President Trump’s Executive Order
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Policy. For weeks, residents of the Los Angeles area have watched raging fires consume their homes, belongings, beloved pets, and childhood memories. Almost immediately, firefighters were unable to fight the blaze due to dry hydrants, empty reservoirs, and inadequate water infrastructure. Today, at least 28 people have lost their lives and thousands more have lost everything else, with some damage estimates calculating hundreds of billions of dollars in damage.
This tragedy affects the entire Nation, so it is in the Nation’s interest to ensure that California has what it needs to prevent and fight these fires and others in the future. Therefore, it is the policy of the United States to provide Southern California with necessary water resources, notwithstanding actively harmful State or local policies. And it is the policy of the United States to assist Americans in disaster areas through responsive policies that more effectively empower them to rebuild and regain their livelihoods.
Sec. 2. Overriding Disastrous California Policies. (a) The Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Agriculture shall expeditiously take all measures, consistent with all applicable authorities, to ensure adequate water resources in Southern California. Each shall report to me within 15 days on all authorities, including emergency authorities, available to ensure, require, maintain, or use infrastructure necessary to fight and prevent massive wildfires in Southern California.
(b) In particular, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce shall immediately take actions to override existing activities that unduly burden efforts to maximize water deliveries. The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce shall consider actions including those consistent with the “No Action Alternative” in the Final Environmental Impact Statement issued November 15, 2024, by the Bureau of Reclamation on Long-term Operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project.
(c) The Secretary of the Interior, including through the Bureau of Reclamation, shall utilize his discretion to operate the CVP to deliver more water and produce additional hydropower, including by increasing storage and conveyance, and jointly operating federal and state facilities, to high-need communities, notwithstanding any contrary State or local laws. The Bureau of Reclamation shall take all available measures to ensure that State agencies — including the California Department of Water Resources — do not interfere with the Bureau of Reclamation’s operation of the project to maximize water delivery to high-need communities or otherwise, including but not limited to the issuance of a new Record of Decision maximizing water deliveries and consistent with the 2020 Record of Decision.
(d) In accordance with section 6 of the Executive Order of January 20, 2025 (Declaring a National Energy Emergency), the Secretary of the Interior, through the Bureau of Reclamation, and in accordance with section 1536 of title 16 United States Code, shall expedite action related to any exemption under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq., for the Long-Term Operation of the CVP and the State Water Project for all applicable threatened and endangered species.
(e) The Secretary of the Interior shall promptly review, revise, or rescind any regulations or procedures specific to implementation of section 1536 of title 16 United States Code, as needed and consistent with applicable law, to conform with the plain meaning of the statute.
(f) The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce shall identify all ongoing or potential major water-supply and storage projects within the State of California for which they have joint responsibility under the ESA or individual responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.
(g) For each such project identified under subsection (f), the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce shall each designate one federal official to coordinate each agency’s respective NEPA and ESA compliance responsibilities. Within 30 days from the date of this order, each designated official shall identify any regulatory hurdles that unduly burden each respective water project, identify any recent changes in state or Federal law that may impact such projects from a regulatory perspective (including Public Law 118-5), and shall develop a proposed plan, for review by the Secretaries, to appropriately suspend, revise, or rescind any regulations or procedures that unduly burden such projects and are not necessary to protect the public interest or otherwise comply with the law. In so doing, each designated federal official will coordinate and share all appropriate information that will enable improved efficiencies. For the purposes of this order, “unduly burden” means to unnecessarily obstruct, delay, curtail, impede or otherwise impose significant costs on the permitting, utilization, transmission, delivery, or supply of water resources and water infrastructure.
Sec. 3. Ending the Subsidization of California’s Mismanagement. (a) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) shall review all Federal programs, projects, and activities for all relevant agencies that impact land management, water availability, water supply, water storage and delivery, water infrastructure, and disaster preparedness and response.
(b) Within 30 days of the date of this order, to ensure that State and local jurisdictions promote sensible land management practices and reliable water supply for all Americans, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Commerce shall jointly report to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, regarding California State and local policies or practices inconsistent with sound disaster prevention and response.
