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Water articles on key water topics and more!
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Since 1997, we have been running
California’s preeminent water leadership program,
graduating more than 400 engineers, lawyers, scientists,
farmers, environmentalists and others who care deeply about the
future of water in our state.
Our Water Leaders
program aimed at early to mid-career professionals is second to
none, even when the pandemic hit, forcing the 2020 class to meet
virtually for much of the year.
It’s your last chance to sign up for
our San Joaquin River
Restoration Tour this Thursday (Dec. 10) as we
embark on a virtual journey to learn how one of the nation’s most
ambitious river restoration projects is shaping up.
It has been over two years since a Foundation tour last visited
the San Joaquin River downstream of Friant Dam near Fresno to see
firsthand the progress toward reviving populations of chinook
salmon in the river, so don’t miss this opportunity to get an
update!
The San Joaquin River was the focus of one of the most
contentious legal battles in California water history related to
providing in-stream flows for fish, leading to the creation of
the San Joaquin River Restoration Program in 2006.
Register now for the Foundation’s
final online event of the year as we embark on our virtual
San Joaquin River
Restoration Tour next Thursday (Dec. 10) to learn
how one of the nation’s most ambitious river restoration projects
is shaping up.
It has been over two years since a Foundation tour last visited
the San Joaquin River downstream of Friant Dam near Fresno to see
firsthand the progress toward reviving populations of chinook
salmon in the river, so don’t miss this opportunity to get an
update!
Apply for our 2021 Water
Leaders class by Dec. 21, and if you work for a public
water agency that is a member of the Association of
California Water Agencies you could be eligible for a
scholarship.
Our William R. Gianelli Water
Leaders Class is a competitive, one-year program
attended by early- to mid-career, up-and-coming leaders designed
to deepen understanding of California water issues and build
leadership skills by studying a water-related topic in-depth and
working with a mentor, among other activities.
Here’s a sweet deal for the holidays
that won’t last long: Get the paperback “Water & the
Shaping of California,” a treasure trove of gorgeous
color photos, historic maps, water literature and famous sayings
about water for just $22.75 – a 35% discount.
“Water & the Shaping of California” is a beautifully designed
oversize book that discusses the engineering feats, political
decisions and popular opinion that reshaped nature and society,
leading to the water projects that created the California we know
today. The book includes a foreword by the late Kevin Starr, the
Golden State’s premier historian.
As we wind down to Thanksgiving and look back on this challenging year, feelings of gratitude well up.
We are grateful most of all for the health of our team at the Water Education Foundation. And we are especially grateful for those who supported us along the way, allowing our talented team to pivot in-person educational opportunities about California’s most precious natural resource into virtual experiences.
It’s your last chance to sign up for a few events this week:
Today at 3 p.m.: Are you considering applying
for our 2021 Water Leaders
class or supporting an applicant as their
boss?
Sign up for a 30-minute Q&A
session at 3 p.m. with Executive Director Jenn
Bowles, who will offer details on the one-year program and tips
for completing a solid application. The program deepens
knowledge on water, enhances individual leadership skills and
prepares class members to take an active, cooperative approach to
decision-making about water resource issues. Get more info on the
free Zoom event and learn
how you can sign upto attend.
It’s workplace giving season, the
time of year when anyone in the workplace can show their support
for the organizations and causes they love.
The Water Education Foundation is now part of federal, state and
private programs allowing donations through payroll deductions.
Like many nonprofits, the Foundation is
“mission-driven but revenue-dependent.” We need
your continued support, especially in a challenging year like
2020, to keep programs like Project WET going!
Grab your ticket for our Nov. 19 Central Valley
Tour to explore water supply challenges in the San
Joaquin Valley, one of the nation’s most productive agricultural
regions. You’ll hear from farmers, water managers, disadvantaged
communities and others about how they’re meeting those
challenges.
During this three-hour online event
starting at 2:30 p.m., we’ll take you deep into the San Joaquin
Valley to hear how farmers manage surface water for various crops
and orchards, and how they are responding to mandates under the
state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. You’ll hear from
the valley’s disadvantaged communities and learn how
subsidence from groundwater pumping is affecting surface water
facilities. You’ll visit key infrastructure, including San Luis
Reservoir, Friant Dam and the Friant-Kern Canal. You also learn
about managed wetlands, see a unique feature to one of the
region’s rim dams, and hear about efforts to put water back
in the ground. Get tickets here!
A limited number of need-based scholarships are available
for the tours. Contact Nick Gray at
ngray@watereducation.org for more information.
As we countdown to the Thanksgiving holiday, we still have a lot
going on at the Water Education Foundation over the coming weeks.
And you can now get your copy of our
updated Layperson’s Guide
to Water Rights, which is hot off the
press!
Among our upcoming events:
This Thursday (Nov.
