice farms and
wetlands in the Sacramento Valley and hear from farmers and
environmentalists about efforts to restore runs of endangered
chinook salmon and help birds along the Pacific Flyway. You’ll
also get up close to Oroville Dam, a key component of the State
Water Project, and learn how its two spillways were repaired
following a catastrophic 2017 storm, and visit other major
infrastructure such as Shasta Dam, part of the federal Central
Valley Project. In addition, you’ll visit the area being eyed for
the proposed Sites Reservoir. Seating on the virtual “tour
bus” is limited, so get your ticket
here.
Register today for
our Water Summit,
hosted this year as an engaging virtual experience on the
afternoon of Oct. 28, to hear a variety of
perspectives detailing the on-the-ground impacts of the the
current drought in California.
Applications will soon be available
for our yearlong Water Leaders class, which will mark its 25th
year in 2022, so now is the time to start polishing those resumes
and seeking support from employers.
One of our most popular programs, the William R. “Bill” Gianelli Water
Leaders class is aimed at providing a deeper
understanding of California water issues and building leadership
skills with class members by studying a water-related topic
in-depth and working with a mentor.
Registration is now open for the
Foundation’s Water Summit,
hosted this year as an engaging virtual experience on the
afternoon of Oct. 28, followed by an optional in-person
reception during an open-air cruise along the Sacramento River.
With the theme, Pivoting Today’s Pain into Tomorrow’s
Gain, the online event will examine what’s being
done to get through the drought now gripping California and
highlight some of the innovative programs, projects and
partnerships aimed at addressing the challenges.
Our annual premier event now in its 37th year, the Water
Summit features policymakers, water managers and
other water experts who will provide the latest information
and viewpoints on issues affecting water across California and
the West.
The Foundation’s virtual
journeys will whisk you away to explore California’s
key rivers and water regions this fall from the Sacramento River
to the headwaters in the Sierras.
Plus, our annual Water Summit will feature water
managers and other water experts who are dealing with the “new
normal” as unprecedented drought and wildfires challenge the
status quo.
Join us next Thursday,
Sept. 9, for an engaging online Bay-Delta
Tour that will feature live Q&A with key experts on the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the state’s vital water hub and the
West Coast’s largest freshwater tidal estuary.
You’ll learn about Delta ecosystem restoration, impacts to
ocean fisheries from changes in the Delta, agriculture and
municipal water use and the Delta’s role in supplying water to
Southern California. You’ll hear from farmers, fish biologists,
water managers, people working on restoration efforts and
more. Plus, you’ll get your hands on the newest update of our
Layperson’s
Guide to the Delta, published in 2020.
The Water Education Foundation’s
just-released 2020 Annual Report recaps how, even in
the midst of a global pandemic, we continued educating about the
most crucial natural resource in California and the West –
water.
The annual report takes readers along to see the array of
educational events, trainings and articles we produced last year,
including engaging virtual water
tours that educated participants on pressing water
issues and allowed them to interact with each other and a wide
range of experts offering different viewpoints.
Water is flowing once again in the
Colorado River’s delta in Mexico, a vast region that was once a
natural splendor before the iconic Western river was dammed and
diverted, leaving the delta a desert. Now an audacious multi-year
experiment, brokered under a binational agreement, is releasing
river water into the delta floodplain to provide habitat for
birds and wildlife as well as buffer climate change
impacts.
Our latest article in Western Water
examined the restoration flows, what conservation groups and
others hope to accomplish and how a multi-decade drought that is
forcing water cuts for some Colorado River water users could
affect the effort.
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta,
the largest estuary on the West Coast, is a vital hub in
California’s complex water delivery system as well as a rich
farming region, an important wetlands area – and often, a source
of conflict.
Join us for an engaging online
journey on Sept. 9 to go deep into
the Delta and its 720,000-acre network of islands and
canals that supports the state’s two large water systems -
the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley
Project.
