October 2019 Newsletter
WELL Annual Conference 2020
Save the date! We are excited to announce the WELL Annual Conference 2020, which will take place March 20–21 in beautiful San Jose, California! More details and registration information is forthcoming.
Imagine a Day Without Water 2019
October 23rd was this year’s Imagine a Day Without Water, a national campaign to raise awareness about the remarkable value of water. WELL was excited to join with many schools, water districts, and cities across the United States as they participated in the campaign. To learn more about Imagine a Day Without Water or to find out how you and your community can get involved, please refer to their website.
WELL Network Spotlight: City of Calistoga Councilmember Irais Lopez Ortega
Napa Climate NOW!, a grassroots environmental advocacy group, recently awarded City of Calistoga Councilmember Irais Lopez Ortega with the 2019 Climate Award for her work educating her constituents. She collaborated with elected officials across Napa County to pass the Climate Emergency Proclamation. Councilmember Lopez Ortega also hosted a water education workshop for Spanish-speaking community members so that no one was excluded from Climate NOW! water education programs. Lopez Ortega was an UnTapped WELLo in our 2019 cohort and serves on WELL’s advisory board. WELL commends Councilmember Lopez Ortega for her outstanding work to combat climate change. We are happy that she is being recognized for the outstanding work she has done in her community.
SGMA, sustainability, and smiles at the Latinos for Water Quality Summit
On Saturday, October 19, 2019, the WELL team drove to Fresno, California to co-host the Latinos for Water Quality Summit along with State Senator Anna Caballero (SD-12), former WELLos Rodrigo Espinoza (Merced County Supervisor) and Rey León (City of Huron Mayor), City of Fresno Councilmember Esmeralda Soria, and the Sierra Health Foundation.
The summit brought together more than 40 leaders from across the region to discuss water issues affecting the Central Valley. Speakers Dan Munk from the UC Cooperative Extension and Dr. Daniele Zaccaria from UC Davis discussed irrigation and agricultural water demand to give attendees an understanding on how much water is used in the agriculture sector. Veronica Garibay-Gonzalez from the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability shared with everyone what life is like for Central Valley communities that do not have access to clean, safe drinking water, and how those communities have organized and demanded political action. Lastly, Armando Quintero, the Chair for the California Water Commission, discussed the rollout of SGMA, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, and how local leaders can get involved in the groundwater management planning process.
WELL is grateful to these water experts for sharing their knowledge with local leaders, as well as to the event’s moderator, Gary Serrato, from the Fresno Irrigation District. We would also like to thank those who attended for their engagement and for their passion about their community’s water resources. For those who were not able to attend but want to know what was discussed, we live-streamed the entire event to WELL’s Facebook page. Check out some pictures from the summit below!
Special thanks to the Sierra Health Foundation!
WELL would like to give special thanks to the Sierra Health Foundation for sponsoring the Latinos for Water Quality Summit on October 19, 2019. Their generosity is what made the event as successful as it was, and we appreciate their support of WELL and its programs. We look forward to working with the Sierra Health Foundation again in the future!
Upcoming Legislative Workshops in your region!
Wish you had been able to attend the Latinos for Water Quality Summit? No worries; there are other legislative water workshops in the works! These workshops are strategic opportunities for elected leaders to participate in focused discussions in their district about water issues impacting the region. Upcoming regional workshops will be held in South Gate, Avenal, and Calistoga. See below for more information.
New to the WELL Toolkit: The California Water Library
Have you checked out the WELL Toolkit lately? The WELL Toolkit is a database on WELL’s website that provides WELL’s top picks of helpful websites, books, podcasts, blogs, and organizations about water in California and across our communities. The newest installment to the toolkit is the California Water Library. This library is an online collection of information about California’s many water issues. The collection provides streamlined links to reports and documents generated by the research community, state and federal agencies, and nongovernmental organizations.
Follow WELL on social media!
Follow WELL on social media to get current California water news and updates about WELL programs and events:
Water Education for Latino Leaders
@LatinosForWater
Water Education for Latino Leaders (WELL) educates local Latino elected officials on California water policies to promote timely and equitable actions that strive to develop a robust economy, healthy communities, and a resilient environment for all Californians. Visit our website: www.latinosforwater.org.
