Trump’s plan to pump more water is drawing criticism from California lawmakers
The Trump administration’s plan to pump more water to farms in the Central Valley is facing strong opposition from Democratic members of Congress who represent the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and the Bay Area.
A group of seven legislators led by Rep. John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove) said pumping more water would threaten water supplies for many Californians, disrupt state-to-state cooperation that has long threatened the Delta’s native fish.
The US Bureau of Reclamation’s plan “prioritises the politics that are part of California’s communities and farmers,” Garamendi said.
“Pumping more water into the Delta during a terrible drought is nothing short of reckless,” he said. “It jeopardizes the health of the people who live and work here, it undermines the region’s fragile ecosystem, and it jeopardizes the long-term health of our state’s water infrastructure.”
Federal officials said the changes, adopted this month following the President Trump’s order earlier this year, represents an effort to balance the needs of communities, farms and the environment.
Major agricultural water agencies, such as the Westlands Water District, support the Trump administration’s plan. Some of the farmers in the village, who grow crops including pistachios, almonds, grapes and tomatoes, have long criticized the government’s environmental regulations saying they are dangerous and want more water to be sent to the canals.
The Bureau of Reclamation said in program summarycalled Action 5, that the changes “are not expected to cause any significant negative effects on the environment,” and will allow two of California’s largest water systems – the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project – to bring more water from the Delta south to agricultural areas and cities.
But the Newsom administration criticized the planwarns that it could threaten fish and reduce the amount of water available to millions of people in other parts of the state.
“All Californians … deserve a water supply system that prioritizes solutions over party games,” said Garamendi and six other Democratic lawmakers. a book to Scott Cameron, acting Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation.
This group – which includes Reps. Ami Bera, Mark DeSaulnier, Josh Harder, Jared Huffman, Doris Matsui and Mike Thompson – said they believed the changes would “endanger California’s water supply, disrupt effective coordination between federal and state agencies, and weaken environmental protections.”
Legislators said “the long-term sustainability of the Delta’s clean water supply and ecosystem depends on careful, science-based coordination” between state and federal water systems, and that more pumping from the Central Valley Project canals would force the State Water Project to reduce water exports.
“This will not only jeopardize the water supply for millions of Californians who rely on the State Water Project, but will also create uncertainty for farmers who rely on Delta water,” they said.
Environmental groups and fishermen also oppose the plan, saying the federal government is cutting protections for salmon and other struggling fish.
In recent years, water pumping has had a negative impact on the ecosystems of the Delta and San Francisco Bay. Populations of Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, Delta smelt and other species have declined.
Trump also tried to change California’s water laws and policies during his first term. But when his management water laws were adopted that weakened environmental protections in Delta, California and conservation groups successfully challenged the changes in court.
