California’s 2026 Gubernatorial Election: Time to Focus on Clean Water

With the 2026 gubernatorial election on the horizon, Californians have the opportunity to forefront the conversation about water. Elections are one of those rare moments when a new vision for large, entrenched systems can be put forward.   When voters can ask not only what is broken, but what kind of future we want to build. Few issues touch every Californian as directly as water, and few offer as much potential for a shared conversation about values, fairness, and durable solutions. 

A System in Disrepair 

California’s water system is famously complicated. Highly connected and aging infrastructure moves fresh water across the state and from as far away as Colorado. Layered and often competing water rights laws conflict over who receives water, how much water they get, and when that water is delivered. And the needs of healthy ecosystems often aren’t considered in the equation.  

There is a thorny political reality at the heart of California water policy: Most of the water our state depends on begins in the Sierra Nevada, while much of the voting and economic power that shapes water decisions is concentrated in Southern California. This geographic mismatch has long influenced whose voices carry the most weight, which rivers bear the greatest burdens, and which communities absorb the environmental and economic costs. Acknowledging and addressing this imbalance is essential to restoring trust and balance in California’s water system. California’s next governor has the opportunity to help reshape the narrative around ensuring California’s water – from their source high in the Sierra Nevada to glistening coastlines of Orange County – are protected for ecosystem health and human benefit.  

SYRCL’s Vision: Protection from Source to Sea 

The South Yuba River Citizens League believes we must protect all of California’s waterways — freshwater and marine alike. Our work begins at home, with a commitment to protect the Yuba River from source to sea. To safeguard local rivers and the waters that connect us all, we must advance a more coherent, equitable approach, one that values healthy ecosystems, thriving communities, and shared responsibility across regions. 

California’s watersheds are under environmental strain from a long legacy of pumping water out of rivers at unsustainable rates and transporting that water hundreds of miles.  Rivers are over-allocated to the point that some run dry, even in years when water should be abundant. Many waterways are confined within rigid levees and channels that prevent them from flooding naturally, reshaping habitat, replenishing groundwater, or supporting resilient ecosystems. These structural choices have left our rivers less adaptable and our communities more vulnerable.

The Double Challenge Ahead 

Climate change is intensifying droughts, floods, and catastrophic wildfires, while also increasing pressure to extract and move water in ways that further destabilize and deplete already stressed systems. Together, these forces magnify risk and expose the limits of a water system built on the false premise of unlimited supply. 

Compounding these challenges, recent federal actions propose to dramatically narrow the definition of “Waters of the United States,” and strip Clean Water Act protections from a large share of California’s rivers, streams, and wetlands. These rollbacks weaken safeguards for headwaters, seasonal waterways, and wetlands — the very features that protect water quality, reduce flooding, and sustain ecosystems. As a result, California’s state leadership must take on the additional responsibility of defending clean water protections in the face of federal attacks.    

A New Clean Water Platform for a Changing Climate 

SYRCL and our clean water advocacy partners are working to forward a clean water platform that redefines our state’s water values. The four pillars of this forward-looking platform will provide a scorecard by which voters can compare candidates and how they feel about keeping California’s wetlands, rivers, and beaches clean and healthy.  

Our goal is to help shape a durable vision for California’s water future — one worthy of the rivers, communities, and generations it must serve. 

We are working with the California Coastkeeper Alliance to refine our scorecard, which will be release just before the start of SYRCL’s Wild & Scenic Film Festival in February.

People can save a river — and people can reform a water system. Stay informed. Stay engaged. Stay tuned.