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.
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 on Tuesday to approve a proposal to improve the county’s preparedness for wildfires. “It only takes a spark, a downed power line or a stray ember carried by Santa Ana winds or a sudden shift in the weather can turn a quiet afternoon into catastrophe,” said County Supervisor Jim Desmond during a news conference before Tuesday’s meeting.
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.
Rain that arrived late Saturday in San Diego County brought with it cautious optimism as officials removed most evacuation orders and warnings in the Border 2 fire area. Cal Fire officials said the Border 2 fire, which began Wednesday, was 6,225 acres in size and 40% contained as of Sunday evening. Officials credited the wet weather — a little less than half an inch of rain fell in the area — with helping firefighters make progress on containment.
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.
It only takes one spark. A downed power line, a stray ember carried by the wind or a sudden shift in the weather can turn a quiet afternoon into a disaster. We’ve seen it before. The wildfires of 2003 and 2007 devastated San Diego County, destroying thousands of homes, displacing families and leaving a lasting mark on our region. These fires weren’t just tragedies — they were hard lessons. And if there’s one thing we’ve learned, we can never afford to be complacent.
Los Angeles County officials missed dozens of opportunities for water infrastructure improvements that experts say probably would have enabled firefighters to save more homes during the Palisades fire, public records show.
As crews battled the blaze, attempting to extinguish flames that burned huge swaths of L.A. County and killed at least 11 people, some hydrants ran dry.
