As we head into summer, don’t miss your chance to explore the statewide impact of forest health on water resources in July and be sure to mark your calendars for our popular fall programming!

• Northern California Tour, October 16-18: Explore the Sacramento River and its tributaries through a scenic landscape while learning about the issues associated with a key source for the state’s water supply. Registration opens June 12!
• Water Summit, October 30: Attend the Water Education Foundation’s premier annual event hosted in Sacramento with leading policymakers and experts addressing critical water issues in California and across the West. More details coming soon!

Headwaters Tour: July 24-25

Venture with experts into the foothills and mountains of the Sierra Nevada to examine water issues that happen upstream but have dramatic impacts on water supply and quality downstream and throughout California on our Headwaters Tour July 24-25!

With more than half of the state’s developed water supply originating high in the Sierra Nevada, millions of Californians are affected by the health of our forests. Despite a few wet years, forests are suffering from multi-year droughts and historically intense wildfires.

The 2-day, 1-night tour starts and ends in Sacramento and travels up the American River watershed, around Lake Tahoe (where we stay overnight) and down the Yuba River watershed. Space is more limited on this tour than any other that we host, so reserve your seat on the bus here while they last!

2023 Annual Report Hot off the Press!

The Water Education Foundation’s 2023 Annual Report is hot off the press and recaps a year of change and how our programs adjusted to a year of plentiful rain and an epic snowpack in California.

Importantly, our board of directors elected a new Board President, Terry Fulp, who had retired from the Bureau of Reclamation as Director of the Lower Colorado Region.

On the programs front, we hosted our first Eastern Sierra Tour on the 40th anniversary year of the landmark Mono Lake case, in which the California Supreme Court first applied the public trust doctrine.

Other 2023 highlights include:

• Writing about how inadequate infrastructure and rigid state rules on using flood flows prevented some water agencies from taking advantage of them.
• Conducting 49 Project WET workshops across California for K-12 educators to bring lessons on water into the classroom. In all, 824 educators participated and planned to use the activities to engage more than 150,000 students.
• As dams began coming down in the Klamath River Basin that straddles California and Oregon, we wrote about the science behind the nation’s largest dam removal project and featured a panel on the topic at our annual Water Summit.

Learn more about our accomplishments by checking out our 2023 Annual Report and learn which journalist received the Rita Schmidt Sudman Award for Excellence in Water Journalism. 

Toward Sustainable Groundwater in Agriculture: June 18-20

Registration closes June 7 for the must-attend groundwater conference of 2024 focused on the world’s agricultural regions!

Toward Sustainable Groundwater in Agriculture: The 3ʳᵈ International Conference Linking Science & Policy returns to San Francisco for the first time since 2016 to highlight advances on sustaining groundwater resources in agricultural regions across California and around the world. You can view the draft program here, including the optional free workshops on June 17 that are filling up quickly. Register here soon! 

Mark Arax, an award-winning journalist and author of books chronicling agriculture and water issues in California’s Central Valley, will provide the keynote talk.

Sponsor or Exhibit! Whether you are a new company seeking exposure to a global audience or an established organization with a strong track record in the field of groundwater, this conference provides a variety of opportunities to set yourself apart and reach new clients. Learn more here.