(c) The Director of OMB, in consultation with the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, shall recommend appropriate action to the President, regarding:
(i) any lack of compliance by California with the terms of existing Federal grants, contracts, or other financial assistance to States or localities; and
(ii) beneficial additional terms that may be added with respect to any future Federal programs, projects, or activities to ensure sound disaster prevention and response.
Sec. 4. Additional Actions to Help Los Angeles Families. (a) Housing Displaced Families. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the Secretary of Homeland Security, through the Administrator of FEMA, shall expeditiously provide an Integrated Federal Housing Strategy and Implementation Plan to the Director of OMB and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs that expedites options for housing relief to survivors displaced by wildfires in California.
(b) Expediting Waste Removal. Within 5 days from the date of this order, to accelerate the rebuilding of areas devastated by the recent Los Angeles wildfires, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, through the Administrator of FEMA, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall develop and execute a plan to expedite the bulk removal of contaminated and general debris.
(c) Effectively Using Grants to Improve Fire Preparedness. The Secretary of Homeland Security, through the Administrator of FEMA, shall immediately implement a plan to enable the timely and appropriate use of Federal preparedness grants for the City of Los Angeles. As of the date of this order, the city has yet to use the majority of its $213 million allotment that has accrued since fiscal year 2021. These Federal preparedness grants shall not be used to support illegal aliens. The Attorney General, in coordination with the FEMA Administrator, shall investigate the misuse of these grants by the City of Los Angeles and take appropriate action to address such misuse.
Sec. 5. Additional Actions to Help North Carolina Families. (a) Clearing Roads. To accelerate rebuilding and community recovery, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the Administrator of FEMA, and the Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall immediately take all necessary and appropriate measures, including through direct assistance, loans, and other available means, to expedite roadway clearance or rebuilding, including the section of Interstate 40 in North Carolina that remains closed, and the repair or rebuilding of roads and bridges on private property in areas of North Carolina affected by Hurricane Helene.
(b) Housing Displaced Families. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the Secretary of Homeland Security, through the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall immediately provide an Integrated Federal Housing Strategy and Implementation Plan to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs that expedites options for housing relief to survivors displaced by Hurricane Helene.
Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
Reactions to the Executive Order …
Note: Arranged in alphabetical order
California Water Impact Network
President Donald Trump characterized his recent executive order to override U.S. Endangered Species Act protections and “route more water” from the embattled Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to Southern California as a matter of prioritizing people over a tiny and worthless fish – the endangered Delta Smelt.
But nothing could be farther from the truth. If implemented, Trump’s order will punish a broad array of stakeholders and devastate the largest and richest estuary in the western continental United States – all for the benefit of a few powerful agribusiness enterprises in the Central Valley.
“California’s water system is already biased towards wealthy corporate agriculture,” said Max Gomberg, a water policy expert and board member of the California Water Impact 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 devasted by wildfire.”
Gomberg said there is enough water in California for all reasonable needs, and that ratepayers and taxpayers must hold legislators, policy makers and regulators to account. That includes rejection of the Delta Tunnel, the ruinously expensive water conveyance system pushed by Governor Gavin Newsom that would sacrifice the Delta, its farming community, ratepayer interests and North State fisheries to deliver more water to San Joaquin Valley growers.
“It’s ironic that Governor Newsom and President Trump are mortal political enemies, but they see eye-to-eye on California’s unjust water policies,” said Carolee Krieger, C-WIN’s executive director. “The old saw that ‘water flows to money and power’ remains as true today as ever. C-WIN is working toward a better vision for California water, one that provides enough water for our environment, sustainable farming, and efficient urban use. We call on Californians and our state leaders to reject the hate and destruction and work with us to realize a healthy water future.”
Center for Biological Diversity
It’s just idiotic to keep scapegoating endangered salmon and smelt and fixate on gutting the Endangered Species Act when it had nothing to do with the L.A. wildfires,” said Kierán Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s sickening to see this pointless attack on California’s water management. And it’s disgusting that Trump is still threatening to hold desperately relief funds hostage. This order allows the lead Project 2025 author and incoming director of the Office of Management and Budget to potentially indefinitely withhold all federal financial assistance to California over perceived disagreements on immigration policies or other extreme MAGA ideas. We won’t stand by and watch this lawless president blatantly disregard the safeguards that protect both people and the environment.”
