Facing the challenges of sustainably managing and sharing water,
our most precious natural resource, requires collaboration,
education and outreach. Since 1977, the Water Education
Foundation has put water resource issues in California and the
West in context to inspire a deep understanding of and
appreciation for water.
Taking a steady pulse of the water world, the Foundation offers
educational materials, tours of key watersheds, water news, water
leadership training and conferences that bring together diverse
voices. By providing tools and platforms for engagement with wide
audiences, we aim to help build sound and collective solutions to
water issues.
What We Do
We support and execute a wide variety of programming to build a
better understanding of water resources across the West,
including:
Mission: The mission of the Water Education
Foundation, an impartial nonprofit, is to inspire understanding
of water and catalyze critical conversations to build bridges and
inform collaborative decision-making
Vision: A society that has the ability to
resolve its water challenges to benefit all
Where We Work
Our office is located in Sacramento, CA.
Connect with Us!
Sign up here to get email announcements
about upcoming workshops, tours and new publications.
You can learn more about the daily comings and goings of the
Foundation by following @WaterEdFdn on Twitter,
liking us on Facebook or
following us on
LinkedIn.
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!
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.
Radically transformed from its ancient origin as a vast tidal-influenced freshwater marsh, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem is in constant flux, influenced by factors within the estuary itself and the massive watersheds that drain though it into the Pacific Ocean.
Lately, however, scientists say the rate of change has kicked into overdrive, fueled in part by climate change, and is limiting the ability of science and Delta water managers to keep up. The rapid pace of upheaval demands a new way of conducting science and managing water in the troubled estuary.
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.
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.
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!
The Water Education Foundation’s
just-released 2019 Annual
Report takes readers along to see the array of educational
events, trainings and articles we produced last year to create a
better understanding of water resources in California and the
Southwest.
The Annual Report, whose release was delayed due to impacts from
the COVID-19 pandemic, recaps the Foundation’s efforts for
the year in words and photos.
Join us this fall for engaging virtual journeys into key
water regions across California, including our Oct. 8 Bay-Delta
Tour.
Each 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.
Practically every drop of water that
flows through the meadows, canyons and plains of the Colorado
River Basin has reams of science attached to it.
Snowpack, streamflow and tree ring data all influence the crucial
decisions that guide water management of the iconic Western river
every day.
Our
latest article in Western Water news
examines a new report that synthesizes and provides context for
that science and could aid water managers as they prepare to
rewrite the operating rules for a river system so vital to the
Southwestern United States and Mexico.
Join us for an Oct. 8 virtual
journey into California’s most critical and
controversial water region in the state: The Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta.
The Delta, a 720,000-acre network of islands and canals, supports
the state’s two large water systems – the State Water Project and
the federal Central Valley Project – and together with the San
Francisco Bay is an important ecological resource.
There’s still time for K-12
educators in the Sacramento region to sign up for an Oct. 3
workshop exploring activities to engage students in the study
of local watersheds and their connections to the Pacific
Ocean.
The workshop is part of Project WET (now called Water Education
Today), an international, award-winning nonprofit water
education program and publisher of materials geared toward K-12
educators. The Water Education Foundation is the coordinator for
Project WET in California.
Register here by
Sept. 25 for the Oct. 3 workshop that includes an online
study at your own pace and a socially distanced field trip
at the Effie Yeaw
Nature Center along the American River. Cost is $18.00 (plus
a nominal Eventbrite fee) and includes a copy of the
Project WET 2.0 and Aquatic WILD guides.
Practically every drop of water that flows through the meadows, canyons and plains of the Colorado River Basin has reams of science attached to it. Snowpack, streamflow and tree ring data all influence the crucial decisions that guide water management of the iconic Western river every day.
Dizzying in its scope, detail and complexity, the scientific information on the Basin’s climate and hydrology has been largely scattered in hundreds of studies and reports. Some studies may conflict with others, or at least appear to. That’s problematic for a river that’s a lifeline for 40 million people and more than 4 million acres of irrigated farmland.
Our popular Layperson’s Guide
to the Delta has just been updated to reflect the
latest information about efforts to reconcile ecosystem needs of
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta with its role as California’s
vital water delivery hub as well as its place as an important
agricultural region and a popular recreation destination.
The Delta is the largest freshwater tidal estuary on the West
Coast and is a unique resource and distinct feature of Northern
California’s landscape. The water that flows through the Delta
provides a significant portion of drinking water for more than 29
million Californians, serves a $50 billion agricultural industry,
is home to native and nonnative plants and animals and is a
crucial part of the state’s two largest surface water delivery
systems – the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley
Project.
Colorado is home to the headwaters
of the Colorado River and the water policy decisions made in the
Centennial State reverberate throughout the river’s sprawling
basin that stretches south to California, Arizona and Mexico.
The task of working with interstate partners to address the
challenges of the Colorado River Basin while balancing competing
water demands within the state of Colorado rests largely with
Becky Mitchell, director of the Colorado Water Conservation
Board.
In the
latest article in Western Water, Mitchell
talked about her state’s plan to address an expected water supply
shortfall, climate risks and the prospects for future Colorado
River operations as the river system deals with prolonged
drought.
Colorado is home to the headwaters
of the Colorado River and the water policy decisions made in the
Centennial State reverberate throughout the river’s sprawling
basin that stretches south to Mexico. The stakes are huge in a
basin that serves 40 million people, and responding to the water
needs of the economy, productive agriculture, a robust
recreational industry and environmental protection takes
expertise, leadership and a steady hand.
The Water Education Foundation’s tours offer participants a
first-hand look at the water facilities, rivers and regions
critical in the debate about the future of water resources.
From recent news articles to publications, maps and tours, Water
Education Foundation has everything you need, including the
award-winning Layperson’s Guide to the Delta.
