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.
Some people in California and across the West struggle to access
safe, reliable and affordable water to meet their everyday needs
for drinking, cooking and sanitation.
There are many ways to support our nonprofit mission by donating
in someone’s honor or memory, 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.
As we wrap up our year at the Water Education Foundation, we
are busy looking ahead to our 2025 slate of engaging
tours, workshops and conferences on key water topics in
California and across the West. Make sure to save the dates
below!
Meanwhile, as we approach the holidays, we want to remind
everyone:
We will soon announce a holiday sale of our
popular maps and guides on key water
regions and topics so you can get gifts for the water
wonk in your life. Stay tuned!
Giving
Tuesday is right after Thanksgiving
and a national day to support nonprofits. We’ll be sure to
let you know how to support water education in the West on that
day.
If you are an
up-and-coming leader in the water world who is thinking
about applying for our 2025 California Water Leaders
cohort, you can view a virtual Q&A
sessionto get tips on applying for the
competitive program.
During the session, Jenn Bowles, our executive director, and
other Water Education Foundation team members provided an
overview of the program and gave advice on submitting an
application by Dec. 5, 2024.
A historically strong storm system with the strength of a
hurricane whipped damaging winds through the Pacific Northwest
overnight leading to power outages across the region. It was
creating large ocean waves and ushering in a drenching
atmospheric river that is expected to continue soaking Northern
California. … In the winter outlook from the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction
Center, forecasters warned that the season’s storm paths would
favor abundant rainfall across the Northwest, a pattern often
associated with La Niña … As of now, the Pacific Ocean is
still in a neutral phase and not quite meeting La Niña
criteria. During a neutral phase, less predictable weather
patterns can dominate, something Dr. Johnson called “weather
wild cards.”
These chemicals are in the tap water of the majority of
Americans, and the Trump administration could decide their
fate. No, not fluoride, the cavity-fighter that Robert F.
Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald J. Trump’s health secretary
pick, wants out of public drinking water. Rather, they’re
harmful “forever chemicals,” also known as per- and
polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS. For all of Mr. Kennedy’s
talk, and his contentious views on fluoride, larger
battles loom over chemicals in the water we drink. Public
health advocates worry that federal efforts to protect the
public against PFAS and replace lead pipes could unravel under
a Trump presidency.
The Washington County Water Conservancy District was selected
as one of five recipients of federal funding to put dollars to
work for saving water in the West — an urgent goal due to
decades of drought. … In Utah’s Washington County, the
$1 billion system will get a boost of $641,222 for new water
treatment facilities, advanced purification technology, new
conveyance pipelines and storage reservoirs, according to the
bureau’s release on Monday. The southern Utah area has
often come under attack for what its critics say is excessive
water use — which the district disputes.
San Diego’s congressional delegation Tuesday praised President
Joe Biden for including $310 million for the South Bay
International Wastewater Treatment Plant in proposed disaster
relief funding. If passed, the money would add to a previously
awarded $400 million in federal funding to get the plant
running at full capacity and even double its capabilities.
… In May, the local Congressional delegation, including
Vargas and Reps. Scott Peters and Sara Jacobs, both D-San
Diego, and Rep. Mike Levin, D-Dana Point, called on the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to begin an
investigation into pollutants from the ongoing sewage crisis at
the border.
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.
