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.
Mark your calendars now for our upcoming fall 2026
programs! Registration will open soon, so make sure
you’re among the first to hear by signing up for Foundation announcements!
Water Summit | October 29
Don’t miss the Water Education
Foundation’s 42ⁿᵈ annual Water
Summit in downtown Sacramento! Our premier event of
the year features leading policymakers and experts addressing
critical water issues in California and across the West.
Our Layperson’s
Guide to California Water has been completely
updated for 2026, providing a comprehensive overview of the
ways water is used, as well as its critical ecological role,
throughout the state. The 24-page publication traces the history
of the vital resource at the core of California’s identity,
politics and culture since its founding in 1850.
Federal and state officials have proposed severe drought
response actions, like drastically cutting water releases from
Lake Powell, in face of a historically dry year and worsening
conditions in the Colorado River Basin. The Bureau of
Reclamation announced Friday it will likely reduce Lake Powell
water releases to 6 million acre-feet, the lowest amount in
decades. It also intends to release additional water from
Flaming Gorge, an upstream reservoir, to help elevate the water
level in Lake Powell. The decisions could
raise the specter of forced water cuts in states including
Colorado, impact endangered fish populations and affect
communities and economies.
As most Western communities expect to grapple with water
shortages this summer and fall, one is looking to share its
unlikely surplus. San Diego County in California spent nearly
$1 billion on a desalination plant after a 1990s drought left
it with scarce supply. Now, with the seawater-to-tap water
plant running at just one-third of capacity, its water utility
is shopping around deals to sell its water across the West.
… It’s not yet clear how interstate transfers of water
could occur — likely by Arizona or other states paying San
Diego for its Colorado River water rights.
Such transfers have never occurred and could require new
federal laws or regulations.
Local king salmon will be on menus in California for the first
time in four years after federal fishery managers voted
[last] week to reopen the state’s coastal waters to salmon
fishing. Since 2022, commercial fishing fleets have
been barred from catching the celebrated fish in the state
because of a frightening plunge in their numbers. A forecasted
bump in the population prompted federal regulators to change
course this year, albeit cautiously: They approved a limited
commercial season, which begins in
May. … Scientists pin the plight on a combination
of dammed rivers, too much water drawn off for cities and
farms, climate shifts such as intensifying droughts and warming
temperatures, and increasingly unfavorable ocean conditions.
Colorado’s weather modification program is seeing an increased
interest in cloud seeding technology after the record-low
snowpack this past winter. … The ability of cloud
seeding to add to Colorado’s snowpack was limited this year
compared to past years due in large part to the lack of
suitable storms that rolled through the state, [Weather
Modification Program Manager Andrew] Rickert said. He noted,
however, that the technology still likely added small amounts
of extra precipitation to the storms it did seed. In Colorado,
Rickert said all seven wintertime cloud seeding programs use
ground-based generator systems and operate from Nov. 1 to April
15, with contractors able to get an extension to the end of
April if conditions allow.
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.
