Donald Trump’s California Water Order Does More for Farms Than Wildfires
President Donald Trump’s obsession with California’s water comes from an often overlooked source — Golden State farmers.
President Donald Trump’s obsession with California’s water comes from an often overlooked source — Golden State farmers.
Allocations from California’s State Water Project continue to slowly trend upwards this winter, with water managers announcing a 5 percent increase in requested deliveries compared to last month.
Southern California’s biggest water supplier replaced its general manager on Wednesday after the completion of an investigation into claims of harassment and a toxic workplace.
The Trump administration’s order to freeze trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans prompted confusion across state capitols and local government offices on Tuesday, leaving them at a loss on how to even calculate its impact. Officials got a temporary reprieve late in the day when a federal judge in the District of Columbia blocked the order just as it was set to go into effect.
The Department of Water Resources has announced an increase in water allocations for the State Water Project, raising the allocation to 20% of requested supplies. This marks an increase from the 15% announced in December and the original 5% allocation. Despite a dry start to the month, the department said runoff into the state’s reservoirs has been higher than expected.
Does Donald Trump truly believe the nonsense he spouts about California water — the mythical “valve” connecting the state to Canada, or the imagined “half-pipe” that stands ready to soak the Los Angeles area?
California requires “several more storms” to make up for an unusually dry January that has plagued the southern half of the state, according to State Climatologist Michael Anderson.
California Department of Water Resources (CDWR) is pushing back on President Trump’s recent claim that the U.S. military entered the state and “turned on the water” in the wake of devastating wildfires that left lasting damage in the southern part of the state.
The White House on Sunday released an executive order by President Trump that laid out a plan to exert the federal government’s role in California’s complex water management operations and claimed its authority to overrule state officials. The order, dated Friday, comes after Mr. Trump traveled to the state to see the devastation from wildfires that have been raging in Los Angeles for weeks.
President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order Sunday that told federal agencies to “immediately take action” to deliver more Central Valley water and eliminate rules that stand in the way, including endangered species protections. In the new order, Trump cited the Los Angeles fires, even though the actions he is ordering — delivering more water from the federal Central Valley Project — would primarily serve farms.