Publications & Videos

High quality, comprehensive publications are the hallmark of the Foundation's writing staff. The flagship of the Foundation is Western Water, a bimonthly magazine through which readers learn the latest about water supply, water quality, the Colorado River, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, groundwater, endangered species, and more. The first issue of Western Water was published in 1977.

The vast Colorado River Basin is the focus of River Report, the Foundation's biannual newsletter that explores issues surrounding the lifeline of the Southwest and those that share its water - the seven western states, the Republic of Mexico and numerous American Indian tribes. Launched in 1998, River Report has traced the saga of sharing surpluses and shortages, restoring endangered fish and the Colorado River Delta, and issues related to drought, urban growth and climate change.

The titles in the Foundation's Layperson's Guides series reflect a textbook on water: Drinking Water, Environmental Restoration, Flood Management, Groundwater, Water Marketing and more. These easy-to-understand primers are regularly updated and revised and provide students, journalists and other "laypeople" unbiased factual information.

Nonpoint source pollution and stormwater runoff - with an emphasis on finding solutions to these challenging issues - is the focus of The California Runoff Rundown. Published each Spring and Fall, the free newsletter is available as a "virtual" Internet publication and printed format.

In 2000 the Foundation released a book, Water & the Shaping of California, to critical acclaim. This coffee table style book features gorgeous historic and color photos of water while the text traces the way water has influenced the development of the state's cities and farms. Famous quotations and excerpts from literature about water offer readers an in-depth understanding of how much water has shaped our lives.

Beyond the written word, television productions offer the Foundation the opportunity to reach out to the general public, whether at a water board or other government agency and on PBS stations. These productions help viewers understand the, historic, technical and political nature of the water debate.