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Overview

Foundation News

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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Announcement

A Bounty of San Joaquin Valley Crops on Display During Central Valley Tour
Act now, our April 3-5 tour is almost sold out!

The San Joaquin Valley, known as the nation’s breadbasket, grows a cornucopia of fruits, nuts and other agricultural products.

During our three-day Central Valley Tour April 3-5, you will meet farmers who will explain how they prepare the fields, irrigate their crops and harvest the produce that helps feed the nation and beyond. We also will drive through hundreds of miles of farmland and visit the rivers, dams, reservoirs and groundwater wells that provide the water.

Announcement

Register Now for Our 2019 Water Tours; Follow This Week’s Lower Colorado River Tour On Twitter
New for 2019: Tour of California’s Central Coast and new route for Headwaters Tour in the Sierra Nevada

We’re on the road this week with our three-day tour of the Lower Colorado River to explore water infrastructure, farms and habitat restoration efforts (you can follow along on Twitter!), but there is still time to join one of our other 2019 tours to learn about key water resource issues in California.

Announcement

San Joaquin Valley’s Water Issues and Challenges Explored on Central Valley Tour April 3-5
Tour participants visit dams, water projects, farms, wildlife areas and more on educational trek through valley

Guests talk with farmer Joe Del Bosque on Central Valley TourWeave through the nation’s breadbasket and gain a better understanding of water issues and challenges in the San Joaquin Valley on the Foundation’s Central Valley Tour April 3-5

This tour visits farms and major infrastructure, such as Friant Dam near Fresno and San Luis Reservoir, the nation’s largest off-stream reservoir and a key water facility serving both the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project.

Announcement

Top Managers in Santa Ana Watershed Address Latest Innovations at March 29 Event in Orange County
Sponsor, exhibit or apply for a scholarship to attend Santa Ana River Watershed Conference

The Public Policy Institute of California has long cited water management in the Santa Ana River watershed as one of the foremost examples of integrated, multi-benefit water management planning in the state.

At the March 29th Santa Ana River Watershed Conference in Orange County, the PPIC’s Ellen Hanak will put the top managers of the watershed’s five major water districts on the hot seat to uncover the region’s latest innovations and find out what the next generation of integrated water management planning looks like.

Announcement

Follow Our Lower Colorado River Tour — And All Our Tours And Events — On Social Media
We'll tweet about people, places and issues as we travel next week from Hoover Dam to the Coachella Valley

Follow along on our water tour of the Lower Colorado River – and keep up with any of our tours and events – through our social media channels.

We’ll post updates on our Twitter account @WaterEdFdn about people, issues and places as we travel along the Lower Colorado River from Hoover Dam to the Coachella Valley Feb. 27 through March 1.  

Announcement

Don’t Miss Opportunity to Examine Dire Salton Sea News Firsthand
Just a Few Seats Remain for our Lower Colorado River Tour Feb. 27-March 1

As a plan to ensure water for millions of people in the drought-gripped Colorado River Basin is held up by funding demands to restore the shrinking Salton Sea, ominous predictions about the desert lake’s ecological collapse are beginning to occur. Recent reports have found some birds that rely on this important stop on the Pacific Flyway are dying along its shores and some are not showing up at all.

In the meantime, a water utility that serves the Imperial Valley, where the Salton Sea is located in southeastern California, wants $200 million from the federal government for the lake’s restoration efforts before signing the Drought Contingency Plan for the Colorado River.

You can see this sea up close during our Lower Colorado River Tour, Feb. 27-March 1, when we will visit the fragile ecosystem and hear from several stakeholders working to address challenges facing the sea.

Announcement

Water Education Foundation Is Your Go-To Source For News And Information

Water Education Foundation is your go-to source for news and information about water in California and the West.

Each weekday, we compile Aquafornia, a roundup of major water news from around California, the Colorado River Basin and the western United States.

We produce our own journalism in Western Water, our flagship online publication offering in-depth examinations of critical water issues as well as shorter notebook articles on interesting water topics, spotlight stories offering a look at innovative projects and Q&A’s with newsmakers.

Announcement

We’re Hiring! Join the Foundation as a Programs and Communications Specialist
We're seeking someone keenly interested in water issues to plan conferences, workshops and do multimedia

Join the team at the Water Education Foundation, a nonprofit in Sacramento that has been a trusted source of water news and educational programs in California and across the West for more than 40 years.

We have a full-time opening for an enthusiastic, team-oriented, multitasking Programs & Communications Specialist at our office in midtown Sacramento.

Announcement

Become a Sponsor or Exhibitor at the Santa Ana River Watershed Conference
Registration open for March 29 event in Orange County; some scholarships available

The Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority and the Water Education Foundation are once again teaming up to produce the 2019 Santa Ana River Watershed Conference on March 29 at Cal State Fullerton.

Announcement

Dive Deep into California Groundwater Issues on Feb. 8 Tour
Join one-day tour as an add-on to Water 101 Workshop in Sacramento

Go deep into one of California’s most pressing issues – groundwater - by visiting an extensometer that measures subsidence, an active aquifer storage and recovery well, a recycling facility that recharges water into the ground and more.

