Trump Announces Military to California, Uses Emergency Powers to ‘Turn on the Water’ from Pacific Northwest

National Guard diverting pedestrians and cyclists from entering Pacific Palisades and Pacific Coast Highway during the Palisade Fire, January 19, 2025. Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California
BREITBART | Published January 28, 2025

President Donald Trump announced on Monday night he sent the military to California and used his emergency powers to increase water flow from the Pacific Northwest.

The president made his announcement from his Truth Social account.

“The United States Military just entered the Great State of California and, under Emergency Powers, TURNED ON THE WATER flowing abundantly from the Pacific Northwest, and beyond. The days of putting a Fake Environmental argument, over the PEOPLE, are OVER. Enjoy the water, California!!!” he said.

However, shortly after the president’s announcement, the California Department of Water Resources said the military did not enter California, adding the water supplies “remain plentiful.”

“The military did not enter California,” the department shared on X.

“The federal government restarted federal water pumps after they were offline for maintenance for three days. State water supplies in Southern California remain plentiful.”

The announcement came after the president said he would assert more federal government control over water management in California in the wake of the devastating wildfires that burned over 15,000 structures in the Pacific Palisades, Altadena, and Pasadena – one of the most destructive fires in California history, rivaled only by the Camp Fire in 2019. Per Bloomberg:

The actions — enshrined in an executive order that was published Sunday but dated Friday — came as Trump visited California to examine devastation from the wildfires ravaging Los Angeles and after days of withering criticism of the state’s response to the blazes.

The order builds on Trump’s day-one declaration that the US is in the grip of an energy emergency by directing federal officials to expedite exemptions waiving protections under the Endangered Species Act for a complex of dams, reservoirs and other facilities that irrigate farmland across California’s Central Valley and supply water to millions of people.

Trump is also directing meetings of a committee of cabinet-level officials that can green light ventures even when the survival of a species is at stake. The panel, known informally as the “God Squad,” has met only a handful of times over the past four decades.

California’s water crisis has been largely spurred by environmental concerns, with advocates saying that withdrawals could potentially endanger habitats of various species, such as the delta smelt, Chinook salmon and steelhead trout. Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for California Governor Gavin Newsom, said the notable lack of water during the wildfires had nothing to do with environmental protections.

 

READ FULL ARTICLE

SOURCE: www.breitbart.com

RELATED: Trump: Military Has ‘Turned on the Water’ in Calif., State Denies Claim

NEWSMAX | Published January 28, 2025

President Donald Trump declared on social media that the military has entered California and “turned on the water” from the Pacific Northwest, but state officials are denying his claims.

“The United States Military just entered the Great State of California and, under Emergency Powers, TURNED ON THE WATER flowing abundantly from the Pacific Northwest, and beyond,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social page Monday night. “The days of putting a Fake Environmental argument, over the PEOPLE, are OVER. Enjoy the water, California!!!”

The California Department of Water Resources, however, responded on X that the “military did not enter California,” reports The Los Angeles Times.

“The federal government restarted federal water pumps after they were offline for maintenance for three days,” the agency said. “State water supplies in Southern California remain plentiful.”

Last week Trump signed an executive order that directed federal agencies to “maximize” water deliveries in California and to “override” state policies if needed.

Trump has accused Gov. Gavin Newsom of holding back water supplies in California, thus impeding the state’s response to the wildfires in Los Angeles. Last Friday, he said he wants to place conditions on disaster aid, calling for tightening voter requirements while increasing water supplies from Northern California, reports Politico.

Newsom and other state officials deny Trump’s claims and say there is plenty of water in Southern California.

“Water supply has not hindered firefighting efforts,” the Association of California Water Agencies said in a statement Monday, reports The Times. “Reservoirs in California are at or above average storage levels for this time of year, thanks in part to years of proactive water management.”

Trump’s order calls for an increase in the amount of water being pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and delivering more water through the federal Central Valley Projects.

The project is one of two systems of dams, aqueducts, and pumping facilities that send water from the Delta south. Trump in his order directed the federal Bureau of Reclamation to make sure that California agencies “do not interfere” with the water supply.

He also called on the federal government to throw out rules established by former President Joe Biden’s administration in December to establish rules for operating the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project, the state’s other water delivery system in the Central Valley.

The CVP ends, however, in the southern San Joaquin Valley near Bakersfield and does not reach Southern California’s urban areas, reports The Times.

The project sends water from the Delta to California’s farmlands.

Trump also indicated that he wants the water plan adopted during his first term in office, which the state challenged in court under the argument that it did not provide protections for several endangered species of fish.

 

READ FULL ARTICLE

SOURCE: www.newsmax.com

 

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply