President Trump’s false claims about Los Angeles fire response are debunked

Climate wire | As historic fires rage through the Los Angeles area, President-elect Donald Trump is calling on Governor Gavin Newsom to “open up the water mains” and “make sure beautiful, clean fresh water flows to California.”

At first glance, that seems to make sense. Why aren’t state leaders, whose northern regions currently enjoy above-average winter precipitation, trying to divert water south to calm it down? burning metropolis What if the fire hydrants run out?

First, the central spigot in the Sierra foothills is not something Newsom could open with a giant wrench. Add to that the fact that firefighters were held back by Santa Ana’s fierce winds rather than empty hydrants due to a lack of water from Northern California.

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Read a detailed explanation from a California-based water expert about the state’s complex water system and a brief history of President Trump’s obsession with the issue.

What happened to the “Water Supply Restoration Declaration”?

On Wednesday, Trump Posted on Truth Social: “Governor Gavin Newscome has announced that millions of gallons of water from excess rain and snowmelt from the north are now flowing into many parts of California each day. The government refused to sign the Water Restoration Declaration, which is burning in a virtually apocalyptic manner.

Newsom Communications Director shoot back: “There is no such document as the Water Restoration Declaration. It is pure fiction.”

is that so? Not completely. Even though he used an unknown name, Trump was referring to a genuine document that left even the most astute California water official scratching his head. The president-elect’s press secretary, Caroline Leavitt, explained the reference: point to A five-year legal battle continues between Mr. Newsom and Mr. Trump over how to manage the state and federal systems of pumps, reservoirs and canals that move California’s water.

In short, how much water should be pumped from the state’s major rivers, where they meet in the Sacramento and San Joaquin River deltas, to farms in the drier Central Valley and cities in Southern California? The two sides have different opinions on whether it should be pumped out. Declining fish populations, such as the Delta smelt, need to be maintained within the ecosystem to keep them alive. A frequent target of President Trump. Their separate plans for pumps make little difference to the actual water supply, but they take on a political life of their own.

The conflict began in 2020 when President Trump said “record of decision” solidified his version of the rules all at once. Gathering in the Central Valley — Naru Dake sued by newsomdue to environmental harm.

Tom Birmingham, former general manager of the Westlands Water District, the nation’s largest agricultural irrigation district, said: “This is a project of his first term that both President Trump and Governor Newsom have a personal interest in.” “It was the last major water policy decision made during his term.” He sided with Trump in that battle.

Are there water mains in Northern California?

No, Mr. Newsom will be under as much pressure as Mr. Trump. Suggested by Truth Social On Thursday, it called for “immediately to go to Northern California and open up the water mains so that instead of letting water flow into the Pacific Ocean, it will flow to a state that is dry, hungry and burning.”

However, cities in Southern California depends Delta pumps provide approximately 30 percent of the snowmelt water supply in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, home to world-famous Yosemite National Park. Another 20 percent comes from the Colorado River and 50 percent comes from local sources such as groundwater and recycling.

Much of California’s water flows into the Pacific Ocean. Much of it is set aside for environmental use, keeping rivers flowing, fresh enough to supply cities with tap water and keep endangered fish populations alive. The quality is maintained. Overall, California water usage break Roughly 10% are local communities, 40% are agriculture and 50% are environmental, according to an analysis of state data by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.

What are the origins of President Trump’s California water obsession?

This isn’t the first time President Trump has used H2O as a cudgel against Newsom. He also Threatened to withhold disaster aid Unless Mr. Newsom goes out on a limb with last year’s Southern California campaign shutdown, saying, “If the governor doesn’t sign these papers, we’re not going to give you the money to put out all the fires.” (“Those papers” presumably refers to the Water Recovery Manifesto mentioned above).

The president-elect’s interest in the Golden State’s water dilemma may be traced back to a visit to the agriculturally rich Central Valley in 2016 with former Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, one of Trump’s early supporters. is high.

President Trump’s frequent mentions of the fight “suggests that California’s water issues hold a very special place in his heart and mind,” the Central Valley farmers service said. said Johnny Amaral, chief operating officer of Friant Water Authority. Chief of Staff.

“He often talks about the time he visited the Central Valley before the 2016 election and Devin took him on a tour of the farmland,” Amaral added. “It warms our hearts a little bit when he tells us that it’s still a 30-minute to an hour drive on the east side.”

Nunes was trying to impress on Trump that farmers in the conservative-leaning Central Valley needed more water from northern states and federal water pumps. He was clearly persuasive.

it’s not. Most of Southern California is currently in drought, according to federal statisticsThat’s because California’s typically wet winter started out dry. However, there is no significant shortage of imported water from Northern California, and in contrast, rainfall has so far been relatively average. Water levels in the state’s reservoirs, including Diamond Valley Lake, Southern California’s largest reservoir, are currently above historic levels.

Janice Quiñones, CEO and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said Wednesday that fire hydrants in Los Angeles were emptied Tuesday night due to “tremendous demand.” As a result, water pressure decreased. The city’s 3 million-gallon water tank that supplies Pacific Palisades was cut off by 3 a.m. Tuesday after firefighters began battling the blaze, and backup water had to be trucked to the scene.

How are Democratic leaders responding?

During a White House briefing on Thursday, President Joe Biden explained about dry fire hydrants. He said power to local water pumps had been cut off to avoid further major fires caused by power lines. Biden said fire officials are now bringing in generators for the pumps.

Speaking on CNN Wednesday night, Newsom accused President Trump of playing politics and trying to divide the country over the tragic fires. Also Wednesday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass blamed water shortages for the unprecedented scale of the disaster, which is expected to be the deadliest in U.S. history.

Debra Kahn and Julia Marsh contributed to this report.

Reprinted from E&E News Published with permission of POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2025. E&E News provides news that matters to energy and environment professionals.