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.
The House voted to pass a $1.4 trillion government-wide spending package on Tuesday, which includes $14 million in investments for Central Valley and regional water projects.
The spending legislation would forestall a government shutdown this weekend and give President Donald Trump steady funding for his U.S.-Mexico border fence. The year-end package is anchored by a $1.4 trillion spending measure that ends a months-long battle over spending priorities.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
