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.
The Water Education Foundation, which celebrates its 49th birthday this year, is proud to be the only organization in the West providing comprehensive, unbiased information about the region’s most critical natural resource. Through our workshops, water leadership programs and explorations of key watersheds, we bring the West’s myriad challenges and opportunities into context to help build sound and collective solutions to water issues.
So, don’t miss your chance to go beyond the news headlines and gain a deeper understanding of how water flows across California and its challenges by signing up for our popular spring tours and workshops below, all of which have limited seating and may sell out before long!
Go beyond the headlines and gain a
deeper understanding of how water is managed and moved across
California during our annual Water
101 Workshop on March 26.
One of our most popular events, the daylong workshop at Cal
State Sacramento’s Harper Alumni Center offers anyone new to
California water issues or newly elected to a water district
board — and anyone who wants a refresher — a chance to gain a
solid statewide grounding on water resources. Leading
experts are on the agenda for the workshop that details
the historical, legal and political facets of water management in
the state.
Utah leaders are preparing for a legal fight over the Colorado
River as the seven states that share the dwindling water supply
remain at odds. Utah lawmakers have requested roughly $6
million to be earmarked for litigation over the Colorado River.
… Utah wants a deal where states agree to not sue one
another if the river’s flow below Glen Canyon Dam falls short
of what states committed to in the Colorado River Compact over
a century ago. The flow may drop below that “tripwire,” as
Colorado River experts call it, as soon as this year.
Ever since California was pummeled by a series of storms in
fall and early winter, experts have said the state’s water
supply is looking strong for this year. … But experts also
say that a few wet storms don’t mean we’re out of the woods.
That’s because this winter is a “classically
climate-change-flavored one,” according to Daniel Swain, a
weather and climate scientist with UC Agriculture and Natural
Resources. And that’s not because it’s been a particularly
dry winter, he explained. It’s because it’s the warmest winter
the West has ever seen. “In the Western U.S., the snowpack
is, on average, terrible,” Swain said. “It’s about as bad as
it’s ever been in observed history.”
Other snowpack and water supply news around the West:
A long-awaited set of reports on how to build a fire-resilient
Pacific Palisades, commissioned by Los Angeles city officials
for $5 million, found that much of the hilly enclave remains
out of compliance with standards for evacuating during a
disaster. … The public infrastructure report listed $150
million for “wet” infrastructure repairs, which included
replacing aging and leaky water main pipelines. The resiliency
report outlined further potential improvements to provide more
water for firefighting, such as building larger pipelines and
additional tanks to move and store more drinking water;
improving connections between local water systems; and tapping
stormwater, treated wastewater or even seawater from the
Pacific.
Officials are sounding the alarm over an invasive species
threatening one of California’s key water systems. Golden
mussels, first detected in the Friant-Kern Canal two months
ago, are rapidly multiplying and could disrupt water delivery
to farms and communities in the southern San Joaquin Valley.
The Friant Water Authority held a board meeting Thursday to
address the infestation and outline next steps. The board voted
to hire a consultant to develop a comprehensive control plan,
though any treatment would require permits and could take
several months. The agency is also seeking grants to help fund
prevention and control efforts.
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.
