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.
We are gearing up for an engaging Water Summit on Oct. 29 and
also prepping our 2027 California Water Leaders program. Join a
virtual Q&A on our Water Leaders program on Nov. 10. Details
below.
Water Summit | October 29
Our 42ⁿᵈ
annual Water Summit is the Foundation’s
premier event of the year and returns to Sacramento October 29
with leading policymakers and experts addressing critical water
issues in California and across the West. Capacity is
limited and filling up quickly, so register here while
seats are available!
Conversations during the Summit will revolve around this year’s
theme, Stewarding a New Era in Western
Water, with a focus on emerging topics related to
the challenges and opportunities facing water resource
management.
The mandate to identify 9 million acre-feet of
additional water supply in California by 2040
The need for clarity in the ongoing AI/data center
discourse related to water resources management
The latest developments in desalination
efforts and their implications for the arid West
Our 42ⁿᵈ annual Water
Summit, an engaging day of discussions addressing
critical water issues in California and across the West, will be
held on Thursday, Oct. 29, in Sacramento with the theme,
Stewarding a New Era in Western Water.
Speakers and conversations will highlight emerging topics related
to the challenges and opportunities facing management of the
West’s most precious natural resource.
Lively conversations will focus on topics such
as:
The mandate to identify 9 million acre-feet of additional
water supply in California by 2040
The need for clarity in the ongoing AI/data center discourse
related to water resources management
The latest developments in desalination efforts and their
implications for the arid West
A full agenda will be posted soon, and speakers
include:
Joel Metzger | Deputy Director, Statewide
Water Resources Planning, California Department of Water
Resources
Sandi Matsumoto | California Water Program
Director, The Nature Conservancy
Cannon Michael | President, Bowles
Farming
Craig Miller | General Manager, Western
Municipal Water District
Dave Pederson | General Manager, Las Virgenes
Municipal Water District
As previously announced,
the day will open with a keynote address from Tom
Gibson, the new director of California’s Department of
Water Resources. An attorney who has held several roles in
the state’s Natural Resources Agency and its various departments,
Gibson was appointed by Gov. Newsom on June 29 and sworn in on
July 6 to lead DWR and its nearly 4,000 employees.
Water rates in the United States have risen more than twice as
much as groceries over the past decade, and more than 1.5 times
the overall rate of inflation, which has left Bay Area
residents with some of the biggest water bills in the nation,
according to a new report. An analysis of the country’s 500
largest community water providers, published by the consumer
advocacy group Food and Water Watch on Tuesday, cites the
privately held San Jose Water Company as the
nation’s most expensive water retailer. … Thirteen of
the 25 most expensive providers are in California,
with their rates averaging more than twice the national
average. The authors of the report say the average
national water rate hike of 62% between 2015 and 2025 is
largely due to the need to upgrade aging
infrastructure, treat water pollution and adapt to more extreme
weather with climate change, on top of lagging federal water
investments.
Arizona is investing nearly $8.5 million on a study of a
seawater desalination project in Mexico, the
second such Gulf of California proposal that the state’s water
augmentation authority has agreed to investigate this year. The
state Water Infrastructure Finance Authority board approved
funds for the feasibility study at an Oct. 5 special meeting.
The board also approved $5.7 million for study of option
to purify water for reuse in Mexico,
potentially to include treatment of water for use in Tijuana,
Mexicali and San Luis Rio Colorado. All of the projects would
lead to Arizona helping produce water for Mexico in
exchange for some of that country’s Colorado River
water, though the desalination plant may also include
an option to pipe water north.
… The California Chamber of Commerce collected the signatures
necessary to qualify Proposition 45 for the November statewide
ballot, in an effort to overhaul the California Environmental
Quality Act, commonly known as CEQA. The changes, if approved
by a majority of voters, will help lower housing, energy and
water costs, supporters say, by cutting
burdensome regulations and making it easier to build everything
from homes to reservoirs to solar farms.
Environmental groups call the measure a giveaway to
developers, and are lining up to fight it. The contest
is expected to be the first clear indication in years
about whether Californians are willing to rewrite environmental
regulations — which they have traditionally supported
— as concerns about housing prices, utility bills and other
costs have soared to the top of polls.
Denver Water leaders aimed to reduce customers’ use by 20%
across the board this year in response to record-breaking
drought. But so far, the customers of the state’s largest
utility have fallen short. Through the end of September, Denver
Water customers reduced their water use by 9%,
according to Greg Fisher, the utility’s manager of demand
planning. Three months remain in the year, and Fisher expressed
hope that a full lawn watering ban implemented Thursday
— accompanied by threats of steep fines — would help the
utility meet its goal. … In total, customers
used 10,800 acre-feet less water than normal so far this year,
according to Denver Water. … The utility issued 2,000
warnings and levied 110 fines that totaled approximately
$30,000.
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.
No portion of the West has been immune to drought during the last
century and it occurs with much greater frequency in the West
than in any other region of the country.
