Announcements

The deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history had a severe impact on the water system in the town of Paradise. Participants on our Oct. 2-4 Northern California Tour will hear from Kevin Phillips, general manager of Paradise Irrigation District, on the scope of the damages, the obstacles to recovery and the future of the water district.

The Camp Fire destroyed 90 percent of the structures in Paradise, and 90 percent of the irrigation district’s ratepayer base. The fire did not destroy the irrigation district’s water storage or treatment facilities, but it did melt plastic pipes, releasing contaminants into parts of the system and prompting do-not-drink advisories to water customers.

Here’s a golden deal to celebrate today’s anniversary of California’s 1850 admission into the Union: Get 50 percent off the paperback Water & the Shaping of California, a treasure trove of gorgeous color photos, water literature and famous sayings about water.

This beautifully designed oversize book discusses the engineering feats, political decisions and popular opinion that reshaped the nature – flood and drought – and society – gold, grain and growth – that led 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.

Executive Director Jennifer Bowles stressed the importance of impartiality — a value she has embraced throughout her journalism career — in explaining the Water Education Foundation’s role as a source of water news and information in California and the West during a podcast interview published last week.

During the Talk+Water podcast by the Texas + Water newsletter, Bowles talked about  serving as executive editor of the Foundation’s flagship publication, Western Water, whose most recent article explored how private capital is speeding up forest restoration in the Sierra Nevada that could benefit water quality and supplies. 

World Water Week runs through Friday, Aug. 30, and to mark the occasion the Foundation is offering a special 30 percent discount on our beautiful poster-size maps, layperson’s guides and other water publications.

Use the promo code WORLDWATER19 when checking out of our online store.

The Santa Barbara region’s recovery from drought often has lagged behind much of the rest of California due to the nature of its watershed. But a variety of efforts are underway to enhance the region’s limited local water resources.

Our new Edge of Drought Tour Aug. 27-29 explores the connection between the area’s distinctive hydrology and the lurking threat of drought and persistent water scarcity with an up-close look at water projects and programs across the southern Central Coast.

Ranchers and conservationists in the headwaters of the Colorado River decided that to get something done to benefit the ranches, the fish and the river, they needed to work together. Their partnership, which could serve as a template for similar regions across the West, is the focus of a new article in our flagship publication, Western Water. 

The article by the Foundation’s team of veteran journalists explores what drove the need to act, how the partnership came together and some of the projects undertaken to improve irrigation for ranchers and habitat for fish.

New to the Foundation’s water tours this year, our Edge of Drought Tour Aug. 27-29 will journey through the Santa Barbara area to examine the portfolio approach being taken to the challenges of limited surface and groundwater supplies by several local agencies as they work to build drought resilience for the future.

Solutions such as ocean and brackish water desalination, advanced purification and groundwater injection and pervious concrete retrofitting for groundwater recharge will be explored, as well as cloud seeding and atmospheric river research.

Registration opens today for the Water Education Foundation’s 36^th annual Water Summit, set for Oct. 30 in Sacramento. This year’s theme, Water Year 2020: A Year of Reckoning, reflects fast-approaching deadlines for the State Groundwater Management Act as well as the pressing need for new approaches to water management as California and the West weather intensified flooding, fire and drought. To register for this can’t-miss event, visit our Water Summit event page.

Registration includes a full day of discussions by leading stakeholders and policymakers on key issues, as well as coffee, materials, gourmet lunch and an outdoor reception by the Sacramento River that will offer the opportunity to network with speakers and other attendees. The summit also features a silent auction to benefit our Water Leaders program featuring items up for bid such as kayaking trips, hotel stays and lunches with key people in the water world.

Despite Santa Barbara County’s decision to lift a drought emergency declaration after this winter’s storms replenished local reservoirs, the region’s recovery often has lagged behind much of the rest of California due to the nature of its watershed.

Our new Edge of Drought Tour Aug. 27-29 explores this connection between the area’s distinctive hydrology and the lurking threat of drought with an up-close look at water projects and programs across the southern Central Coast.