Applications for one of our most popular programs, Water Leaders, are due Monday, Dec. 9, by 5 p.m.

Launched in 1997 and now led by Executive Director Jennifer Bowles, the Water Leaders program gets you out of the office and into the field — whether it’s on one of our water tours to the Delta or the lower Colorado River, or meeting with your assigned mentor.

The program is popular and competitive so make your application count! Get tips here on completing your package.

Alums of our one-year program say they gained invaluable contacts, exposure to different viewpoints, core knowledge and a big-picture view of California water.

Alums include Newsha Ajami, director of Urban Water Policy at Stanford University’s Water in the West; Jessica Pearson, executive officer of the Delta Stewardship Council; Martha Guzman Aceves, a member of the California Public Utilities Commission; Chris Scheuring, managing counsel for natural resources at the California Farm Bureau Federation; and Dave Eggerton, ACWA’s executive director.

Going on Tour

A key component of the program is our popular water tours to see issues up close.

Our tours give a firsthand look at the water facilities, rivers and regions critical in the debate about the future of water resources. Issues of water supply, water quality, environmental restoration, flood management, groundwater and water conservation are addressed by a wide range of speakers representing different viewpoints.

During our tours, we visit key infrastructure such as dams and reservoirs, including Hoover Dam and Shasta Dam. We talk to farmers by their crops and wildlife managers at refuges. We’ve taste-tested freshly desalted ocean water and watched efforts to restore salmon runs.

Get an Application

Our main Water Leaders web page provides more details and you can also download an application that you can fill out on your computer or print out.

But remember to read the tips first!