Mark your calendars for our fall water tours along the Eastern Sierra and across Northern California.

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!