Watch our series of short videos on the importance of the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, how it works as a water hub for
California and the challenges it is facing.
Some people in California and across the West struggle to access
safe, reliable and affordable water to meet their everyday needs
for drinking, cooking and sanitation.
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supporting specific projects.
As atmospheric rivers blasted across California this year, they
brought epic amounts of rain and snow follwing a three-year
drought.
Devastating and deadly floods hit parts of the state and now all
eyes are on the potential for more flooding, particularly in
the San Joaquin Valley as the record amount of snow in the
Sierras melts with warmer temperatures.
With anticipated sea level rise and other impacts of a changing
climate, flood management is increasingly critical in California.
The Foundation’s Central Valley Tour at
the end of April is nearing capacity and while there’s still some
space on the tour, there’s another very exciting opportunity
on the horizon this summer to engage directly with
groundwater experts from California and across the world.
As the date of reckoning for excessive groundwater pumping in
Tulare County grows closer, lobbying by water managers and
growers has ramped up. The Friant Water Authority, desperate to
protect its newly rebuilt – yet still sinking –
Friant-Kern Canal, has beseeched the Water Resources Control
Board to get involved. Specifically, it has asked board members
to look into how the Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability
Agency (GSA) has, or has not, curbed over pumping that affects
the canal. Meanwhile, the Eastern Tule groundwater agency has
been doing a bit of its own lobbying. It recently hosted all
five members of the Water Board on three separate tours of the
region, including the canal. Because the tours were staggered,
there wasn’t a quorum of board members, which meant they
weren’t automatically open to the public.
Kings County growers will face millions of dollars in fees and
a mandate to report groundwater pumping after California
officials voted unanimously today to put local agencies on
probation for failing to protect the region’s underground water
supply. The unprecedented decision is a first step that could
eventually lead to the state wresting control of a groundwater
basin in a severely depleted part of the San Joaquin
Valley. Before issuing the probation order, the State
Water Resources Control Board had repeatedly warned five
groundwater agencies in Kings County that their management plan
for the Tulare Lake basin is seriously deficient, failing to
rein in the dried-up wells, contaminated water and sinking
earth worsened by overpumping.
One of the largest dams built in the United States in the last
two decades is one year away from completion, a dam that will
help supply water to Northern Coloradans for decades to
come. The Chimney Hollow Reservoir project is
underway in the Foothills west of Loveland, and it’s expected
to be completed and retaining water by summer of 2025.
… Northern Colorado is one of the fastest growing
regions in the state.
The Metropolitan Water District plans to spend up to $250
million on four non-traditional water projects that, combined,
could supply up to 100,000 Southern California households over
the next few years. Wastewater recycling, rainwater reclamation
and transforming ocean water into drinking water are some of
the technologies that could get money in the coming wave of
funding from MWD. The Los Angeles-based wholesaler, which helps
transfer water from Northern California and the Colorado River
to 26 retail water districts in the Los Angeles region, has
spent about $700 million on smaller, non-traditional water
projects since launching its Local Resources Program in 1990.
The amounts announced Monday, April 15, represent some of MWD’s
biggest investments in water innovation to date.
San Francisco has been giving Seattle a run for its money on
the precipitation front. Since Jan. 1, nearly 18 inches of
rain has accumulated in San Francisco. Meanwhile, Seattle sits
at just 13 inches. This year is unusual. San Francisco
has been rainier than Seattle in just 16 of the past 50 years
through mid-April. In a normal year, San Francisco trails
Seattle by about 2.5 inches of precipitation on April
14. Annually, Seattle averages 16.5 inches more rainfall
than San Francisco and may still surpass San Francisco this
year. While 2024’s rainfall may seem topsy-turvy, it
fits expectations with El Niño, a global climate pattern that
has its biggest influence on West Coast storms from January
through April.
As the date of reckoning for excessive groundwater pumping in
Tulare County grows closer, lobbying by water managers and
growers has ramped up. The Friant Water Authority, desperate to
protect its newly rebuilt – yet still sinking –
Friant-Kern Canal, has beseeched the Water Resources Control
Board to get involved. Specifically, it has asked board members
to look into how the Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability
Agency (GSA) has, or has not, curbed over pumping that affects
the canal. Meanwhile, the Eastern Tule groundwater agency has
been doing a bit of its own lobbying. It recently hosted all
five members of the Water Board on three separate tours of the
region, including the canal. Because the tours were staggered,
there wasn’t a quorum of board members, which meant they
weren’t automatically open to the public.
Operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the
Bay Model is a giant hydraulic replica of San Francisco
Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta. It is housed in a converted World II-era
warehouse in Sausalito near San Francisco.
Hundreds of gallons of water are pumped through the
three-dimensional, 1.5-acre model to simulate a tidal ebb
and flow lasting 14 minutes.
As part of the historic Colorado
River Delta, the Salton Sea regularly filled and dried for
thousands of years due to its elevation of 237 feet below
sea level.
