Citing LA fire victims, Trump orders more water for Central Valley agriculture and less for fish

Editor’s Note: After publishing this story, The Bee learned that it includes unattributed passages from the CalMatters story “Trump orders more Central Valley water deliveries — claiming it would help LA fires.” This is a journalistic breach and a violation of our standards. We apologize to our readers and to CalMatters.

The White House released an executive order signed by President Donald Trump Sunday to secure additional water supplies for the Central Valley agriculture industry by reverting to regulations in place during his first administration.

Although the order cited devastating wildfires in Los Angeles as its rationale, it stands to primarily benefit San Joaquin Valley farmers. Environmental groups warned the order could hasten ecological collapse in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

“I think it’s pretty clear that President Trump is interested in following up on what he started in 2020, which is to ensure that Californians have a reliable, adequate supply of water,” said Tom Birmingham, former manager of Westlands Water District in the San Joaquin Valley.

“What this order does is maximize water supplies to the extent consistent with statutory authorities, and that is certainly something that I think makes imminently good sense.”

Most of California’s urban population and agriculture receive water through two extensive water systems that transport supplies from Sierra Nevada snowmelt and the state’s major rivers into the Delta and out through aqueducts, reservoirs and pipelines.

A century of water diversions from the Bay-Delta ecosystem, experts say, is leading it to collapse. Several fish species native to the region are protected under the Endangered Species Act — including the delta smelt, longfin smelt, chinook salmon runs and steelhead trout.

A knotty combination of water rights and environmental regulations guide operation of the water projects. Through biological opinions, state and federal agencies govern these systems to direct water diversions and pumping restrictions to protect endangered species.

The federally operated Central Valley Project primarily serves agricultural land, providing as much as 5 million acre-feet of water to farms, according to the Bureau of Reclamation. The State Water Project supplies millions of people in mostly urban Southern California.

Statewide, water supplies are currently sufficient after two wet years. But climate change, scientists say, is straining California’s water delivery systems and could reduce supply by roughly 20% while disrupting the timing and reliability of water availability.

Through a combination of measures, the Trump administration’s order called on the Bureau of Reclamation to operate the Central Valley Project with rules that his first administration implemented in 2020 which would revert to higher deliveries for agriculture.

Those regulations were criticized at the time for coming at the expense of endangered species. Trump’s order could override rules signed into law in December, after years in the making, by Biden administration officials and endorsed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The Biden administration rules would have reduce agricultural deliveries under the Central Valley project but increase them to Southern California cities under the State Water Project.

The order also calls on several federal agencies to ensure adequate water resources in Southern California and directs its state counterpart not to interfere with decisions. Finally, it attempts to convene a committee known as the “God Squad” that can override the Endangered Species Act.

In response, Newsom said Trump’s order was not based in reality. Statewide water management has little to do with local firefighting.

“California continues to pump as much water as it did under the Trump administration’s policies, and water operations to move water south through the Delta have absolutely nothing to do with the local fire response in Los Angeles,” said Newsom in a statement.

The powerful Westlands Water District, representing farmers in parts of Kings and Fresno counties, said in a statement Sunday that they welcome Trump’s order. The district is one of the nation’s largest, controlling more than 600,000 acres of farmland and has historically wielded significant political influence.

“The challenges that he highlights are real, and his leadership in addressing the barriers to water delivery are welcomed,” said the district’s leadership. “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.”

Salmon populations have declined so severely that commercial and recreational salmon fishing have been banned in California for two straight years — with a third year expected, too.

Environmental groups are likely to sue if federal agencies override the Endangered Species Act when setting rules that control how much water is delivered via the Central Valley Project or State Water Project.

If implemented, said the California Water Policy Network, Trump’s order will devastate the largest estuary in the western continental U.S. to the benefit of a small number of agribusiness enterprises in the Central Valley.

“California’s water system is already biased towards wealthy corporate agriculture,” said Max Gomberg, a leader of the network. “If enacted, these policies would destroy the lives and livelihoods of Delta farmers, Delta communities, commercial fishing and tribes. They would also raise water costs for Southern California communities already devastated by wildfire.”

This story was originally published January 27, 2025 at 12:24 PM.