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.
Go beyond the headlines and gain a
deeper understanding of how water is managed and moved across
California during our annual Water
101 Workshop on March 26.
One of our most popular events, the daylong workshop at Cal
State Sacramento’s Harper Alumni Center offers anyone new to
California water issues or newly elected to a water district
board — and anyone who wants a refresher — a chance to gain a
solid statewide grounding on water resources. Leading
experts are on the agenda for the workshop that details
the historical, legal and political facets of water management in
the state.
Happy New Year to all the friends, supporters, readers of articles and participants of the tours and workshops we featured in 2025! We are deeply grateful to each and every person who engaged with us last year.
We have much to look forward to in 2026, especially as we gear up to mark and celebrate the Foundation’s 50th anniversary in 2027!
One of our most exciting projects this year will be replacing our 12-year-old website with a beautifully streamlined version that is mobile-adaptable. It will allow fora more intuitive experience as users conduct research, read our weekday newsfeed or water encyclopedia, and sign up for tours and events.
Along with our new website, we’ll be launching a new and improved Aquafornia newsfeed to better align with our reach across California and the Colorado River Basin. Stay tuned!
New Water Map & Spanish Version of California Water Guide
By summer, we’ll publish an update to our Layperson’s Guide to California Water in English and, for the first time, in Spanish. We will also publish a new Klamath River map to illustrate the nation’s largest dam removal project in the watershed straddling Oregon and California.
With social media, we’ll continue focusing on LinkedIn as our primary go-to channel as we ease off Facebook and X/Twitter where engagement has dropped. But not to fear; we’ll continue posting on Instagram.
Our array of 2026 programming begins later this month when we welcome our incoming California Water Leaders cohort. We’ll be sure to introduce them to you and let you know what thorny California water policy issue they’ll be tackling.
We’ll also be welcoming our third cohort of Colorado River Water Leaders in March.Applications are due Jan. 26 so be sure to get them in soon!
The seven Western states that rely on water from the Colorado
River have run out of time for compromise to share its
dwindling supplies, just as new projections show reservoir
levels could sink to a critical low by the end of this year.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said on Saturday that the states
had missed a Valentine’s Day deadline to reach consensus on a
plan to guide use of the river over the coming decades. He said
the federal Bureau of Reclamation would instead soon impose its
own plan. … He acknowledged it may be difficult for states to
cooperate without taking disagreements to court. That could
eventually lead to the U.S. Supreme Court.
… Data provided by the US Department of Agriculture show
that as of February 12, snowpack was at less than half
its normal level in areas across nine Western
states—some of the lowest levels seen in decades. It’s
common for a particular basin or small area of the West to have
low snowpack at this time of year. What’s worrisome, [UC ANR
scientist Daniel] Swain says, is how widespread the snow
drought is, stretching in a swath from the bottom of Washington
to much of Arizona and New Mexico, and touching as far east as
Colorado. … Much of the water supply for the West, including
the crucial Colorado River Basin, is set during the winter.
Snowpack that accumulates in the cold months melts in the
spring; in years with healthy snowpack levels, that water makes
its way into streams and reservoirs. Current conditions pose a
threat to this dynamic.
… The [Delta] conveyance system is one of California’s
largest proposed public infrastructure projects in a
generation, a 45-mile underground tunnel that would siphon
water from an inland network of rivers and farming islands
between Sacramento County in the north and Contra Costa County
in the south. … Southern and Central California water
districts want the tunnel to move more fresh water to their
agriculture and Los Angeles-area customers. … DTEC [Delta
Tribal Environmental Coalition] — already concerned about large
water exports shipped through existing pumps from the Delta —
worries the $20-billion project will wreak havoc on the plants
and wildlife of the estuary and its connected rivers.
Federal water managers say the level of Lake Powell could fall
to historic lows by the end of the year amid worsening drought
conditions across the Colorado River Basin. The U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation’s newest 24-month study predicts that by December
the lake could, for the first time, fall to 3,490 feet, or
“minimum power pool,” the lowest level at which Glen Canyon Dam
can produce electricity. In addition, if dry conditions persist
officials say by March 2027, Powell could drop to 3,476
feet—the lowest level on record since the lake was filled
decades ago, possibly limiting the dam’s ability to release
water.
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.
