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.
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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.
California’s water managers have long looked for ways to adapt to a hotter, drier future where the impacts of climate change leave less water to meet the state’s needs.
At our annual Water 101 Workshopon March 26 in Sacramento, participants will hear from Joel Metzger, deputy director for statewide water resources planning, on efforts underway by the California Department of Water Resources to achieve a target of identifying 9 million acre-feet of additional water supply by 2040, roughly equal to the capacity of two Shasta Reservoirs.
The agenda for the workshop features some of the leading policy and legal experts in California who will detail the historical, legal and political facets of water management in the state. Seating is limited and filling up quickly, so don’t miss out!
The Water Education Foundation, which celebrates its 49th birthday this year, is proud to be the only organization in the West providing comprehensive, unbiased information about the region’s most critical natural resource. Through our workshops, water leadership programs and explorations of key watersheds, we bring the West’s myriad challenges and opportunities into context to help build sound and collective solutions to water issues.
So, don’t miss your chance to go beyond the news headlines and gain a deeper understanding of how water flows across California and its challenges by signing up for our popular spring tours and workshops below, all of which have limited seating and may sell out before long!
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration launched a planning effort
Wednesday to identify enough new water to fill up two Shasta
Reservoirs, or 9 million acre-feet, by 2040 to offset expected
losses to climate change. The 2028 Water Plan, a result of last
year’s SB 72, will lay out a blueprint for new reservoirs,
groundwater recharge and conservation projects. “Climate
change is reshaping life in California through historic
droughts and record storms that threaten the farms that feed
the nation, communities that depend on reliable water, and the
environment we all share,” Newsom said in a statement.
Despite a strong start to California’s wet season, snowpack
conditions remain below average. A deficient snowpack
could mean less water available for summer irrigation,
threatening to cut surface water deliveries to farmers. …
State officials reported the snowpack was at 59% of
average by the end of last month. San Joaquin
Valley farmer Aaron Barcellos said he’s concerned about what
water supplies he will be able to get from this winter’s
snowpack, especially since about two-thirds of his farm’s water
comes from snowpack storage. The uncertainty has already
begun to impact his planning—particularly with cotton, which he
has grown since 1988.
Other snowpack and water supply news around the West:
The latest news about the Colorado River is dire. Since 2000,
the river’s flow has shrunk about 20%. An extremely warm winter
has brought very little snow in the Rocky Mountains. Reservoirs
are declining to critically low levels. And the leaders of
seven states are still at loggerheads over the water cutbacks
each should accept to prevent reservoirs from falling further.
… Officials are talking about what they will do if no
deal is reached. Representatives of Arizona, Nevada and
California already offered cuts of 27%, 17% and 10%,
respectively. But that hasn’t been enough for negotiators
representing Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah.
An unlikely coalition of farmers and water managers, who in the
past would be at loggerheads over the Sacramento-San
Joaquin River Delta, are banding together in an effort
to move the needle on how to better manage this unique
resource. … The Great Valley Farm Water Partnership,
formed two years ago, includes members from the delta and San
Joaquin Valley, regions that have historically advocated for
delta operations from their own silos. By seeking unity and
practical outcomes for both farmers and the environment, the
partnership is gaining traction.
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.
