Last month’s wildfires in California destroyed thousands of homes, killed at least 29 people and will likely cost hundreds of billions of dollars. President Trump has claimed that state officials made the disaster worse by how they managed the state’s complex water system. William Brangham looks at those allegations and the realities of water management in the nation’s most populous state.
There’s a lot to be nervous about in today’s world. Here’s another: President Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom are talking about the future of the environmentally threatened San Francisco Bay-Delta. On Feb. 5, they met at the White House to discuss fire relief and water issues. Neither party revealed what water issues were discussed or if an agreement was reached. The public and the people who depend on the health of the magnificent Bay-Delta ecosystem, have a right to know the details of these private talks. And they have cause to be concerned.
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.
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.
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.
As President Donald Trump prepares to tour wildfire damage in California, he’s zeroing in on one of his frequent targets for criticism: State water policy. Since the fires broke out Jan. 7, Trump has used social media and interviews to accuse the state of sending too much water to the Pacific Ocean instead of south toward Los Angeles and highlighted how some hydrants ran dry in the early hours of the firefight in Pacific Palisades.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump once expressed concern with how low showerhead flow affected his “perfect” hair. Now back in the White House, he’s again taking aim at some high-efficiency household items — and that may mean higher water and electric bills in your home. One of Trump’s several dozen first-day executive orders promises to “unleash American energy,” including a pledge to ease efficiency standards for household appliances and fixtures.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday created what he called a “subcabinet” for federal water issues, with a mandate that includes water-use changes sought by corporate farm interests and oil and gas. An executive order from Trump put Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler in charge of the interagency water body.
After a week that saw President Donald Trump visit Bakersfield to pledge more water for Central Valley farmers and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration respond with a lawsuit, farmers and water agencies looked for ways to continue work on voluntary agreements intended to ease California’s water disputes.
Trump announced his administration had finalized new federal rules to guide operations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta for the federal Central Valley Project and the State Water Project. The lawsuit filed by the state the next day asserts that new biological opinions prepared by federal agencies lack safeguards for protected species and their habitat.
Water is essential for survival.
It’s just as true for you and me as it is for the Ag community of Kern County, which depends on water to grow all of its crops.
According to Gene Lundquist, president of the Water Association of Kern County, we use more than two million acre-feet to grow what feeds the entire country.
“We cannot do anything here in Kern County without water,” he said.
Lundquist said most of the water we use is groundwater.
The second-largest source is the state water project water, which comes from the California aqueduct.
