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Overview Jenn Bowles

About Us

Who We Are

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:

Why Water?

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.

Western Water California Water Map Water & the Shaping of California Gary Pitzer

No Longer a ‘Boys Club’: In the World of Water, Women Are Increasingly Claiming Center Stage
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Since late 2017, women have taken leading roles at Reclamation, DWR, Metropolitan Water District and other key water agencies

Women named in the last year to water leadership roles (clockwise, from top left): Karla Nemeth, director, California Department of Water Resources; Gloria Gray,  chair, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California; Brenda Burman, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner; Jayne Harkins,  commissioner, International Boundary and Water Commission, U.S. and Mexico; Amy Haas, executive director, Upper Colorado River Commission.The 1992 election to the United States Senate was famously coined the “Year of the Woman” for the record number of women elected to the upper chamber.

In the water world, 2018 has been a similar banner year, with noteworthy appointments of women to top leadership posts in California — Karla Nemeth at the California Department of Water Resources and Gloria Gray at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

Announcement

Starts Today! Sweet Holiday Deals for the Water Wonk in Your Life
50% off Water & the Shaping of California; 20% off maps, Layperson’s Guides, teacher resources

Here’s a sweet deal for the holidays: Get 50 percent off the paperback Water & the Shaping of California, a treasure trove of gorgeous color photos, water literature and famous sayings about water.

This beautifully designed oversize book discusses the engineering feats, political decisions and popular opinion that reshaped the nature – flood and drought – and society – gold, grain and growth – that led to the water projects that created the California we know today. The book Includes a foreword by the late Kevin Starr, the Golden State’s premier historian.

This book normally retails for $35, but you can get it for a limited time for just $17.50. Use the discount code HOLIDAYBOOK at checkout to get your 50 percent discount. It’s the perfect gift for anyone interested in water in California.

Western Water California Water Map Layperson's Guide to the State Water Project Gary Pitzer

As He Steps Aside, Tim Quinn Talks About ‘Adversarialists,’ Collaboration and Hope For Solving the State’s Tough Water Issues
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Tim Quinn, retiring executive director of Association of California Water Agencies

ACWA Executive Director Tim Quinn  with a report produced by Association of California Water Agencies on  sustainable groundwater management.  (Source:  Association of California Water Agencies)In the universe of California water, Tim Quinn is a professor emeritus. Quinn has seen — and been a key player in — a lot of major California water issues since he began his water career 40 years ago as a young economist with the Rand Corporation, then later as deputy general manager with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and finally as executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies. In December, the 66-year-old will retire from ACWA.

Announcement

2019 Water Tour Dates and Locations Announced
Registration open for Lower Colorado River and Central Valley Tours; New tour of Central Coast added

Headwaters Tour participants hike through a meadow to examine water resources.Our slate of water tours for 2019 will include a new tour along the Central Coast to view a river where a dam was removed, 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.

Registration is already open for our Lower Colorado River Tour and our Central Valley Tour.

Western Water Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

As Shortages Loom in the Colorado River Basin, Indian Tribes Seek to Secure Their Water Rights
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: A study of tribal water rights could shed light on future Indian water use

Aerial view of the lower Colorado RiverAs the Colorado River Basin becomes drier and shortage conditions loom, one great variable remains: How much of the river’s water belongs to Native American tribes?

Native Americans already use water from the Colorado River and its tributaries for a variety of purposes, including leasing it to non-Indian users. But some tribes aren’t using their full federal Indian reserved water right and others have water rights claims that have yet to be resolved. Combined, tribes have rights to more water than some states in the Colorado River Basin.

Announcement

Registration Now Open for Water 101 Workshop
Feb. 7th workshop in Sacramento to include optional one-day Groundwater Tour

The 2018 Water 101 workshop at McGeorge School of Law. Registration is now open for one of our most popular events – Water 101, which for the first time will include an optional daylong tour examining one of California’s most critical resources, groundwater.

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. Taught by some of California’s leading policy and legal experts, the workshop gives attendees a deeper understanding of the state’s most precious natural resource.

Announcement

Latest Western Water Article Looks at How Court Decision Could Affect Groundwater Pumping in California
Pumping near Scott River in Siskiyou County sparks appellate case that extends public trust to some groundwater; explore maps and guides to learn more

In 1983, a landmark California Supreme Court ruling forced Los Angeles to reduce its take of water from Eastern Sierra creeks that fed Mono Lake. It marked a dramatic shift in California water law by extending the public trust doctrine to tributary creeks that fed Mono Lake, which is a navigable water body even though the creeks themselves are not. 

