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.
A Phoenix suburb ditched a plan to send recycled water
from toilets and other sources directly to residents’
taps, after political candidates made unproven claims
that the water is contaminated “poop water.” The affluent city
of Scottsdale mainly uses purified water from the city’s liquid
waste to recharge aquifers that can be drawn when other sources
are running low. But in June, as criticism mounted, the city
council replaced funding for the recycling program and
other water projects with a vague $100 million allocation for
new water sources and supplies. … Some experts
and residents said the budget change — along with a council
majority that frowns upon wastewater reuse — could
weaken resilience at a time when the West is mired in drought
and cities are facing significant cuts from the Colorado
River.
The Environmental Protection Agency agreed to permanently
restore about $19 million in University of California research
grants, including studies into wildfire-smoke health
effects and water management, that it canceled,
according to a settlement filed in federal court Wednesday.
The settlement would resolve one part of a broader
lawsuit, brought by a legal team that includes UC law
school professors and additional attorneys, challenging
roughly $2 billion in funding cuts across seven
federal agencies. Wednesday’s deal covers 24 research grants,
including projects at UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley. The
agreement still needs the approval of U.S. District Judge Rita
Lin, who previously ruled against the Trump administration in
the case.
Funding for a state drinking water program,
vital to many communities throughout the San Joaquin
Valley that struggle with groundwater
contamination and scarcity, is secure for one more
year after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed three budget bills into law
on Friday. The Safe and Affordable Fund for Equity and
Resilience (SAFER) program has $171 million to pay for
emergency supplies when homes, or entire communities, go dry,
and fund efforts to identify long-term water
solutions throughout the state. The funding came
after a harrowing ride through the legislature this
summer. SAFER was all but gutted in the spring, with $68
million. That is less than half of its previous annual funding
of $130 million. But a broad coalition of organizations
came together to get the program over the finish line at the
end of August.
Two New Mexico Supreme Court rulings will
allow water to flow and permitting to continue for
the Project Jupiter data center, which is
currently under construction. Meanwhile, one of the
conservation groups that lost its effort to cut off the water
says it is gearing up for a long legal fight. The site is
being built by Oracle and is expected to house
OpenAI, known for its ChatGPT platform. … The
recent rulings restore Oracle’s access to non-potable
groundwater via a private supplier. The Center for
Biological Diversity sued New Mexico State Engineer Elizabeth
Anderson in one case over water use, and the group New Energy
Economy sued New Mexico Environment Secretary James Kenney in
another, over air quality permitting.
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.
