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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As 2023 winds down, the Water Education Foundation team is
revving up for a robust 2024 programming year with tours,
conferences and workshops on key water topics. Mark your
calendars now so you don’t miss these engaging,
once-a-year opportunities!
Organizations that are current Foundation members receive access
to coveted sponsorships opportunities for our
tours and events throughout the year. Both exclusive and general
sponsorships are available for our programs that are prime
networking opportunities for the water professionals in
attendance. Contact Programs Director Nick Gray
via email with any questions about our sponsorship program.
Lower Colorado River Tour: March 13-15
Don’t miss the return of our
Lower
Colorado River Tour as we take you from Hoover
Dam to the U.S.-Mexico border and through the Imperial and
Coachella valleys to learn about the challenges and opportunities
facing the “Lifeline of the Southwest.”
Following the course of the lower Colorado River through Nevada,
Arizona and California, the tour explores infrastructure,
farming regions, wildlife refuges and the Salton Sea while
discussing water needs in the Lower Basin, drought management,
endangered species and habitat restoration. Registration opens
December 20!
Updated and redesigned, the easy-to-read overview comes as
the nation’s largest dam removal project is underway with
the first of four Klamath River hydropower dams
demolished this year.
The Layperson’s Guide covers the history of the region’s tribal,
agricultural and environmental relationships with one of the
West’s largest rivers. The river’s vast watershed straddles
Cailfornia and Oregon and hosts one of the nation’s oldest
and largest reclamation projects.
Our 2023 California Water Leaders
cohort completed its year with a report outlining policy recommendations
for leveraging green infrastructure, such as restoring
floodplains, meadows and wetlands, to help manage water
statewide.
The cohort of
22 up-and-coming leaders – engineers,
attorneys, planners, scientists, water managers and other
professionals from water-related organizations – worked
collaboratively and had full editorial control on the
report.
Join a
virtual Q&A session Dec. 7 to learn more about
applying for our 2024 Colorado River Water
Leaders cohort.
The biennial
program, which will run from March to September next
year, selects about a dozen rising stars from the
seven states that rely on the river – California, Nevada,
Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico.
Since 1977 the Water Education
Foundation has worked to inspire better understanding
and catalyze critical conversations about our most vital
natural resource: water.
This is not a mission our impartial nonprofit can carry out
alone.
Today on Giving Tuesday, a global day of philanthropy, please
consider making a tax-deductible
donation to support the important work we do to
provide impartial education and foster informed decision-making
on water issues in California and the West.
Today on Giving Tuesday, a global
day of philanthropy, you can support impartial education and
informed decision-making on water resources in California and the
West by making a tax-deductible
donation to the Water Education Foundation.
Your support ensures that our legacy of producing in-depth news,
educational workshops and accessible and
reliable information on water reaches new heights in 2024.
The application window is now open
for our Colorado River Water
Leaders program, which will run from March to
September next year.
Our biennial program, part of our Colorado River Project,
is patterned after our highly successful California Water Leaders
programand selects rising stars
from the seven states that rely on the river -
California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New
Mexico – to take part in a cohort.
During the seven-month program designed for working
professionals, the cohort members explore issues surrounding the
iconic Southwest river, deepen their water knowledge and build
leadership skills.
“I highly recommend the program to emerging water leaders.
The program’s immersive experience, relationship building and
mentorship opportunities cultivate leadership and collaborative
skills crucial for addressing complex challenges faced by all
those who rely upon the Colorado River now and into the
future.”
– JB Hamby, Class of ‘22 & Chair of the Colorado River
Board of California
Mark your calendars now for June 17-20,
2024, and the return of our international
groundwater conference, Toward Sustainable
Groundwater in Agriculture: Linking Science and
Policy.
If you missed our virtual Q&A session
for those interested in applying or supporting a candidate for
our 2024 California Water Leaders cohort, a
recording is now available to view.
Applications for our 2024 Colorado River Water
Leaders cohort are coming soon!
Kurtis Alexander, an enterprise
reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle with a focus on natural
resources and the environment, was named the 2023 recipient of
the Water Education Foundation’s Rita Schmidt Sudman Award for
Excellence in Water Journalism.
Alexander said he was honored to receive the award, which
acknowledges outstanding work that illuminates complicated water
issues in California and the West.
“Recognition from one of the state’s top authorities on water
really means something,” Alexander said. “Covering water as a
journalist is not always glamorous or easy. But the Water
Education Foundation has long helped promote the work of
journalists and others examining water issues as well as offered
a wealth of helpful information through its website, newsletters
and education programs.”
The application period for our 2024 Water Leaders class is
now open, and don’t forget to sign up for our virtual
Q&A session on Oct. 31 if you are interested in
applying or supporting a candidate.
Check out the interesting lineup of topics and speakers for
our Oct. 25 Water Summit; the agenda
is now posted.And don’t miss out on
snatching up a sponsorship for our annual event!
Exclusive Water Summit Sponsorship Opportunities Available
The Water Education Foundation’s
39th annual Water
Summit will be held Wednesday, Oct. 25,
in Sacramento with the theme, Taking On the
Improbable in Western Water. Exclusive sponsorships
are available for the breaks, lunch and evening reception, all of
which are prime networking opportunities for the water
professionals in attendance.
In this Issue: Water leader applications for
2024 will be coming out soon! And don’t forget to join us at our
annual Water Summit Oct. 25 when we’ll be talking about taking on
the improbable; and check out our latest Western Water
article about a little-known change in law that will benefit
groundwater in California.
You can now register for the Water Education Foundation’s 39th
annual Water
Summit. The one-day conference will have
leading policymakers and experts sharing the latest
information and insights on water in California and the West. The
event includes an evening reception for networking with
speakers and fellow attendees from a variety of backgrounds.
The bus is nearly full for our
special, one-time onlyEastern Sierra
TourSeptember 12-15 that will
journey from the Truckee, Carson and Walker river basins to
Mono Lake and on through Owens Valley to explore, in part, a
major water source for Southern California.