Some 35 years later, an appellate court in Sacramento for the first time has concluded that the same public trust doctrine used in the Mono Lake decision also applies to groundwater feeding the navigable Scott River in a picturesque corner of far Northern California.

Western Water Klamath River Watershed Map Layperson's Guide to Groundwater Gary Pitzer

California Leans Heavily on its Groundwater, But Will a Court Decision Tip the Scales Against More Pumping?
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Pumping near the Scott River in Siskiyou County sparks appellate court ruling extending public trust doctrine to groundwater connected to rivers

Scott River, in Siskiyou County. In 1983, a landmark California Supreme Court ruling extended the public trust doctrine to tributary creeks that feed Mono Lake, which is a navigable water body even though the creeks themselves were not. The ruling marked a dramatic shift in water law and forced Los Angeles to cut back its take of water from those creeks in the Eastern Sierra to preserve the lake.

Now, a state appellate court has for the first time extended that same public trust doctrine to groundwater that feeds a navigable river, in this case the Scott River flowing through a picturesque valley of farms and alfalfa in Siskiyou County in the northern reaches of California.

Announcement

Save the Dates for Water 101, Lower Colorado River Tour and More!
Popular Water 101 Workshop includes optional groundwater tour; Santa Ana River Watershed Conference also set

At Hoover Dam on our annual Lower Colorado River TourOur 2019 calendar is starting to fill up, so save the dates for these upcoming tours, workshops and conferences.

Feb. 7: Water 101 Workshop in Sacramento

Our most popular workshop will have an optional groundwater tour the next day. More information coming soon! Read about last year’s workshop here

Feb. 27-March 1: Lower Colorado River Tour

Announcement

Learn What’s in Store for Water Year 2019 at Dec. 5 Workshop in Irvine
Will it be another “dry, hot and on fire” year?

“Dry, hot and on fire” is how the California Department of Water Resources described Water Year 2018 in a recent report.

The 2018 Water Year (Oct. 1, 2017 to Sept. 30, 2018) marked a return to dry conditions statewide — and with much of Southern California receiving half or less of its average annual precipitation — following an exceptionally wet 2017.

Was 2018 simply a single dry year or does it signal the start of another drought? And what can reliably be said about the prospects for Water Year 2019? Does El Niño really mean anything for California, or is it all washed up as a predictor?

At Water Year 2019: Feast or Famine?, a one-day event on Dec. 5 in Irvine, water managers and anyone else interested in this topic will learn about what is and isn’t known about forecasting California’s winter precipitation weeks to months ahead, the skill of present forecasts and ongoing research to develop predictive ability.

Western Water Douglas E. Beeman

What Would You Do About Water If You Were California’s Next Governor?
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Survey at Foundation’s Sept. 20 Water Summit elicits a long and wide-ranging potential to-do list

There’s going to be a new governor in California next year – and a host of challenges both old and new involving the state’s most vital natural resource, water.

So what should be the next governor’s water priorities?

That was one of the questions put to more than 150 participants during a wrap-up session at the end of the Water Education Foundation’s Sept. 20 Water Summit in Sacramento.

Western Water California Water Map Gary Pitzer

In Water-Stressed California and the Southwest, An Acre-Foot of Water Goes a Lot Further Than It Used To
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK-As households get stingier with water, a common guide for describing how much they need gets a refresh

The Antioch/Oakley Regional Shoreline park displays a sign announcing their water conservation efforts at the park in 2014.People in California and the Southwest are getting stingier with water, a story that’s told by the acre-foot.

For years, water use has generally been described in terms of acre-foot per a certain number of households, keying off the image of an acre-foot as a football field a foot deep in water. The long-time rule of thumb: One acre-foot of water would supply the indoor and outdoor needs of two typical urban households for a year.

Announcement

Only a Few Tickets Left for Northern California Tour
Venture into the Sacramento Valley to see Shasta and Oroville dams, farmland and habitat improvements

Only a few tickets are left for our annual Northern California Tour, Oct. 10-12, when we will venture deep inside Shasta Dam and tour wildlife refuges and rice fields as we learn about water use and salmon restoration efforts in the farm-heavy region.

In addition to Shasta Dam, we will see newly accessible views of the Oroville Dam spillway and get an on-site update of repairs to the cornerstone of the State Water Project, including live camera feeds from the ongoing construction site.

