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.
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 biennial program, which will run from March to September
next year, selects about a dozen rising
stars from the seven states that rely on the river
– California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New
Mexico – Mexico and tribal nations.
The seven-month program is designed for working professionals who
explore issues surrounding the iconic Southwest
river, deepen their water knowledge, and build leadership
and collaborative skills.
Listen to
a recording of our virtual Q&A session
where executive director Jenn Bowles and other Foundation staff
provided an overview on the program and tips on applying.
Governor Spencer Cox said he and his fellow governors of states
along the Colorado River have been summoned to Washington D.C.
to try to negotiate an agreement. ”I will be going back to
D.C., I think towards the end of next week; all the governors
are going to be getting together with the Department of
Interior to have a discussion there,” Gov. Cox said.
… FOX 13 News reached out to the governors offices in
several states to see if they intended to participate in the
talks. Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon’s office confirmed he would
attend. So did Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo’s office.
… Utah’s governor also expressed support for an idea to
pay California to build more desalination plants along the
Pacific Coast in exchange for Colorado River water shares
upstream.
… Climate scientists have long warned that when storms
ride on top of high tides, bayside Marin County will flood and
cause chaos, especially in low-lying areas like San Rafael.
… Flooding experts predict that the changing climate
will turn today’s king tides into the everyday tides of the
future. They want Marin County to learn from the recent
disaster and to install better pumps, engineer new seawalls and
even pilot out-of-the-box ideas like floating homes.
… The city’s flatlands are shaped like a bowl, protected
by makeshift levees — some constructed with plywood, cement or
asphalt — and pumps that are already struggling.
Developers in Arizona are planning to build a $10 billion data
center next to Horseshoe Bend, an iconic viewpoint
along the Colorado River. The 500-acre parcel,
located a mile from Horseshoe Bend, was previously protected
for outdoor recreation. … A petition to stop the data
center’s construction has already netted over 1,800 signatures
as of this publication. The document cites concerns over water
consumption and contamination, pollution, and an “unsightly
blight that will detract from the scenic beauty.”
… These servers generate immense heat, and keeping them
cool requires a large amount of water, the bipartisan think
tank Environmental and Energy Study Institute writes.
Snowpack in Nevada is off to a grim start as high temperatures
have prevented snow packs from forming, despite high
precipitation. Snowpack in Nevada and the Eastern Sierra – a
major source of water for the Truckee River in northern Nevada
– are below normal at 74% of median for the time of year. While
precipitation in December was well above normal, warmer than
normal temperatures mean that has not translated to robust
snowpacks throughout much of the state. … The decrease
in snowpack across Nevada was largely a result of above normal
temperatures melting snowpack away, according to Nevada State
Climatologist Baker Perry.
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.
