SJV Water founder, editor and CEO Lois Henry was recently recognized with a statewide journalism award by the Water Education Foundation, a longtime educational group that works to help Californians understand the complexities of water and the politics governing how it is allocated.

Henry received the Rita Schmidt Sudman Award for Excellence in Water Journalism.

Water Education Foundation Executive Director Jenn Bowles, herself a veteran journalist, said she chose Henry because she not only started an online news site to cover water but also expanded it by hiring additional reporters.

“As traditional media coverage of water issues has waned,” Bowles said, “SJV Water has blossomed into a site that comprehensively covers a region of California that is under more pressure than most to meet the requirements of the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.”

“The San Joaquin Valley is really ground zero on issues plaguing California water, everything from groundwater to drought to flooding. Lois and her team have covered all these issues and they have done it exceptionally well.”

Said Henry: “I’m grateful and humbled to receive this recognition. Water is such an arcane and politically rife topic. We really strive to explain what’s happening in layman’s terms and walk an unbiased line. So, it’s exciting to know our work has hit the mark and provided value to our readers.”

About the Award

The Water Education Foundation established the annual award in 2022 to honor outstanding reporting that illuminates complicated water issues in California and the West. The award was named for and funded by the foundation’s longtime executive director, Rita Schmidt Sudman, who retired in 2014.

The award includes $1,000 cash and allows the recipient to take advantage of the Foundation’s resources, such as water maps, Layperson’s Guides, and water tours, to beef up their knowledge and sources.

CalMatters environmental reporter Rachel Becker won the award in 2022, and the San Francisco Chronicle’s Kurtis Alexander received it last year. Like Henry, Alexander is a former Fresno Bee reporter.