Announcement

Explore the Effort to Revive Salmon Runs on the San Joaquin River Restoration Tour Nov. 7-8
Agricultural History and Habitat Restoration Come to Life in the Heart of the San Joaquin Valley

Explore more than 100 miles of Central California’s longest river, subject of one of the nation’s largest and costliest river restorations. Our San Joaquin River Restoration Tour on Nov. 7-8 will feature speakers from key governmental agencies and stakeholder groups who will explain the restoration program’s goals and progress.

Western Water Colorado River Basin Map California Water Map Gary Pitzer

Despite Risk of Unprecedented Shortage on the Colorado River, Reclamation Commissioner Sees Room for Optimism
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Commissioner Brenda Burman, in address at Foundation’s Water Summit, also highlights Shasta Dam plan

Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda BurmanThe Colorado River Basin is more than likely headed to unprecedented shortage in 2020 that could force supply cuts to some states, but work is “furiously” underway to reduce the risk and avert a crisis, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman told an audience of California water industry people.

During a keynote address at the Water Education Foundation’s Sept. 20 Water Summit in Sacramento, Burman said there is opportunity for Colorado River Basin states to control their destiny, but acknowledged that in water, there are no guarantees that agreement can be reached.

Announcement

Farming in the Sacramento Valley a Highlight of the Northern California Tour Oct. 10-12
Discover the various roles agriculture plays in the water story of the Sacramento River and its tributaries

Lundberg Family FarmsOur Oct. 10-12 Northern California Tour will explore the myriad agricultural uses of water throughout the Sacramento Valley, including the latest ways in which farms are adapting to changes in California’s groundwater and surface water resources.

The valley, the northern portion of California’s Central Valley, is known for some 2 million acres of farmland irrigated by the Sacramento River and its tributaries, along with groundwater. Primary crops grown in the region include rice, peaches, plums, tomatoes, walnuts and other nuts.

Western Water Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

Can Steadier Releases from Glen Canyon Dam Make Colorado River ‘Buggy’ Enough for Fish and Wildlife?
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Ted Kennedy, U.S. Geological Survey aquatic scientist

U.S. Geological Survey research ecologist Ted Kennedy collects aquatic invertebrates in the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam.Water means life for all the Grand Canyon’s inhabitants, including the many varieties of insects that are a foundation of the ecosystem’s food web. But hydropower operations upstream on the Colorado River at Glen Canyon Dam, in Northern Arizona near the Utah border, disrupt the natural pace of insect reproduction as the river rises and falls, sometimes dramatically. Eggs deposited at the river’s edge are often left high and dry and their loss directly affects available food for endangered fish such as the humpback chub.

Interior of Shasta Dam
Announcement

Northern California Tour Visits Oroville and Shasta Dams, Other Major Infrastructure
See key components of the state and federal water projects vital to delivering water across California

Participants of our Northern California Tour, Oct. 10-12, will venture deep inside Shasta Dam, keystone of the federal Central Valley Project, and take a houseboat tour of Shasta Lake, California’s largest reservoir.

Western Water California Water Map Gary Pitzer

When Water Worries Often Pit Farms vs. Fish, a Sacramento Valley Farm Is Trying To Address The Needs Of Both
WESTERN WATER SPOTLIGHT: River Garden Farms is piloting projects that could add habitat and food to aid Sacramento River salmon

Roger Cornwell, general manager of River Garden Farms, with an example of a refuge like the ones that were lowered into the Sacramento River at Redding to shelter juvenile salmon.  Farmers in the Central Valley are broiling about California’s plan to increase flows in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river systems to help struggling salmon runs avoid extinction. But in one corner of the fertile breadbasket, River Garden Farms is taking part in some extraordinary efforts to provide the embattled fish with refuge from predators and enough food to eat.

And while there is no direct benefit to one farm’s voluntary actions, the belief is what’s good for the fish is good for the farmers.

Announcement

The Promise and Challenge of Safe, Clean Drinking Water for All Is Focus of Sept. 20 Summit Panel
Get an update from experts and hear about solutions at Water Summit; tickets going fast!

Drinking WaterMore than 260 California water suppliers — many of them small systems in disadvantaged communities — don’t meet safe drinking water standards. One solution to getting those communities clean water is as simple — and as complicated — as connecting them to a larger supplier nearby. 

At the Foundation’s 35th annual Water Summit Sept. 20 in Sacramento, Camille Pannu, director of the Water Justice Clinic at UC Davis’ Aoki Center for Critical Race and Nation Studies, will discuss the complexities of water system mergers and a program underway in the Central Valley that has facilitated more than a dozen such mergers.