12): Our Northern California
Tour will hit the road at 2:30 p.m. on a virtual
exploration of the Sacramento River and its tributaries, where
you’ll gain a deeper understanding of issues associated with
a key source of the state’s water supply. Participants will
visit Oroville and Shasta dams, rice fields and wildlife refuges,
and hear from farmers, biologists and water
managers. Get your ticket for the
three-hour virtual journey here.
If you missed last month’s sold-out
Bay-Delta Tour, you can join us next Tuesday,
Nov. 10 for an encore presentation that will
include a video tour and a live Q&A with key experts on
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the state’s vital water hub and
the West Coast’s largest freshwater tidal estuary.
You’ll learn about Delta ecosystem restoration, impacts to
ocean fisheries from changes in the Delta, agriculture and
municipal water use and the Delta’s role in supplying water to
Southern California. You’ll hear from farmers, fish biologists,
water managers, people working on restoration efforts, and
more! Get tickets
here!
Our popular Layperson’s
Guide to Water Rights Law has just been updated with
an extensive section on groundwater rights and the 2014
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act as well as the latest
significant court cases governing how water is used in
California.
This 28-page Layperson’s Guide, recognized as the most thorough
explanation of California water rights law available to
non-lawyers, traces the authority for water flowing in a stream
or reservoir, from a faucet or into an irrigation ditch through
the complex web of California water rights.
One of our most popular programs,
the Water Leaders
class is aimed at providing a deeper understanding
of California water issues and building leadership skills
with class members by studying a water-related topic in-depth and
working with a mentor.
Are you considering apply for the 2021 class or supporting a
candidate? Join us at 3 p.m. on Nov. 17 for a
30-minute Q&A session with Foundation Executive
Director Jenn Bowles, who will offer details on the program and
tips on completing an application.
Sign up for next week’s Nov. 12
virtual Northern California
Tour, which will take you through a region key to
water supply for much of the state.
During the three-hour online event, you’ll get up close to
Oroville Dam and learn how its two spillways were repaired
following a catastrophic 2017 storm. You’ll also visit rice
farms and wetlands in the Sacramento Valley, and hear from
farmers and environmentalists about efforts to restore runs
of endangered chinook salmon and help birds along the Pacific
Flyway. You’ll also visit Shasta Dam and the area being eyed
for the proposed Sites Reservoir. Get your ticket for the
“bus” here.
If you missed our October Bay-Delta
Tour, you can join us Nov. 10 for an encore. This tour traverses
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a 720,000-acre network of
islands and canals that serves as California’s most crucial water
and ecological resource. Hear from farmers, fish biologists,
people working on restoration efforts and more!
Explore the Sacramento
River and its tributaries and gain a deeper understanding of the
issues associated with a key source of the state’s water
supply. Visit Oroville and Shasta dams, rice fields and wildlife
refuges, and hear from farmers, biologists and water managers.
Each virtual tour event will include:
An overview presentation of the region’s
critical topics
A guided video tour of key locations
— farms, wetlands, dams and reservoirs, wildlife
habitats — to gain a stronger understanding on a
variety of water supply issues and the latest policy
developments
Live Q&A with experts featured in the
video so attendees can dive deeper into the topics
As part of each event, participants will receive one of
our popular Layperson’s Guides and be entered into a drawing
to win one of our beautiful water maps.
Attendees should make sure they download the latest version
of Zoom before the event.
Join us for an engaging virtual
exploration of the Sacramento River and its tributaries to learn
about issues associated with a key source for the state’s water
supply on our Nov. 12 Northern
California Tour.
In addition to the Northern California Tour, you can join us for
an encore Bay-Delta Tour Nov.
10 and other virtual journeys into key water
regions across California.
The Water Education Foundation is
fortunate to have generous supporters who have answered the call
to make contributions through a workplace giving campaign. The
contributions support our nonprofit’s mission to inspire
understanding of water and catalyze critical conversations to
build bridges and inform collaborative decision-making.
This year, we hope you’ll consider making a tax-deductible
gift to the Foundation via a one-time payroll deduction or
as a set amount per pay period through your employer.
Applications are now available for
our yearlong Water
Leaders class.
One of our most popular programs, the Water Leaders class is
aimed at providing a deeper understanding of California
water issues and building leadership skills with class members by
studying a water-related topic in-depth and working with a
mentor.
It’s workplace giving season, the
time of year when anyone in the workplace can show their support
for the organizations and causes they love.
If you have come on one of our water tours,
participated in our Water Leaders program or are
a loyal reader of our Western Water
articles or weekday Aquafornia water news feed,
you can now support us though a payroll deduction at your
workplace, whether it’s a federal or state agency or in the
private-sector.
Our virtual Bay-Delta Tour set
for tomorrow (Oct. 8) has sold out, but you can still
join the
waitlistand receive priority access to an
encore Bay-Delta Tour event later this fall if there’s enough
interest!
