Find out what the Water Education Foundation is up to with
announcements about upcoming events, tours, new Western
Water articles on key water topics and more!
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Are you an
up-and-coming leader in the water world? The application
window is now open for our 2026 California Water
Leaders cohort, and submissions are due no later than Dec.
3, 2025.
If interested in applying, start by checking out the
program
requirementsand look at the
frequently asked questions and mandatory
dates on
the application page. Make sure you have the time to
commit to the program next year and approval from your
organization to apply.
Then sign
up here to join a virtual Q&A
session on Nov. 5 at noon with Jenn Bowles,
our executive director, and other Foundation team members to get
an overview of the program and advice on applying.
Only a few seats are left on the
bus for our Northern California
Tour on Oct. 22-24 that journeys across the
Sacramento Valley from Sacramento to Redding with visits to
Oroville and Shasta dams!
One of our most popular tours, it will not be offered in
2026 so don’t miss this opportunity for a scenic journey
through riparian woodland, rice fields, nut orchards
and wildlife refuges while learning from experts about the
history of the Sacramento River and issues associated with a
key source for the state’s water supply. Other stops include Red
Bluff Fish Passage Improvement Project, rice farms, Battle Creek,
Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District and Sacramento National Wildlife
Refuge. Only a handful of tickets are left, soclaim your
seat on the bus here!
Registration closes Friday for our
2025 Water
Summit, set for next Wednesday, Oct.
1, in downtown Sacramento with conversations focused on
our theme, Embracing Uncertainty in the
West.
Now in its 41ˢᵗ year, the Water Summit will gather leading
experts and top policymakers for conversations on how to
move forward with critical decisions despite myriad unknowns
facing the West’s most precious natural resource.
Wade Crowfoot and Brenda Burman
lead an exciting line-up of water and policy experts who will be
speaking about Embracing Uncertainty in the
Westat our 2025 Water
Summit on Wednesday, Oct.
1, in downtown Sacramento.
Now in its 41ˢᵗ year, the event will once again gather
leading experts and top policymakers from California and
across the West for engaging conversations focused
on how to move forward with critical decisions despite myriad
unknowns facing the West’s most precious natural resource.
As previously announced, the day
will open with a keynote address from California Natural
Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot. Secretary Crowfoot
oversees an agency charged with stewarding California’s rivers
and water supplies, including billions of dollars of public
investment to protect people and natural places from climate
change impacts.
Our 41ˢᵗ annual Water
Summit, an engaging day of discussions addressing
critical water issues in California and across the West, will be
held on Wednesday, Oct. 1, in Sacramento with the theme,
Embracing Uncertainty in the West.
Speakers and conversations will explore how to move forward with
critical decisions despite myriad unknowns facing our most
precious natural resource, including updates and insights
from leadership at both the state and federal levels in shaping
water resource priorities in California and across the West.
California Natural Resources
Secretary Wade Crowfoot will be the keynote speaker at our
2025 Water
Summit where leading experts and top
policymakers will explore how to move forward with critical
decisions despite myriad unknowns facing the West’s most precious
natural resource.
Now in its 41ˢᵗ year, the Foundation’s premier annual event on
Oct. 1 in downtown Sacramento will focus on the theme,
Embracing Uncertainty in the West. A
full agenda featuring a slate of engaging panelists will be
available soon, but the day will be filled with lively
discussions on topics such as:
Only a handful of seats are left on the bus for our
first-ever and only Klamath River Tour and
spots are now available first come, first served! This
special water tour, Sept. 8 through Sept. 12, will not be offered
again so grab a ticket here while
they last.
You don’t want to miss this
opportunity to examine water issues along the 263-mile Klamath
River, from its spring-fed headwaters in south-central Oregon to
its redwood-lined estuary on the Pacific Ocean in California,
including a look at the nation’s largest dam removal
project.
The goal of both programs is to build a network of water leaders
from diverse backgrounds who will deepen their water knowledge,
build their leadership skills and learn to take a
collaborative approach to decision-making about water resources.
The remaining handful of tickets
for our first-ever Klamath River Tour are now up
for grabs! This special water tour, Sept. 8 through Sept.
12, will not be offered every year so check out the tour
details here.
You don’t want to miss this opportunity to examine water issues
along the 263-mile Klamath River, from its spring-fed headwaters
in south-central Oregon to its redwood-lined estuary on the
Pacific Ocean in California.
