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Our tours are famous for not only
being packed with diverse educational opportunities about
California water, but showcasing local culture. Our Central Valley Tour on March
14-16 lets you unwind at a few San Joaquin Valley gems and
hear stories that go back generations. Act now to take advantage
of our special early bird discount, it expires Tuesday, Feb.
20th at 6:00 p.m.
The 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 San Diego County.
On our Lower
Colorado River Tour, April 11-13, 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.
Join us this spring on our
Bay-Delta Tour, May
16-18, as we start out exploring the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta, a 720,000-acre network of islands and canals that provides
a funnel for drinking water for more than 25 million Californians
and irrigation water to 3 million acres of farmland.
The homeless face myriad challenges,
not the least of which is gaining access to clean water for
drinking and sanitation. Western Water writer Gary
Pitzer takes a look at
a new effort in Southern California that could help water
agencies find solutions to the vexing challenges the homeless
face in gaining access to clean water.
Western Water, a trusted
news source on water resource issues since 1977, is now online
with a Q&A with climate scientist Daniel Swain and an On the
Road feature about Mendota Pool, one of the stops on our Central Valley Tour next
month.
Learn 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 groundwater,
climate change and the Delta. For the first time, the workshop
offers an optional tour of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta the
next day.
Some of the biggest decisions in
California water come from the Legislature. In recent years,
state lawmakers passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management
Act, perhaps the most important water-related law in 100 years.
Water in the Central Valley supports
more than just farms and cities – it supports ecological wonders,
endangered species and a diverse array of wildlife.
On our Central Valley
Tour, March 14-16, you will visit wildlife habitat areas –
some of which are closed to the public – and learn directly from
the experts who manage them, in addition to seeing farms, large
dams and other infrastructure.
Twenty-two early to mid-career water professionals have been
chosen for the 2018 William R. Gianelli Water Leaders Class, the
Water Education Foundation’s highly competitive career
development program.
Tickets are now on sale for the Water Education Foundation’s April 11-13 tour of the Lower Colorado River.
Don’t miss this opportunity to visit key sites along one of the nation’s most famous rivers, including a private tour of Hoover Dam, Central Arizona Project’s Mark Wilmer pumping plant and the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge. The tour also visits the Salton Sea, Slab City, the All-American Canal and farming regions in the Imperial and Coachella valleys.
Get a unique view of the San Joaquin Valley’s key dams and
reservoirs that store and transport water on our March Central
Valley Tour.
Our Central Valley
Tour, March 14-16, offers a broad view of water issues
in the San Joaquin Valley. In addition to the farms, orchards,
critical habitat for threatened bird populations, flood bypasses
and a national wildlife refuge, we visit some of California’s
major water infrastructure projects.
Western Water, the
Foundation’s flagship publication, has been providing respected,
in-depth coverage of water resource issues in California and the
Colorado River Basin in a print format since 1977. Beginning this
year, Western Water is moving online.
California’s complicated water
rights system was highlighted in recent years as state
regulators curtailed some water rights due to the drought. That
action prompted some water rights holders to go to court to
retain their rights. Others called for a revamping of the water
rights system all together. And more recently, some have called
for giving a water right to the environment.
Our Water
101 Workshop is a unique, once-a-year opportunity designed to
give newly elected water district directors and other
participants a chance to go beyond the headlines and gain a
deeper understanding of California water.
Participants at the Feb. 22 workshop at McGeorge School of Law in
Sacramento will learn from top experts about:
Last year’s winter rains left the San Joaquin Valley’s reservoirs
at above-average levels. But groundwater depletion and the
resulting ground subsidence continue to beset farmers and water
managers. What does this year hold? And will there be enough
water to satisfy the competing needs of farms, people and the
environment?
Your best chance to understand the challenges and opportunities
of this vital resource in the nation’s breadbasket is to join us
on our Central Valley
Tour, March 14-16.
Three new members have joined the Water Education Foundation’s
33-member Board of Directors for 2018. They are Dana “Bart”
Fisher Jr., a farmer in the Palo Verde Valley, Yung-Hsin Sun of
Stantec, and Richard Aragon with Rancho California Water
District.
Happy New Year to all the friends and supporters of the Water Education Foundation!
As we turn the page on 2017 and the year that the Foundation celebrated its 40th anniversary, we are looking ahead to exciting changes for 2018.
To start, our popular Water 101 Workshop in February will for the first time include an optional field trip. This year, we will be delving into the Delta for a one-day tour to give participants a close-up view of one of the most pressing and controversial places in water.
Our flagship publication, Western Water magazine, will soon become a completely online news resource free for anyone to get up to speed on the critical water issues facing California and the West. Pulled together by veteran journalists at the Foundation, Western Water has been the trusted source for coverage of the policy, science and legal issues surrounding water since 1977. You can sign up here to get notified via email of our latest articles. If you already get our digital magazine you will automatically be signed up.
Tickets to the Water Education Foundation 2018 water tours are on sale now!
Our tours are legendary for being packed with educational
experiences you will not find anywhere else, networking
opportunities with water professionals and fun adventures
through the American Southwest.
Drought and climate change are having a noticeable impact on the
Colorado River Basin, and that is posing potential challenges to
those in the Southwestern United States and Mexico who rely on
the river.
In the just-released Winter 2017-18 edition of River
Report, writer Gary Pitzer examines what scientists
project will be the impact of climate change on the Colorado
River Basin, and how water managers are preparing for a future of
increasing scarcity.
The Water Education Foundation has hired veteran journalist
Douglas E. Beeman as its
news & publications director as it prepares to move more of its
journalism online, announced Jennifer Bowles, the Foundation’s
executive director.
Starting in 2018, the Foundation’s premiere water resources
magazine, Western Water, will join the world of online
media where it will increase the pace of its coverage and expand
its reach via social media. Western Water currently is a
quarterly print magazine.
