'Reckless': Trump Order To Release Water Spurs CA Flood Concerns

CALIFORNIA — President Donald Trump made good on his vow to "turn on the water" in California to curb wildfire risks last week, but the move to push extra water into the Central Valley during the rainy season has since sparked concerns over flooding and wasted resources. It also drew criticism because water released into the Central Valley won't actually help Southern California's wildfire prone areas.

On Thursday, the abrupt release of water by the Army Corps of Engineers incited panic among water officials in Tulare County, who were forced to mitigate flood damage downstream, Politico reported.

With just an hour's notice, water managers along the Kaweah and Tule rivers scrambled to move equipment and notify farms about potential flooding.

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"I’ve been here 25 years, and I’ve never been given notice that quick," Victor Hernandez, the Kaweah River Water Master, told Politico. "That was alarming and scary."

Meanwhile, officials have characterized Trump's decision to send a large amount of water to the Central Valley as haphazard and one that raises the question — just how is this water going to help wildfire-prone LA?

"If the purpose of these releases is to help fight wildfires in Los Angeles County (which are already almost fully contained), what is the plan to transport this water to Los Angeles rather than let the water simply be discharged into Tulare Lake where it will evaporate?" State Sen. Alex Padilla wrote in a letter to Trump's administration on Jan. 31.

On Trump's order, the U.S. Army Corps has dramatically increased the flow of water from two dams in Tulare County. The move sent massive amounts of water into farmlands in the San Joaquin Valley. The flow, as reported by the LA Times, increased from 57 cubic feet per second to more than 1,500 on Friday.

The order was given largely without consultation with local and state agencies.

"Based on the urgent concerns I have heard from my constituents, as well as recent reporting, it appears that gravely insufficient notification was given, recklessly endangering residents downstream," Padilla wrote last week.

It could have been worse. The New York Times cited an email from the county public works director to the Kings County Board of Supervisors outlining “serious concerns” that “the channels would hold" under the initial directive to unleash 5,500 cubic feet per second from the reservoir serving Kings County. It took a flurry of calls to local Republican members of congress to reduce the flow, The New York Times reported.

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Water experts and officials say the move could ultimately prove to be wasteful.

"I don’t know where this water is going, but this is the wrong time of year to be releasing water from these reservoirs. It’s vitally important that we fill our reservoirs in the rainy season so water is available for farms and cities later in the summer," Peter Gleick, a water scientist and senior fellow at the Pacific Institute told the Times. "I think it’s very strange and it’s disturbing that, after decades of careful local, state and federal coordination, some federal agencies are starting to unilaterally manipulate California’s water supply."

“For a political photo op and a social media post, the Trump administration has thrown away billions of gallons of California water,” Gleick said, adding the water won't reach any city and will, “not be used or usable for firefighting, not be used by farmers since this isn’t the irrigation season, and won’t be saved for the dry season, which is coming.... It's a needlessly self-destructive action purely for political showmanship.”

Following the decision, the Westland Water District, which represents farmers and communities in the San Joaquin Valley, thanked the president for the order.

"The challenges that he highlights are real, and his leadership in addressing the barriers to water delivery are welcomed. It’s clear that what we’ve been doing for the past few decades has not been working; not for the people, for agriculture, or for the fish," the district wrote in a Monday statement.

But experts say the move could hurt farmers.

“This takes water out of their summer irrigation portfolio,” said Dan Vink, a water consultant who previously served as general manager of the Lower Tule River Irrigation District. He told the Times that the move was "extremely unprecedented."

Following the release, the two reservoirs are notably less full. Lake Success, dropped from 20 percent full to 18 percent, and Lake Kaweah fell from 21 percent full to 19 percent of capacity over the weekend, according to the Times.

Meanwhile, Trump shared a photo on X of water pouring from a dam.

"Photo of beautiful water flow that I just opened in California. Today, 1.6 billion gallons and, in 3 days, it will be 5.2 billion gallons. Everybody should be happy about this long fought Victory! I only wish they listened to me six years ago – There would have been no fire!" He wrote.

The order is the latest spat between the Democratic state and the GOP president, spurred largely by Trump's criticism of how California handled the deadly Palisades and Eaton fires.

After Trump toured the devastation, he signed an executive order that directs federal officials to "immediately take action" on delivering more water to the Southland. He said the order overrides any rules, particularly environmental, that stand in the way.

However, the action that he ordered released more water from the Central Valley Project, which mostly delivers water for agricultural use and communities in the San Joaquin Valley — some 372 miles from Los Angeles.

“Do not be fooled by Trump’s lies: none of the policies in this executive order will move even a single drop of extra water to communities devastated by these wildfires," U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman wrote in a statement following the order.

This is the second executive order that Trump has signed that is related to California's water system.

The first order, signed on his first day in office, is titled "Putting People Over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California."

Newsom recently defended the Golden State's water supply, accusing Trump of spreading more "misinformation."

"And I don't mean it in a maligned sense," he told reporters last week.

"Maybe the president just doesn't know that there's not a spigot that can be turned to solve all the water problems that he alleges exist...as it relates to the state water system here in Southern California."