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!
Sign up here to get announcements sent to
your inbox.
Today is Summer Solstice, and
to celebrate the longest day of the year we’re offering a
special 25% discount on our beautiful
poster-size water maps, Layperson’s Guides and other water
education materials.
Don’t miss out! This summer sale runs until midnight tonight
(Friday). Use the promo code SOLSTICE2019 at
checkout to get your discount.
Our Headwaters Tour next week will
feature a new route, new stops and some new speakers who will
provide a fresh look at the Sierra Nevada watershed so vital to
California’s water supply.
Only a few seats are left for the June 27-28 tour and
registration ends soon, so
sign up here to ensure your spot!
Summer Solstice happens
Friday, and to celebrate the longest day of the
year we’re offering a special 25% discount
on our beautiful poster-size water
maps, layperson’s guides and
other water education materials.
Don’t miss out! This summer sale runs until midnight Friday. Use
the promo code SOLSTICE2019 at checkout to get
your discount.
Californians have been doing an
exceptional job reducing their indoor water use, helping the
state survive the most recent drought. With more droughts
inevitable, Californians are likely to face even greater calls to
save water in the future.
However, less water used in the home for clothes washing and
toilet flushing means less water flowing out and pushing waste
through the sewers. That has created
a host of complications (including stinking neighborhoods and
damaged treatment equipment), some of which add to the cost of
treating wastewater. It also means less recycled water for such
things as irrigating parks, replenishing groundwater or keeping
rivers vibrant for fish and wildlife.
Get an up-close view of California’s
diverse water resource issues with two of our summer tours — to
the Sierra Nevada headwaters where wildfires and tree mortality
pose significant challenges to the upper watershed and a Southern
California coastal region chronically prone to drought.
But first, we are on the road today through Friday
on our Bay-Delta
Tour, and you can follow our travels on
Twitter. We’re
taking participants into the heart of California water policy -
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay. Along the
way we’ll share photos and interesting facts from the diverse
array of speakers we’ll hear from. Track us with the hashtag
#BayDeltaTour.
Get an up-close view of California’s
diverse water resource issues with two of our summer tours — to
the Sierra Nevada headwaters that were blessed this winter with a
plentiful snowpack, and a Southern California coastal region
chronically prone to drought.
But first, we hit the road June 5-7 for our Bay-Delta Tour,
andyou can follow our travels on
Twitter. We’ll
take participants into the heart of California water policy – the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay. Stops
include Clifton Court Forebay and the federal pumping plant, a
Delta farm tour, Suisun Marsh and a ferry ride across San
Francisco Bay to the Bay Model in Sausalito. Along the
way we’ll share photos and interesting facts from the diverse
array of speakers we’ll hear from. Track us with the hashtag
#BayDeltaTour.
The 2019 Water Summit will
take place in a new location on the Sacramento riverfront on Oct.
30, 2019. At this event, attendees will have the opportunity to
hear the latest information on key issues affecting water in
California and the West from leading experts and top
policymakers.
We hope to see you there. Look for more details and
speaker announcements for this exciting daylong event coming
soon!
One hundred and fifty years after
John Wesley Powell’s expedition down the Colorado River, the
magnitude of his accomplishment remains a fascinating chapter in
the history of the American West and a key moment in the
understanding of the region’s geology and hydrology.
But Powell’s imprint on the West hardly ends there. He had strong
opinions of how the West should be settled and how people should
use its water, views that often set him in conflict with those at
the time who pushed for unbridled development. In a
Q&A with Western Water’s Gary Pitzer,
Emeritus Professor Charles Wilkinson from the University of
Colorado Law School and a scholar of the American West, assesses
Powell’s legacy on the 150th anniversary of his expedition to
explore the Colorado, a river that 40 million people now
depend on.
Water supply for California’s cities
and farms is largely dependent on snowmelt from the upper
watershed in the Sierra Nevada, but that pattern is being
challenged by wildfires, climate change and widespread tree
mortality. Fire damage in an upstream watershed can last for
decades with the effects felt far downstream through increased
risk of flood and erosion.
