The Water Education Foundation has announced the line-up for its 2017 water tours. Six tours, including a new one to the headwaters area of the Sierra Nevada foothills and the mountains around Lake Tahoe, will be offered:

• Central Valley Tour March 8-10
• Lower Colorado River Tour April 5-7
• Headwaters Tour April 27-28
• Bay-Delta Tour June 14-16                                                     .
• Northern California Tour October 11-13
• San Joaquin River Restoration Tour November 1-2

Make plans to join us on one or more of these exciting, educational tours, and watch for more details and announcements of additional tours. Registration is now open for all 2017 tours, along with early-bird prices if you register early!

Central Valley Tour – This 3-day, 2-night tour travels the length of the San Joaquin Valley, giving participants a clear understanding of the State Water Project and Central Valley Project. Issues of water supply for farms, water project operations, groundwater, wetlands, flood control and agricultural drainage are discussed.

Lower Colorado River Tour – This 3-day, 2-night tour follows the lower Colorado River through Nevada, Arizona and California, and includes a private tour of Hoover Dam. Issues discussed include water needs in the Lower Basin, drought management, Lake Mead shortage criteria and endangered species.

New! Headwaters Tour – This 2-day, 1-night tour travels through the Sierra Nevada foothills, into the mountains and around the Lake Tahoe Basin. Topics include meadow restoration, forest management and tree mortality, climate change, wildfire impacts and water quality. Tour stops include a meadow restoration site, Lake Tahoe, El Dorado National Forest, and the Yuba and American rivers.

Bay-Delta Tour – This 3-day, 2-night tour takes participants to the heart of California water policy – the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay. Participants learn about the critical role the Delta plays in California’s water supply, Delta planning initiatives, water project operations, fish passage, ecosystem restoration, levees and flood management, Delta agriculture and water supply reliability.

Northern California Tour – This 3-day, 2-night tour travels the length of the Sacramento Valley, a primary source of water for much of California. Stops include Oroville and Shasta dams, Red Bluff Fish Passage Improvement Project, Feather River Fish Hatchery, Clear Creek restoration site and Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. Other highlights include a houseboat cruise on Shasta Lake.

San Joaquin River Restoration Tour – This 2-day, 1-night tour offers participants the opportunity to learn about challenges associated with one of the nation’s largest restoration efforts aimed at restoring flows and a Chinook salmon fishery along the San Joaquin River. Restoration efforts are focused on a 60-mile, mostly dry stretch of the river from below Friant Dam to the confluence of the Merced River while reducing or avoiding adverse water supply impacts to farmers.

Click here to learn more about the general tours.

Like what you see? Become a tour sponsor for one, several or all of our 2017 tours!

A limited number of scholarships are available on a case-by-case basis. 

Email Tour Director Dan Scott for more information. Or call him at 916-444-6240.