President Donald Trump on Tuesday moved to revert to older standards for light bulbs as well as toilets, showers and other water-using appliances, a day after signing an order promoting plastic straws and rescinding a plan to reduce single-use plastics.
When wind-driven flames raged through Pacific Palisades, Marco Terruzzin and his family were not at home. They soon learned that the inferno had destroyed the two-story Spanish-style home they had moved into just one month earlier. As Terruzzin followed the news of the catastrophic losses, he felt powerless and was struck by the accounts that firefighters had trouble getting water because many hydrants lost pressure and ran dry.
U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AL) on Feb. 4 announced bipartisan legislation that aims to reduce flood risks and bolster emergency preparedness by improving atmospheric river forecasting. The bill, supported by ACWA, would require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to establish a forecast improvement program within the National Weather Service.
President Donald Trump’s intrusion into California’s long-running conflict over water management – essentially favoring farmers over wildlife habitat – has drawn massive media and political attention. Trump ordered federal water managers to release more water for farmers but the increased flows have so far been largely symbolic because farmers use little water during the winter but need more during the growing season. Trump’s action has been denounced by environmental groups which have long sought to enhance river flows for salmon and other species, with tacit support from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration.
President Donald Trump said he’d withhold wildfire disaster aid to California unless Gov. Gavin Newsom goes his way on water. Newsom appears to have gotten the message.
The governor has been working hard to show he also wants to send more water to the state’s farmers and cities ahead of his trip to Washington, D.C., today, where he met with lawmakers and Trump to make the pitch for federal recovery funds for the Los Angeles fires.
Immigration and border security will be the likely focus of U.S.-Mexico relations under the new Trump administration. But there also is a growing water crisis along the U.S.–Mexico border that affects tens of millions of people on both sides, and it can only be managed if the two governments work together.
Climate change is shrinking surface and groundwater supplies in the southwestern U.S. Higher air temperatures are increasing evaporation rates from rivers and streams and intensifying drought. Mexico is also experiencing multiyear droughts and heat waves.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who recently revived his relationship with President Donald Trump as he pushes for federal assistance for the catastrophic Los Angeles wildfires, is traveling to Washington for Wednesday meetings with Trump and Republican officials. Newsom’s aides confirmed he left the state midday Tuesday. The planned meetings at the White House and likely Capitol Hill follow what Trump and Newsom described as a cordial phone conversation in recent days — part of a breakthrough in their on-again, off-again dynamic that had effectively ended shortly before the president left office in 2021.
In the wake of the Southern California wildfires in January, the safety of the water supply came into question as ash and particulate matter traveled from fire zones and into surrounding areas. Many people want some clarification about how safe their water is, what’s being done to monitor water conditions, what the orders mean and more. ABC7 Eyewitness News talked to LADWP Director of Water Quality Jonathan Leung to answer your questions and more.
The Trump administration’s efforts to block federal spending are disrupting one of the most critical — and typically bipartisan — functions of government: providing clean, safe and affordable water.
Days after President Trump startled some of his most ardent supporters in California’s San Joaquin Valley by having the Army Corps of Engineers suddenly release water from two dams, many in the region and beyond were still perplexed.
