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.
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, soclaim your
seat on the bus here!
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.”
For as long as there have been people in what is now
California, the granite peaks of the Sierra Nevada have held
masses of ice, according to new research that shows the
glaciers have probably existed since the last Ice Age more than
11,000 years ago. The remnants of these glaciers, which have
already shrunk dramatically since the late 1800s, are
retreating year after year, and are projected to melt
completely this century as global temperatures continue to
rise. … This water from glaciers serves as a
“stabilizing force” that can sustain mountain streams through
droughts. … [T]his water
eventually will go away as the glaciers continue to retreat.
Tulare County will hold two sets of meetings – one set
for landowners and one for community members – to share their
input about the future of agricultural land in the region as
groundwater restrictions tighten under the Sustainable
Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). … Tulare
County landed a $500,000 Sustainable Agricultural Lands
Conservation (SALC) grant from the Department of Conservation
and needs input specifically from the agricultural community on
crafting a land use plan that will directly impact where
productive land is preserved. The goal is to protect land
at risk of being converted to non-ag uses while maximizing
limited water resources.
Other SGMA and agricultural water management news:
A La Niña pattern for the first few months of this water year
(Oct. 1 to Sept. 30) means there is potential for extreme
weather events, both flooding and drought, depending on where
you are located in California. Despite Sacramento receiving 76%
of its normal rainfall for this past water year, Lake Oroville,
the State Water Project’s largest reservoir,
is currently sitting at 109% of average. … California is
also starting out this new water year with more groundwater
data than ever before, helping communities monitor conditions
and protect drinking water supplies.
A new report from a coalition of environmental nonprofits is
calling for changes to Colorado River management and urging
policymakers to act more quickly in their response to shrinking
water supplies. The report’s authors stress a need for urgent
action to manage a river system that they say is “on the cusp
of failure.” … A crash, they said, could mean water
levels so low in the nation’s largest reservoirs that major
dams are rendered inoperable, leaving some cities and farms
with less water than they are legally owed. To stave off that
crash, the report includes nine recommendations, including
calls for major cutbacks to water demand.
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.