Our Headwaters
Tour June 27-28 highlights this connection between
fire and water with an up-close look at the critical role healthy
Sierra forests play in water supply and quality across
California.
Sixty percent of California’s
developed water supply originates high in the Sierra Nevada,
making the state’s water supply largely dependent on the health
of Sierra forests. But those forests are suffering from ecosystem
degradation, drought, wildfires and widespread tree mortality.
On our Headwaters Tour
June 27-28, we will visit Eldorado and Tahoe national forests to
learn about new forest management practices, including efforts to
both prevent wildfires and recover from them.
Stakeholders throughout the Colorado
River Basin just wrapped up arduous negotiations on a drought
plan considered critical to keeping water levels in Lake Mead,
the nation’s largest-capacity reservoir, from falling to
unacceptable levels.
There’s little time to rest, however. Stakeholders are expected
to begin the even more difficult task of hammering out
sweeping new guidelines for delivering water and sharing
shortages that could re-imagine how the overworked river is
managed. The existing interim guidelines, first adopted in 2007,
are due to expire in 2026.
The California coast is known for
its scenic landscape, but the beauty belies a region chronically
prone to drought, mudslides and wildfire.
On our August Edge of
Drought Tour, we’re venturing into the Santa Barbara
area to learn about the water challenges and the steps being
taken to boost supplies.
Get a firsthand view of California’s
diverse water resource issues with two of our summer tours — to
the Sierra Nevada headwaters that were blessed this winter with a
plentiful snowpack, and a Southern California coastal region
chronically prone to drought.
On tap this June is a new route for our Headwaters Tour as we
head into the Sierra Nevada mountains, where 60% of California’s
developed water supply originates. With the health of our Sierra
forests suffering from ecosystem degradation, drought, wildfires
and widespread tree mortality, we’ll examine water issues that
happen upstream but have dramatic impacts downstream and
throughout the state. Among our stops is a pilot project for
thinning the forest in the Yuba River watershed.
Big Day of Giving is today, and your
donation can help the Foundation continue its work to enhance
public understanding about California’s most important
natural resource – water.
Big Day of
Giving is an annual 24-hour online event aimed at
raising funds for nonprofits in the Sacramento region and
highlighting the good work they do. You can make your Big Day of
Giving donation until midnight tonight.
Join us for an open house
and reception on Thursday, May 2, at our office in midtown
Sacramento, where you can meet our staff and learn more about
what we do to educate and foster public understanding of water
resource issues in California and the Southwest.
The Water Education Foundation has been doing this work for more
than 40 years! This open house, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30
p.m., is an ideal time to meet some of the people behind our
Water Leaders program for early to mid-career professionals, our
tours and workshops, our Project WET teacher training and
our Western Water online news.
Our upcoming tours will explore diverse areas of California where
attendees can learn about the water-related issues in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the headwaters in the Sierra Nevada
and the coastal areas around Santa Barbara.
Registration is now open
for our newest tour, called Edge of Drought, which will
travel through Southern California and the Santa Barbara region
Aug. 27-29. The tour starts and ends in Burbank.
Learn more about how water is used
in California and across the West for people, farms and the
environment with one of our poster-size water maps – and today, on
Earth Day, you can get these beautiful wall maps for 25% off the
list price.
Use the discount code EARTHDAY19 at checkout. This 25% discount
is good on all our maps, but only until midnight.
Come join us for an open house and
reception on Thursday, May 2 at our office in midtown
Sacramento, where you can meet our staff and learn more about
what we do to educate and foster public understanding of water
resource issues in California and the Southwest.
The Water Education Foundation has been around in California for
more than 40 years! This open house, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30
p.m., is an ideal time to meet some of the people behind our
Water Leaders program for early to mid-career professionals, our
tours and workshops, our Project WET teacher training and
our Western Water online news.
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta,
the largest estuary on the West Coast, is a vital hub in
California’s complex water delivery system as well as a rich
farming region, an important wetlands area – and often, a source
of conflict.
On our annual Bay-Delta Tour
June 5-7, participants will hear from a diverse group of
experts including water managers, environmentalists, farmers,
engineers and scientists who will offer various perspectives on
the latest news in the region.