Among the planned stops is the former site of Iron Gate Dam &
Reservoir for a firsthand look at restoration efforts. The dam
was one of four obsolete structures taken down in the nation’s
largest dam removal project aimed at restoring fish
passage. Grab your ticket here
while they last!
Registration is now open for
the Water Education Foundation’s 41ˢᵗ annual
Water Summitfeaturing leading
policymakers and experts in conversation about the latest
information and insights on water in California and the West.
Be sure to reserve your spot for our popular fall programs before
your summer adventures begin. The tours, in particular, have
limited seating and may be sold out before you return!
Klamath River Tour | September 8-12
Join us on this special journey as
we examine water issues along the 263-mile Klamath River, from
its spring-fed headwaters in south-central Oregon to its
redwood-lined estuary on the Pacific Ocean in California. Among
the planned stops is the former site of Iron Gate Dam & Reservoir
for a firsthand look at restoration efforts following the
obsolete structure’s removal. Click here for more
details.
As we head into summer, be sure to
mark your calendars for our popular fall programs which will all
be opening for registration soon!
Importantly, we will launch our first-ever Klamath River Tour to
visit the watershed and, among other things, see how the
river has responded to the dismantling of four obsolete dams. It
will not be an annual tour, so don’t miss this opportunity!
Check out the event dates and registration
details:
Big Day of
Giving is ending soon but you still have until
midnight to support the Water Education Foundation’s tours,
workshops, publications and other programs with a donation to help us reach our
$10,000 fundraising goal - we are only $2,502
away!
At the Foundation, we believe that education is as precious
as water. Your donations help us every day to teach K-12
educators how to bring water science into the classroom and to
empower future decision-makers through our professional
development programs.
Today is Big Day of Giving! Your donation will help
the Water Education Foundation continue its work to enhance
public understanding of our most precious natural resource
in California and across the West – water.
Big Day of Giving is a 24-hour regional fundraising event that
has profound benefits for our educational programs and
publications on drought, floods, groundwater, and the importance
of headwaters in California and the Colorado River Basin.
Your tax-deductible donation of
any size helps support our tours, scholarships, teacher training
workshops, free access to our daily water newsfeed and more. You
have until midnight to help us reach our $10,000
fundraising goal!
There is no need to wait to show
your love for the Water Education Foundation! You can donate
early to our Big Day of Giving campaign and help us reach
our fundraising goal of $10,000 by May 1.
Big Day of Giving is a 24-hour online fundraising marathon
for nonprofits. Donations will benefit our programs and
publications across California and the West.
NEARLY SOLD OUT!
Our Central
Valley Tour travels the length of the San Joaquin
Valley where water supply and use have been in the national
headlines, including our first stop at San Luis
Reservoir near Los Banos. The fifth-largest
reservoir in the state has been in the news recently because
plans to raise its dam are moving forward,
which would create 130,000 acre-feet of additional water for
off-stream storage used by both the federal Central Valley
Project and California’s State Water Project.
Time is running out to register for next week’s Water
101 Workshop and go beyond recent national headlines
to gain a deeper understanding of how water is managed and moved
across California. Plus, only a handful of spots remain for the
opportunity to extend your ‘beyond the headlines’ water education
experience on our Central Valley
Tour! And come one, come all to our annual Open
House & Reception on May 1.
Go beyond the stream of recent
national headlines and gain a deeper understanding of how water
is managed and moved across California during our Water
101 Workshop on April 10.
One of our most popular events, the daylong workshop at
McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento offers anyone new to
California water issues or newly elected to a water district
board — and really anyone who wants a refresher — a chance to
gain a solid statewide grounding on the state’s water
resources.
Some of state’s leading policy and legal experts are on the
agenda for the workshop that details
the historical, legal and political facets of water management in
the state.
Alfred E. Smith II, a Southern
California water law attorney and an alumnus of the Water
Education Foundation’s Water Leaders program, has been elected
president of the Foundation’s board of directors.
As chair of Nossaman LLP’s Water Group and a partner in the
firm’s Los Angeles office, Smith
serves as general counsel to several Southern California water
districts and represents clients on water rights, groundwater
adjudications, water contamination litigation and remediation
matters.
