Environmental critics say mandate echoes Trump’s, which they call an ‘attack’ on fish and the ecosystem.
By Ian James
Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order that he says is intended to “maximize” the capture of water during winter storms.
Newsom issued the order Friday, saying it will make it easier to divert and store water as storms bring rain and snow in the coming days.
“It is more important than ever that we maximize every opportunity to recharge our groundwater supplies,” Newsom said. “As we anticipate rain and snow in Northern California, we are also preparing to use every last drop to boost our water supply for communities and farms throughout the state.”
Click Here to Subscribe to the California Political Review
Environmental and fishing groups, however, denounced Newsom’s order as being alarmingly similar to federal directives from President Trump, saying the governor’s approach threatens to harm vulnerable fish species and the deteriorating ecosystem of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
“This order reads as though it was written by President Trump,” said Barry Nelson, a policy representative for the fishing group Golden State Salmon Assn.
He said Newsom’s measure appears to mimic an executive order that Trump announced five days earlier in which he directed federal agencies to “maximize” water deliveries in California and “override” state policies if necessary.
“This reads as almost a carbon copy of that order,” Nelson said. “We call on the governor to stand up to protect California’s environment, not to assist in federal attacks.”
Representatives of water suppliers supported Newsom’s order.
The measures “empower California water managers to blunt the destructive impact of flooding while quickly diverting excess water to recharge groundwater supplies,” said Cathy Green, president of the Assn. of California Water Agencies.
Green said the order underlines the need to modernize “our permitting process to better reflect the state’s ability to remain flexible in the face of climate change.”
Newsom announced the order as the first of three atmospheric river storms reached the state, bringing rain and snow after an unusually dry January.
Newsom ordered the state Department of Water Resources to “maximize diversions of excess flows” during winter storms to store more water in reservoirs such as San Luis Reservoir, located south of the Delta near Los Banos. The order also calls for state agencies to “identify any obstacles that would hinder efforts to maximize diversions” and to promptly report on any “statutory or regulatory barriers that should be considered for suspension.”
State officials said Newsom’s order will make it easier for local agencies to capture more storm runoff to recharge groundwater, which has been depleted by overpumping in many areas. They said the order builds on previous directives by the governor in 2023 that helped increase the amount of water used to replenish groundwater.
By capturing more stormwater, Newsom said, “we are creating a literal rainy day fund to help us recover from a multiyear drought and prepare for our hotter, drier future.” His administration’s water supply strategy calls for preparing for a projected 10% decrease in the state’s supplies by 2040 because of climate change.
Trump has criticized California for what he calls “disastrous” policies and water “mismanagement.”
Conservation advocates said Newsom’s order reveals a similar approach to the president’s directives that they fear could lead to weaker protections for fish and clean water in the Delta and San Francisco Bay.
“This is a capitulation by Gov. Newsom to Donald Trump’s lawlessness and disdain for California, Californians and our environment,” said Jon Rosenfield, science director for the group San Francisco Baykeeper.
While Trump’s order sought to eviscerate federal environmental protections and undermine state law, Rosenfield said, Newsom similarly chose to “waive state laws that require protection of the Bay’s clean water and fish. As a result, we can expect the Bay’s fish and wildlife to continue to spiral towards oblivion.”
California’s two main water delivery systems in the Delta, the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project, deliver water to farmlands and about 30 million people.
Pumping has contributed to the ecological degradation of the Delta, where the fish species that are listed as threatened or endangered include steelhead trout, two types of Chinook salmon, longfin smelt, Delta smelt and green sturgeon.
Because of declining salmon populations, fisheries authorities have shut down the salmon fishing season on the California coast for the last two years, leaving commercial fishermen and charter boat captains out of work.
It is called caught with your pants down.
Think Slick, Weenie, and others have the backing of both Joe Public and money donors? Think again.
Rightfully so. The news conferences showed Slick, and Travel Africa, could not get major backers to be seen on camera after the failures are now open infected wounds.
It will be interesting to see how the Democrats/Socialists will spin this 6 months from now. The entire Democrat Party has been proven wrong. Will the short term memory problems of voters kick them out?
Gee, too little too late.
Agree with ensuring reservoirs are filled. Disagree with diverting ALL the NoCal water to the South–this will hurt the NoCal farmers and ruin the freshwater status of the Delta. Some compromise needs to be made to ensure survival of the salmon industry AND water distribution to the South. For example: significantly reduce the water allocations to those farmers who are growing rice or cotton–HUGE water supplies required, keeping the Central Valley flooded most of the Spring. Recognize this is a desert state and we can’t be growing crops as if we are Louisiana or Thailand. Use tax and financial incentives to grow less water-intensive crops; maybe we don’t need quite so many avocado farms.
I put out buckets, but who will haul them to Pacheco pass?