Home

Announcement

Last Call for Northern California Tour – Won’t Be Offered Next Year; Colorado River Reporter Honored with Journalism Award
Foundation's Latest Western Water Article Explores New Way of Looking at Risk in the West

Only a few seats are left on the bus for our Northern California Tour on Oct. 22-24 that journeys across the Sacramento Valley from Sacramento to Redding with visits to Oroville and Shasta dams!

One of our most popular tours, it will not be offered in 2026 so don’t miss this opportunity for a scenic journey through riparian woodland, rice fields, nut orchards and wildlife refuges while learning from experts about the history of the Sacramento River and issues associated with a key source for the state’s water supply. Other stops include Red Bluff Fish Passage Improvement Project, rice farms, Battle Creek, Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District and Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. Only a handful of tickets are left, so claim your seat on the bus here!

Announcement

Water Education Foundation Honors Colorado River Reporter Alex Hager
Hager is fourth recipient of Rita Schmidt Sudman Award for Excellence in Water Journalism

The Water Education Foundation has named Alex Hager, KUNC’s reporter covering the Colorado River Basin, as this year’s recipient of the Rita Schmidt Sudman Award for Excellence in Water Journalism.

The award recognizes Hager’s clear, deeply sourced reporting that helps the public understand the people, policies and ecosystems tied to one of the West’s most important rivers, said Jenn Bowles, the Foundation’s Executive Director. Hager’s public radio reports reach audiences across the basin and airs nationally on NPR programs such as All Things Considered, Science Friday and Marketplace.

“I’m deeply grateful for this recognition from the Water Education Foundation,” Hager said. “The Colorado River is the lifeblood of our region, yet so many people who rely on it don’t know where their water comes from or the challenges the river is facing. I was one of those people until I started this job. It has been a delight and a challenge to learn about the science and policy that shape our shared resource along the way.”

Water News You Need to Know

Aquafornia news KUTV (Salt Lake City, Utah)

Friday Top of the Scroll: Southern Utah prepares for possibility of water shortage

After a dismal snowpack, sustained drought conditions, and a relatively weak monsoon season, southern Utah is preparing for the possibility of a water shortage. A newly proposed conservation plan outlines what the county will require municipalities to do should reservoirs run low. … The water shortage contingency plan, released Wednesday, would require each city to decrease its water use by a set percentage. … If municipalities fail to reach that reduction rate, they could face punitive pricing, ranging from a 300% to 500% increase from the standard.

Other Utah drought news:

Aquafornia news WaterWorld

How the government shutdown affects water and wastewater utilities

… The shutdown may result in regulatory delays that included new or pending permits, guidance documents and approvals. State-submitted programs like NPDES permits and TMDLS won’t be acted on during shutdowns. … Routine EPA inspections for drinking water systems, wastewater facilities or stormwater compliance are paused until a funding bill is passed. Enforcement only continues if it is tied to imminent threats to human health or property. No new EPA grants for water infrastructure upgrades, stormwater resilience or research partnerships will be awarded during the shutdown. 

Other shutdown water impact news:

Aquafornia news Los Angeles Times

With Colorado River talks at impasse, critics demand transparency

The Colorado River, which provides water across the Southwest, has lost about 20% of its flow in the last quarter-century, and its depleted reservoirs continue to decline. But negotiations aimed at addressing the water shortage are at an impasse. … [Great Basin Water Network Executive Director Kyle] Roerink and leaders of five other environmental groups criticized the lack of information about the stalled negotiations, as well as the Trump administration’s handling of the situation during a news conference Wednesday as they released a report with recommendations for solving the river’s problems.

Other Colorado River news:

Aquafornia news The Sacramento Bee (Calif.)

Opinion: California’s dying salmon test our environmental values. We’re flunking

California salmon are as central to our historic identity as the symbol on our state flag, the California grizzly. It is a sad and ironic tragedy that the grizzly has been extinct for generations. What does it say about us if salmon may soon follow? … Losing salmon would be an ecological disaster for our freshwater ecosystems, forests, riverbanks and other native species if their links to the salmon were severed. Healthy salmon runs mean jobs for Californians, but the industry generating $1 billion is at risk, and is a historic piece of California’s culture.
–Written by Sacramento Bee columnist Tom Philp.

Other salmon news:

Online Water Encyclopedia

Wetlands

Sacramento National Wildlife RefugeWetlands are among the world’s most important and hardest-working ecosystems, rivaling rainforests and coral reefs in productivity. 

They produce high oxygen levels, filter water pollutants, sequester carbon, reduce flooding and erosion and recharge groundwater.

Bay-Delta Tour participants viewing the Bay Model

Bay Model

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.

Aquapedia background Colorado River Basin Map

Salton Sea

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

Lake Oroville shows the effects of drought in 2014.

Drought

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.