uOrders from Donald Trump, billions of gallons of irrigation water have been discarded this month in California’s thirsty agricultural centre.
Water, stored in two reservoirs run by the Army Corps of Engineers, is an important source for many of the state’s vast and productive farms and ranches during the dry season of the year. This area will be especially important in the coming months as it is decorated for another cruelly hot summer with sparse supplies.
The reservoir is also one of the few that the US president can directly manage.
He gives weight to Trump’s widely debated claim that Flo may have helped Los Angeles during the devastating fire last month, and shows that he has some power in California waters. ordered the Army Corps to infiltrate the waterways. The water authorities reportedly were given less than an hour’s notice, as they rushed to prepare for their unexpected release.
The move is the latest in a series of misinformation attempts Trump has made to flow into California’s water war, adding new challenges and conflict to the state’s essential and increasingly rare water resources. . But now in what appears to be a political stunt, Trump has hit some of his strongest supporters. Many counties in rural California’s Central Valley (with many of the agricultural industry around $59 billion) supported Trump in the last election, forming a red strip in the heart of the Blue State.
“It’s almost daunting to see this happen,” said Thomas Holyoke, a political science and water expert at California State University in Fresno, calling the act a “silly failure.”
Experts who kept their head scratching in the aftermath found no justification for the order. Reservoirs do not have the risk of overflow and do not require irrigation during rainy winter months. Also, these releases did not support threatened ecosystems like the Joaquin Delta of Sacramento and San.
Some people suggest that the flow will help strengthen the groundwater store, but “but a lot of that water will evaporate,” Holyok said. “It’s just going to lose water – and they know that.”
“Purely stunts”
Release from these reservoirs is usually well planned as they comply with a contract between a set of stakeholders and close coordination between federal and local officials. The success of Lake Caware and Lake is part of a vast network of channels that are two reservoirs in Tulea County, which do not connect to the aqueduct that flows into the ocean or serves the southern part of the state.
The water held within them is also mainly talked about. Its distribution is not very controversial.
But it appears Trump saw it differently.
“Everyone should be satisfied with this long battle victory!” he wrote in a post about the true society of the day the release was ordered, and he said he had 5.2 billion gallons of water flow along with pictures of the waterways that were not described. He said he boasted about opening.
Local governments who acted quickly were able to persuade federal officials to reduce the total to the 2 billion they released over three days.
But Trump’s rhetoric on the issue remains the same. He was responsible for his ability to direct it, including the claim that he sent US troops in the aftermath of a fatal fire, where his ability to direct it, the water supply was born and distributed. He issued several false statements, including his clear misunderstandings about whether. And an indication to a simple valve that he can turn to control the water supply.
He once again thanked the Army Corps of Engineers. (sic)”, says water “towards Los Angeles with farmers throughout the state.”
“These releases were absolutely nothing to do in Los Angeles,” said Gregory Pierce, a water policy expert and director of UCLA Water Resources Group. “This was purely a stunt so Trump could say he did something and freed the water.”
Few people are willing to warn the administration for action. He hopes to support Trump and that he will support farming in the area.
“I have a conservative mindset. Zack Stuller, farmer and president of the Tulare County Farm Bureau, encourages trigger-punching attitudes like, “Hey, let’s do it a bit.”
The Bureau declined to comment to the Guardian, but sent a unified statement from the four water management associations and districts, which sought to understand the mysterious and dangerous release. In it, they said that “close coordination between the administration and the Army Corps of Engineers will continue.”
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Some locals who said they were deeply concerned about the act said they were afraid they would speak up as their business might be targeted by government supporters .
Trump continues to frame his actions as evidence that he controlled California water, but Pierce says he has no control over many of the state’s water policies.
“Of course, the federal government is a water issue in California, but not that much,” he said. That’s why Trump ordered a release where he could, even if it wasn’t related to the overall issue he claimed to be dealing with. The federal government plays a role in funding big projects, but “California has been left on the island for quite some time in terms of federal support,” he said.
Trump has sought to cite more control through fundraising, particularly as states rely on the federal government to help in the aftermath of the Los Angeles wildfires. It is now believed to have one of the most expensive natural disasters in history and estimates of damages exceeding $250 billion. .
Trump cast California Gov. Gavin Newsom as his opponent in the matter, but when it comes to water, he boosts it more specifically for cities and agriculture, and the two are already on the same page. It might be.
The state recently issued a fact-check on Trump’s claims, criticizing him for spreading misinformation, but highlighted how supply has increased since Trump’s first term.
Environmental advocates have long criticized the communication of the Delta. The Delta transmission is a controversial infrastructure project defended by Newsom to reroute more water to the south, and could gain even more momentum under President Trump.
“The governor is actually in line with Trump on this and I think Trump has just recently come to terms with it,” Pierce said. “The cards are certainly stacked.
That doesn’t mean that Trump’s misleading rhetoric doesn’t leave any confusion.
“President Trump has failed this complex situation and has no idea what efforts will be made to understand how it works,” Holyoke said.
“California is trying to achieve a delicate balance,” he adds, and as residents, the agriculture industry and the world warms and supplies shortens, the challenging and stratified as the decline of the agriculture industry and ecosystems is on the rise. The issues were detailed.
“The valley farmers are hurt by water reductions, and there is no doubt about that,” Holyok said. “The answer is not to throw aside all laws and court orders and throw lots of water on farmers. We have an ingenious way to make the most of the water we have. You need to find it.”
