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.
Our annual Water 101 workshop, set for Feb. 20 at
McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, is just three weeks away.
This popular event offers attendees the chance to hear from
experts on the basics of California water law, policy, hydrology
and geography.
In addition to the workshop, attendees can also opt to join the
second-day tour (Feb. 21) that will showcase innovative water
projects and partnerships in the Sacramento region.
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.
The class will spend the year examining how water management can
respond to climate change in California and offer policy
recommendations for adapting a water system built to collect
snowmelt to one that can respond to more rain and longer droughts
that result from a changing climate.
As our Lower Colorado River
Tour weaves its way downstream from Hoover Dam March 11-13,
participants will learn about the important 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,
wildlife areas and farms.
Nearly 5.5 million acres of farmland in the river’s basin rely on
the ‘lifeline of the Southwest’ to grow a wide variety of
crops.
Go deep inside Hoover Dam, one of
the nation’s most iconic structures, during a special “hard hat”
tour as you learn about one of the nation’s largest and most
managed rivers during our Lower Colorado
River Tour March 11-13.
You’ll pass through elevators and doors that are closed to the
public as Bureau of Reclamation managers give you an inside look
at the dam’s operations. Highlights include walking inside the
2,080-megawatt hydropower plant, traversing interior service
passages and inspection tunnels, and seeing architectural designs
of a past era. Afterward, you will have an opportunity to explore
the expanded visitor center and walk the top of the dam for
an unforgettable view before getting the latest hydrology update
on Lake Mead’s levels and operations.
What is groundwater, and how is it
managed in California?
Until recently groundwater, the water stored within the Earth in
the spaces between sand, soils and fractured rock, was not
routinely regulated in California. This changed in 2014 when the
state Legislature passed the
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) as a
framework for local and regional agencies to develop and
implement sustainable groundwater management plans. The Jan. 31
deadline is fast-approaching for groundwater managers in
California’s critically overdrafted basins to submit long-term
plans to the state for review.
2020 will be a busy year for water
resource issues in California and the West, and the Water
Education Foundation’s team of veteran journalists will stay on
top of the stories through our Western Water online news and our
daily Aquafornia news aggregation.
We’re already planning a full slate of articles for Western
Water news for 2020, a year that is likely to bring
noteworthy developments for water resources in California and the
West — from groundwater sustainability plans, to climate change
preparations to addressing demand and supply imbalances on the
Colorado River. We’ll be looking at stories that explore these
and other issues this year. You can sign up here to be alerted when new articles are published.
Curious about water rights in
California? Want to know more about how water is managed in the
state, or learn about the State Water Project, Central Valley
Project or other water infrastructure?
Sign up for our Water 101
workshop on Feb. 20 to hear from experts on these
topics and more. Then join us on Feb. 21 for an optional
tour that will get you up close with innovative water
partnerships, projects and programs that serve as models
statewide.
Happy New Year to all the friends, supporters, readers, and tour and workshop participants of the Water Education Foundation! We’re grateful to each and every person who interacted with us in 2019 and supported our mission.
As we turn the page to 2020, we’re looking ahead to a few changes.
The 2019 Water Leaders class
organized by the Water Education Foundation completed its year
with a report outlining policy recommendations for better
managing the increasing risks of wildfire and impacts on water
supply and quality.
The class of 23 from
various stakeholder groups and backgrounds who hailed from cities
and towns across California had full editorial control to choose
recommendations.
We’re putting together an exciting lineup of Foundation
conferences for 2020! Mark your calendars now for both our Water
101 workshop, scheduled for Feb. 20 at McGeorge School of Law in
Sacramento, and our annual Water Summit, scheduled for Sept. 24
at the Westin Sacramento. Stay tuned for further announcements on
other events we are planning for 2020.
Every other year we hold an
invitation-only Colorado River Symposium attended by various
stakeholders from across the seven Western states and Mexico that
rely on the iconic river. We host this three-day event in Santa
Fe, N.M., where the 1922 Colorado River Compact was signed, as
part of our mission to catalyze critical conversations to build
bridges and inform collaborative decision-making.
You can now register for our full slate of water tours for 2020
as well as our Water 101 workshop. Register up to six weeks
before any tour for “early bird” pricing!
Here are the details on all of our 2020 tours and the Water
101 workshop:
However, new tools and operating methods are emerging that could
lead the way to a redefined system that improves both water
supply and flood protection capabilities.
Attendees listening to presentations at the 2019 Water 101 workshop.Registration is now open for one of
our most popular annual events, the Water 101 workshop, to be held Feb. 20 at
McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento. The workshop also includes
an optional tour the following day that will feature
collaborative and innovative water projects and programs.
Water 101 covers California’s water basics including the history,
geography, legal and political facets of water in the state,
as well a look at hot topics and current issues of concern.
Taught by some of California’s leading policy and legal
experts, the workshop offers attendees the opportunity
to deepen their understanding of the state’s water resources.
This holiday season, consider giving
the gift of water knowledge to the water wonk in your life.
We’re offering an array of intriguing gift options, from a ticket
to our popular Water 101 Workshop or one of our 2020 water tours
to one of our beautiful poster-size water maps, layperson’s
guides or other water publications.
It’s been a year since two devastating wildfires on opposite ends
of California underscored the harsh new realities facing water
districts and cities serving communities in or adjacent to the
state’s fire-prone wildlands. Fire doesn’t just level homes, it
can contaminate water, scorch watersheds, damage delivery systems
and upend an agency’s finances.
Launched in 1997 and now led by Executive Director Jennifer Bowles, the Water
Leaders program is a competitive, one-year class designed
for early to mid-career, up-and-coming community leaders from
diverse backgrounds. Class members deepen their water
knowledge and enhance their leadership skills through the
program.
During the year, class members get out of the office and into the
field — whether it’s on one of our water tours to the Delta or
the lower Colorado River. They also meet with an assigned
mentor and work with their classmates on developing policy
recommendations for a challenging water issue in California.
Our 2019 Water Leaders classThe deadline is nearing to apply for
our highly sought-after Water Leaders program for early to
mid-career water professionals, and registration is now open for
two popular events in 2020: our Water 101 Workshop and Lower
Colorado River Tour.
The yearlong Water
Leaders class is aimed at providing a deeper
understanding of California water issues and building leadership
skills with class members attending water tours, studying a
water-related topic in-depth and working with a mentor.
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.
