Don’t miss your opportunity to hop aboard our Headwaters Tour later this month as we head into the Sierra Nevada to learn about upper watersheds and the critical role they play in both water supply and quality across California.

Plus, mark your calendars now for our fall programs, including:

• Water tours along the Eastern Sierra and across Northern California.
• Our Water Summit in Sacramento, the Foundation’s premier annual event. 

Headwaters Tour: June 21-22

Very few seats remain for the in-person return of our Headwaters Tour on June 21-22, so grab one while they last! Venture with us through the Sierra Nevada’s  American and Yuba watersheds to learn directly from experts about this year’s historically large snowpack, the latest in forest management research and practices, California’s tree mortality epidemic, meadow restoration and more.

The tour includes an overnight stay at Lake Tahoe and – new this year – tour participants have the option to join a professionally guided and outfitted rafting trip on the South Fork of the American River on June 20. Time is running out, so register here today!

NEW & ONE-TIME ONLY! Eastern Sierra Tour: September 13-15

This 3-day, 2-night tour journeys along the Eastern Sierra from the Truckee River to Mono Lake, through Owens Valley and the Mojave Desert to explore a major source of water for Los Angeles, this year’s epic snowpack and challenges for towns, farms and the environment. This special Foundation water tour will only be offered once! It marks the 40th anniversary of the landmark Mono Lake case, in which the California Supreme Court ruled that “reasonable and beneficial” uses of water must be interpreted in accordance with public trust needs. It was the first case in California that applied the public trust doctrine.

The Sept. 13-15 tour will start in Reno with an opening reception on the night of Sept. 12. The tour will end Sept. 15 at Ontario International Airport in Southern California. Among other planned topics will be the Truckee River’s Derby Dam, the first project built by the newly formed Bureau of Reclamation at the turn of the 20th century; the history and operations of the Los Angeles Aqueduct and more. Registration opens soon!

Northern California Tour: October 18-20

This 3-day, 2-night excursion across the Sacramento Valley travels north from Sacramento through Oroville to Redding and Shasta Lake. Experts will talk about the history of the Sacramento River as the tour winds through riparian woodland, rice fields, wildlife refuges and nut orchards across the region.

Participants will get a direct look at how this year’s abundant precipitation has filled critical reservoirs of the State Water Project and federal Central Valley Project, explore farming and environmental water uses, visit the location of the proposed Sites Reservoir and discuss innovations in flood management, groundwater management and salmon restoration. Stops include Oroville and Shasta dams, Red Bluff Fish Passage Improvement Project, rice farms, Clear Creek Gorge, Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District and Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. Find more tour details here. Registration coming soon!

Water Summit: October 25

The Water Education Foundation’s annual Water Summit has been set for Oct. 25 in Sacramento. The day-long summit is the Foundation’s premier event of the year and features engaging conversations about critical issues affecting water statewide and across the West.

Keynote speakers in recent years have included Wade Crowfoot, California Natural Resources secretary; Erica Gies, science journalist and author; and Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA.

The 2023 event will be held at the Kimpton Sawyer Hotel in downtown Sacramento. More information & registration coming soon!