Trump Administration Increases California Water Deliveries, Sparking Environmental Concerns
The federal government, acting on an order from former President Trump, announced plans on Thursday to increase water deliveries to Central Valley farmlands from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a move California officials warn could jeopardize fish populations and water availability for millions.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation stated its revised operational plan for the Central Valley Project aims to “maximize water deliveries across California while maintaining protections for endangered fish species.” The changes are intended to boost water access for agricultural lands and communities throughout the San Joaquin Valley.
However,the decision has drawn sharp criticism from California’s leadership. “The Trump administration is putting politics over people – catering to big donors instead of doing what’s right for Californians,” said a spokesperson for Governor Gavin Newsom.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum defended the decision, asserting the federal government is “delivering on the promise” of trump’s earlier executive order to “strengthen California’s water resilience.” The move has garnered support from some of California’s largest agricultural water districts.
Allison Febbo, general manager of Westlands Water District, explained the changes “will help ensure that our growers have the water they need to support local communities and the nation
of Water Resources also warn that increased federal pumping could force reductions in water deliveries via the State Water Project, which supplies southern California’s cities. The Trump administration’s plan threatens to disrupt the long-standing cooperation between state and federal water agencies.
“As per usual, the emperor is left with no clothes, pushing for an outcome that disregards science and undermines our ability to protect the water supply for people, farms and the environment,” the newsom spokesperson stated.
Environmental and fishing groups have echoed these concerns, condemning the plan as a rollback of environmental protections for already struggling salmon and other fish. Karla Nemeth, director of the Water Resources Department, underscored that “close coordination between California’s two main water systems, the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project, is crucial to protecting water supply, fish and wildlife, and water quality.” She added that the Bureau of Reclamation’s changes “could compromise the state’s ability to deliver water to 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland.”
Despite these concerns, the state agency intends to “do its best to make sure both projects are operating in concert to the benefit of all of California” as the federal government implements its changes. The Bureau of Reclamation, through its revised plan – dubbed “Action 5” – believes it can facilitate increased water deliveries from both the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project.
Andrea Travnicek, the Interior Department’s assistant secretary for water and science, described the plan as “a forward-looking approach to water management that balances the needs of California’s communities, agriculture, and ecosystems.”
This is not the first time the Trump administration attempted to alter California’s water regulations. Previous efforts to weaken environmental protections in the Delta were successfully challenged in court by California and conservation groups, paving the way for the Biden administration and Newsom’s administration to establish new operating rules last December. The Bureau of Reclamation stated its current decision supersedes that previous plan.
The State Water Resources Control Board criticized the trump administration’s decision as abandoning decades of collaborative efforts to “improve watershed conditions,” and expressed difficulty in assessing the full impact due to inadequate analysis.Chuck Bonham, director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, argued that many aspects of the federal plan “are vague, unclear, unachievable to implement, or not based in best available science.”
“We believe this proposal provides less protection for species than previous Reclamation proposals supported by both Republican and Democratic administrations,” Bonham stated.”The measures in Action 5 run counter to the state’s efforts to bolster commercial and recreational fishing by supporting healthy populations of Chinook salmon – harming the california communities that rely on salmon for their livelihood.”