The order empowers Project 2025 co-author Russell Vought, who was tapped by Trump in November to serve as OMB director — even though candidate Trump said Project 2025 (a far-right plan to gut the federal government) was “absolutely ridiculous.
EarthJustice
President Trump issued an executive order directing his administration to take several actions that would imperil endangered species in California to benefit the state’s highest water users. This included invoking a provision under the Endangered Species Act that empowers a committee comprised of the president’s own appointees to decide the fate of an endangered species. This extinction committee would have the power to greenlight controversial projects that prioritize special interests, even at the cost of wiping out an entire species.
Bypassing the endangered listing status of the nearly extinct delta smelt and other threatened species would allow Trump to satisfy longstanding industry desires to route more water out of the San Francisco Bay Delta, despite the ecological consequences to the West Coast’s largest estuary.
Trump falsely claimed that the order would replenish water shortages for firefighting efforts in Southern California, where reservoirs have been “generally full of water” since the start of the year, according to water experts.
Earthjustice president Abigail Dillen responded with the following statement: “Instead of providing relief that Californians desperately need right now to recover from deadly wildfires, President Trump is using this tragedy as an excuse to bypass the Endangered Species Act. This directive would strip away critical protections for vulnerable species in order to benefit special interests. The reality is the law still applies to this administration and if they break the law when trying to implement this order, we will look forward to seeing them in court.”
Friant Water Authority
The Friant Water Authority applauds President Trump’s longstanding commitment to addressing California’s water challenges, reaffirmed today during his visit to Southern California. His significant announcements regarding water operations, priorities, and regulations highlight his unwavering dedication to supporting the livelihoods of California’s farmers, families, and communities.
President Trump has consistently demonstrated bold leadership in tackling the policies and regulatory obstacles that have hindered reliable water delivery across the state. His commitment to streamline operations, reduce unnecessary barriers, and prioritize practical solutions has brought renewed hope to the Central Valley and beyond.
For too long, outdated regulations and misaligned priorities have left our fields dry and our communities struggling. President Trumps announcement in Southern California underscores his dedication to fixing these issues and delivering durable solutions for the hardworking families and agricultural communities who are the backbone of California’s economy.
The Friant Water Authority thanks President Trump for his leadership and his unwavering support for ensuring that water is available for the people who depend on it most. His focus on California’s water future will undoubtedly make a lasting impact, providing a path forward for sustainable agriculture and thriving communities.
We stand ready to work alongside the administration to implement these priorities and ensure that water is a resource for growth and prosperity in California.
Friends of the River
President Trump’s decision to use the need for disaster relief for Los Angeles wildlife victims to force through unrelated California water management policies is not only wrong, it’s surreal. None of the actions he’s proposing to overrule state and federal law would have made a difference in preventing or fighting the wildfires. Southern California reservoirs have plenty of water stored, and protections for endangered species constitute a very small portion of the state’s overall water budget. Local infrastructure and high winds were the challenges, not water policy. Instead, implementing the President’s wish list – rolling back environmental protections, preempting state laws, streamlining inefficient and expensive dams and other projects – will dewater California rivers, promote toxic algal blooms, cause a number of native species to go extinct – not just Delta smelt, but salmon, steelhead and sturgeon – and the biggest winners would be corporate agribusinesses in the San Joaquin Valley, not the people living in the fire-prone areas. This exploitation of a humanitarian crisis to impose misinformed and destructive policies on California is an insult to the state’s residents and the victims of the wildfires.
Congressman Jared Huffman
“President Trump has wasted no time in abusing his power by capitalizing on a crisis to advance the GOP’s longstanding goals of decimating environmental protections and putting special interests over the needs of everyday Americans. With the stroke of a pen, Trump has chosen to undermine critically important safeguards and a whole host of community needs regarding the largest and most complex water operations in the world,” said Ranking Member Jared Huffman.
