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.
Sprawled across a desert expanse
along the Utah-Arizona border, Lake Powell’s 100-foot high
bathtub ring etched on its sandstone walls belie the challenges
of a major Colorado River reservoir at less than half-full.
Recent studies point to warmer and drier conditions ahead, with
reduced runoff into the Colorado River. Meanwhile, the Upper
Basin is looking to use more of its share of the river’s waters.
On the horizon is a rewrite of the operating guidelines for the
river, and already there is talk about how changes to those
guidelines could affect Lake Powell, a key reservoir in the
Colorado River system.
The latest article in Western Water explores the
different concerns being raised around the Colorado River Basin
and how the river’s challenges could play out in Powell’s future.
Our daily news aggregation known as
Aquafornia keeps you up-to-date on the
most pressing water issues in California and across the West.
Now, it features a special COVID-19
news feed where you can find articles related to coronavirus
and water, such as efforts to get federal funding to help
struggling ratepayers, tracking the virus through wastewater
and addressing water systems as people head back to work.
Sprawled across a desert expanse
along the Utah-Arizona border, Lake Powell’s nearly 100-foot high
bathtub ring etched on its sandstone walls belie the challenges
of a major Colorado River reservoir at less than half-full. How
those challenges play out as demand grows for the river’s water
amid a changing climate is fueling simmering questions about
Powell’s future.
Our special COVID-19 webpage dedicated to providing ideas for teaching online or at home now includes a newsfeed where you can find the latest coronavirus-related water news.
To access the latest COVID-19 water news, click on our special page and scroll down to Stay in the Know.
In response to updated COVID-19 public health guidelines, the Water Education Foundation has further adjusted our 2020 in-person programming schedule to ensure the safety and health of our partners, event attendees and staff.
Voluntary agreements in California
have been touted as an innovative and flexible way to improve
environmental conditions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
and the rivers that feed it. The goal is to provide river flows
and habitat for fish while still allowing enough water to be
diverted for farms and cities in a way that satisfies state
regulators.
The bill is coming due, literally,
to protect and restore groundwater in California.
Local agencies in the most depleted groundwater basins in
California spent months putting together plans to show how they
will achieve balance in about 20 years.
The Water Education Foundation appreciates your understanding as we continue to closely monitor COVID-19 developments and adjust our 2020 programming to ensure the safety and health of our partners, event attendees and staff.
With that said, our 2020 Water Summit is still on for Sept. 24 in Sacramento, so save the date! Our annual premier event will feature key policymakers, stakeholders and experts providing the latest information and viewpoints on issues affecting water across California and the West.
Join us May 7 for a “virtual” open
house to learn more about how we are educating and fostering
understanding of California’s most precious natural resource -
water – through the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the open house, you can chat with our staff about our
water tours, conferences, maps, publications, and training
programs for teachers and up-and-coming water industry
professionals. You’ll also be able to learn more about how you
can support our work.
William R. Gianelli, the Water
Education Foundation’s second president and a leading figure in
California water during construction of the State Water Project,
died March 30, 2020, in Monterey County. He was 101.
Mr. Gianelli was president of the Foundation from 1985-1989 and
made a major financial donation that helped the Foundation create
an educational program for young professionals from diverse
backgrounds, which was named the William
R. “Bill” Gianelli Water Leaders Class in his honor. The
year-long program began in 1997 and now includes more than 400
graduates.
The islands of the western
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta release tons of carbon dioxide — a
greenhouse gas — into the atmosphere as the rich peat soil that
attracted generations of farmers dries out and decays.
An ambitious plan now in the works could halt the decay,
sequester the carbon and — just as important — help protect
California’s vital water conveyance system by offering farmers
and landowners an incentive to change how they use their land.
The
latest article in Western Water explores how the
plan would work, looks at the concerns of some in agriculture,
and talks with one farmer who’s willing to give it a try.
Weave 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 22-24.
This tour visits farms and major infrastructure, such as
Friant Dam near Fresno and San Luis Reservoir, the nation’s
largest off-stream reservoir near Los Banos and a key water
facility serving both the State Water Project and the federal
Central Valley Project.
The 2020 Anne J. Schneider Lecture,
which encourages professional and personal commitment to water
law and policy and the conservation of our special landscapes,
will feature two distinguished speakers: Jennifer Harder, an
associate professor at the McGeorge School of Law, and Brian
Gray, a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of
California’s Water Policy Center and professor emeritus at UC
Hastings College of the Law.
The islands of the western
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are sinking as the rich peat soil
that attracted generations of farmers dries out and decays. As
the peat decomposes, it releases tons of carbon dioxide – a
greenhouse gas – into the atmosphere. As the islands sink, the
levees that protect them are at increasing risk of failure, which
could imperil California’s vital water conveyance system.
An ambitious plan now in the works could halt the decay,
sequester the carbon and potentially reverse the sinking.
Our tours are one of the best ways to learn about water issues in
California and the West. You come face-to-face with
infrastructure that moves water to cities, farms and wildlife
refuges, hear directly from farmers, environmentalists and
other stakeholders and understand the critical role water plays
in sustaining life, growing food and maintaining wetlands
and other water bodies for the environment.
Join us for one of these upcoming tours. Act fast! Early-bird
prices are still available for the Central Valley and Bay-Delta
tours.
There’s just one week left
until our Water 101 workshop
and optional tour! Register today for this once-a-year
opportunity!
Attendees at the Feb. 20 workshop will hear from a variety of
experts about important and current issues in California water
management and policy, including the Delta, sustainable
groundwater management, Gov. Newsom’s draft Water Resilience
Portfolio, impacts to water resources from climate change and
more.
Shortly after Gov. Gavin Newsom
called on state agencies to deliver a Water Resilience Portfolio
to meet California’s urgent challenges — from unsafe drinking
water and climate change risks to severely depleted groundwater
aquifers and declining native fish populations — he appointed
Nancy Vogel, a former journalist and veteran water communicator,
to pull it together.
In an
interview with Western Water, Vogel explains how the
draft portfolio released Jan. 3 came together, its expected role
in helping to guide policy and investment decisions related to
climate and water resilience — and why the portfolio should
matter to average Californians.
For the first time, participants on
the Foundation’s Lower Colorado River
Tour will enjoy a scenic journey on the river through
portions of the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge, including Topock
Gorge and the Havasu Wilderness Area.
Seating is limited for the March 11-13 tour, so register here
to ensure your spot!
Our annual Lower Colorado River tour explores the critical role
the river’s water plays in the three Lower Basin states of
Nevada, Arizona and California, and how it helps to sustain their
cities, farms and wildlife areas.
Shortly after taking office in 2019,
Gov. Gavin Newsom called on state agencies to deliver a Water
Resilience Portfolio to meet California’s urgent challenges —
unsafe drinking water, flood and drought risks from a changing
climate, severely depleted groundwater aquifers and native fish
populations threatened with extinction.
Within days, he appointed Nancy Vogel, a former journalist and
veteran water communicator, as director of the Governor’s Water
Portfolio Program to help shepherd the monumental task of
compiling all the information necessary for the portfolio. The
three state agencies tasked with preparing the document delivered
the draft Water Resilience Portfolio Jan. 3. The document, which
Vogel said will help guide policy and investment decisions
related to water resilience, is nearing the end of its comment
period, which goes through Friday, Feb. 7.
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.