Announcement

Updated Colorado River Layperson’s Guide Explores Drought Planning, Tribal Water Rights, Binational Agreements
Newly updated, the guide offers a "mini-textbook" to history, key agreements and challenges

Our popular Layperson’s Guide to the Colorado River has just been updated to reflect the latest developments along America’s most contested and meticulously managed river, including efforts to reach agreement on a critical drought contingency plan, an assessment of certain tribal water rights and a new binational water agreement with Mexico.

The Colorado River provides water to more than 35 million people and 4 million acres of farmland in a region encompassing some 246,000 square miles in the southwestern United States and Mexico.

Announcement

2019 Water Leaders Class Examines Impact of Wildfires on Water Resources
Up-and-coming water professionals chosen for highly competitive program

Twenty-three early to mid-career water professionals from across California have been chosen for the 2019 William R. Gianelli Water Leaders Class, the Water Education Foundation’s highly competitive and respected career development program.

Announcement

California’s Complicated Water Rights System Explained at Feb. 7 Water 101 Workshop
Hop on the bus for the optional one-day groundwater tour the next day

McGeorge Law School professor Jennifer Harder will lead a Water 101 session on California  water law on Feb. 7. Who owns California’s water? 

The State Water Resources Control Board’s recently approved plan to increase flows through the San Joaquin River and its tributaries to help improve conditions for fish in the Bay-Delta estuary sparked passionate arguments over who holds the rights to California’s waters — and whose rights are senior to others. 

So what’s the difference between a senior water right and a junior water right? Or a riparian right and an appropriative right? How are they determined? And how does the concept of public trust come into play?

Announcement

Explore Ecological Challenges Facing the Salton Sea on Our Lower Colorado River Tour Feb. 27-March 1
Get an ‘early bird’ ticket to see this important stop on the Pacific Flyway and hear experts on efforts to aid state’s largest inland water body

Salton SeaThe Salton Sea, California’s largest inland body of water and an important stop on the Pacific Flyway, is struggling ecologically and shrinking as water is transferred from surrounding desert farms to urban San Diego County.

On our Lower Colorado River Tour, Feb. 27-March 1, we will visit this fragile ecosystem that harbors 400 bird species and hear from several stakeholders working to address challenges facing the sea, including managers of the Imperial Irrigation District, the Salton Sea Authority and California’s appointed “Sea Czar,” assistant secretary on Salton Sea policy Bruce Wilcox.

Announcement

We’re Hiring! Join the Foundation as a Programs and Communications Specialist

Join the team at the Water Education Foundation, a nonprofit in Sacramento that has been a trusted source of water news and educational programs in California and across the West for more than 40 years.

We have a full-time opening for an enthusiastic, team-oriented, multitasking Programs & Communications Specialist at our office in midtown Sacramento.

Announcement

Roster of Speakers, Agenda Unveiled for Feb. 7 Water 101 Workshop
Learn about California water basics and go beyond the headlines; jump on the bus for the optional groundwater tour the next day

Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta channelLearn from top experts at our annual Water 101 Workshop about the history, hydrology and law behind California water as well as hot topics such as water flows, the Delta, disadvantaged communities and the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. For the first time, the workshop offers an optional groundwater tour the next day.

Announcement

Water 101 Offers Newbies and Veteran Hands A Chance To Gain Deeper Understanding Of Water
Feb. 7th workshop in Sacramento to include optional one-day Groundwater Tour the next day

The 2018 Water 101 workshop at McGeorge School of Law. One of our most popular events, Water 101 offers a once-a-year opportunity for anyone new to California water issues or newly elected to a water district board – and anyone who wants a refresher — to gain a deeper understanding of the state’s most precious natural resource.

Water 101, to be held Feb. 7 at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, details the history, geography, legal and political facets of water in California, as well as hot topics currently facing the state. The workshop is taught by some of California’s leading policy and legal experts, and for the first time will include an optional daylong tour examining one of the state’s most critical resources, groundwater.

Announcement

Registration Open for Santa Ana River Watershed Conference
Sponsorship opportunities and scholarships also available for March 29 water conference

Registration is now open for the Santa Ana River Watershed Conference set for March 29 in Orange County. The daylong event with the theme, Moving Forward Together: From Planning to Action Across the Watershed, will be held at Cal State Fullerton.

Join us to discuss the importance of the Santa Ana River Watershed and how, through powerful partnerships, resilient solutions can be found to improve the quality and reliability of the region’s water supply. 

Announcement

Registration Now Open for All 2019 Water Tours
Highlights include new tour of California’s Central Coast and new route for Headwaters Tour in the Sierra Nevada

You can now register for our full slate of water tours for 2019, including a new tour along California’s Central Coast to view a river’s restoration following a major dam removal, check out efforts to desalt ocean water, recycle wastewater and manage groundwater and seawater intrusion. We’ll also take a new route for our Headwaters Tour to check out a pilot project for thinning the forest in the Yuba River watershed.

Announcement Jenn Bowles

What’s a New Year Without a Few Changes at the Water Education Foundation?
Read about new tours, new Water 101 focus and new Aquafornia curator in Executive Director's letter

Happy New Year to all the friends, supporters, readers, and tour and workshop participants of the Water Education Foundation! 

As we turn the page on 2018, we are looking ahead to a few changes for 2019.