The Water Education Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to provide information on water issues in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...

. The Foundation's mission, since its founding in 1977, has been "to create a better understanding of water resources and foster public understanding and resolution of water resource issues through facilitation, education and outreach". Located in

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

, California, the Foundation offers publications, public television documentaries, briefings and conferences and school programs to help educate the public on a variety of water issues. The Foundation is led by an executive director and governed by a volunteer board of 33 members representing water, education, business, environmental and public interest communities in California. The board of directors meets quarterly.

Public television documentaries

In 2009 the Foundation won a regional

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

award for the 2008 public television documentary, ''Salt of the Earth: Salinity in California’s Central Valley'' hosted by comedian Paul Rodriguez. This program discusses the growing problem of salt buildup in the Central Valley and discusses potential solutions. Two other documentaries, ''Fate of the Jewel'' (2001), which discusses

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; Washo language, Washo: ''dáʔaw'') is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the Western United States, straddling the border between California and Nevada. Lying at above sea level, Lake Tahoe is the largest a ...

pollution, and ''High Stakes at the

Salton Sea The Salton Sea is a shallow, landlocked, highly salinity, saline endorheic lake in Riverside County, California, Riverside and Imperial County, California, Imperial counties in Southern California. It lies on the San Andreas Fault within the S ...

'' (2002), which discusses efforts to restore the Salton Sea and is narrated by actor

Val Kilmer Val Edward Kilmer (December 31, 1959 – April 1, 2025) was an American actor. Initially a stage actor, he later found fame as a Leading actor, leading man in films in a wide variety of genres, including Comedy film, comedies, dramas, action fi ...

, also received regional Emmy awards.

Publications, briefings and conferences

The flagship of the Foundation is ''Western Water'', which became an online news publication in 2018. In 2000, the Foundation released a book, ''Water and the Shaping of California'', written by then-Program Director Sue McClurg. Each year the Foundation organizes conferences and briefings that focus on current water issues and include prominent speakers from the water community. Events in 2009 included a U.S.–Mexico Binational Drought Science conference with the

California Department of Water Resources The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is part of the California Natural Resources Agency and is responsible for the management and regulation of the State of California's water usage. The department was created in 1956 by Governor ...

. Events in 2010 have included an International Groundwater Conference, organized with the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

, with speakers from organizations including

U.S. Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on March ...

International Water Management Institute The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) is a non-profit international water management research organisation under the One CGIAR with its headquarters in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and offices across Africa and Asia. One CGIAR is a reformulat ...

and the California Farm Bureau. In August 2010 the Foundation was one of several nonpartisan groups (including the California Center for the Book and the

California State Library The California State Library is the state library of the State of California, founded in 1850 by the California State Legislature. The Library collects, preserves, generates and disseminates a wide array of information. Today, it is the central ...

) that participated in 'Water Conversations' held in the Sacramento Delta area by the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

Cooperative Extension Service The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) was an Extension agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), part of the executive branch of the federal government. The 1994 Department Reorganization Act ...

References

External links

Water Education Foundation
Water organizations in the United States Environmental organizations based in California

Public television documentaries

Publications, briefings and conferences

References

Further reading

External links