“Do not be fooled by Trump’s lies: none of the policies in this executive order will move even a single drop of extra water to communities devastated by these wildfires. This administration is presenting us with a false choice. Fishers, farmers, treasured species, and every water user all depend on our water resources – we do not have to pick winners or losers. This is a blatant, shameless move to shoehorn Republican donors’ unpopular pet issues into the national conversation and pull a bait and switch on desperate Californians.
“Families in Southern California have lost everything. The president should be focusing on convincing his allies in Congress to provide Los Angeles the assistance it desperately needs as soon as possible and free from conditions. Instead, he is doubling down on conditioning aid to California with unrelated demands. These actions by the Trump administration mark a low point for cooperative water management for all Californians, people, and wildlife.”
Los Angeles Waterkeeper
Today President Trump plans to visit the Los Angeles region to see firsthand the devastation caused by massive, climate-driven wildfires across broad swaths of the city. The President has indicated he plans to issue an unprecedented executive order that conditions providing emergency aid to Angelenos on the State of California making changes to completely unrelated water management policies. In response to expected the issuance of this executive order, Bruce Reznik, executive director of LA Waterkeeper, released the following statement:
“By now, it has been well reported that there was plenty of water available in Southern California at the time these fires broke out and that the President’s proposed solutions for improving water security in our region are impractical and based on a faulty understanding of the state’s water system. If President Trump were truly interested in improving water security in Los Angeles, the executive order would call for more investments to improve the region’s resilience. More money spent on wastewater recycling, stormwater capture, groundwater cleanup, and conservation would prepare us for the future. Sending more water to Central Valley agriculture will not.
“Every American should be clear about what the president is doing here: In a time of extreme crisis and tragedy, he is using this emergency to line the pockets of his wealthy benefactors – in this case, industrial agricultural producers in the San Joaquin Valley – at the expense of the rest of us. Water is a big business in California, and it’s no surprise that this president is focused on further enriching the rich rather than meeting the needs of everyday Californians.”
Restore the Delta
President Trump issued Executive Orders on Friday that will have devastating consequences for California’s water future, public health, and environmental protections, threatening a federal takeover of California’s right to manage its land and waters. The President’s orders conflate fire prevention needs with water operations in California all based on the myth that water operations for environmental protections had any impact on water infrastructure used in the Los Angeles fires. These orders prioritize corporate water interests, primarily corporate and hedge-fund farms growing water intensive cash crops in the San Joaquin Valley like almonds, at the expense of Delta communities’ health and economy, Native American Tribes, the California fishing industry. It hastens the destruction of Central Valley rivers and collapse of the San Francisco Bay-Delta ecosystems, favoring corporate agricultural interests over Southern California water users recovering from devastating fires.
The Implications of these Executive Orders include:
- Invocation of the “God Squad“: The God Squad exemption in the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) could be deployed on the Delta’s imperiled fish and several other species, exempting federal Central Valley Project (CVP) water operations from protecting them in the future and rendering any ESA protections nonexistent. Overriding environmental protections serves to extract more water from the already-collapsing Bay-Delta estuary, which will exacerbate toxic algae blooms and risk the health of four million Delta residents.
- Creates a Federal Mandate for Raising Shasta Dam and the Delta Conveyance Project: The plan to raise Shasta Dam will destroy sacred sites of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, violate state laws, and harm native fish and wildlife. The Delta Conveyance Project will destroy the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas. Will potentially cut other programs for fish and migratory birds.
- Elimination of Other Federal Protections: Calls or the elimination of federal requirements that “impose significant costs” on permitting and water deliveries. This could include eliminating clean water, public safety, waterfowl protection and salmon restoration programs. This amounts to an “extinction plan” for California’s billion-dollar commercial salmon industry, already reeling from closures and $1 billion in economic losses over the past two years.
- Central Valley Project (CVP) and State Water Project (SWP) Operations: Will control operations of both the state and federal water projects without any protections for California rivers or the Bay-Delta estuary, leaving seven endangered species in peril and threatening water quality for millions of Bay-Delta residents.
- Exempting CVP and SWP Operations from California Endangered Species Act (CESA): Overrides safeguards of the California Endangered Species Act for state and federal water operations.
- Water Storage: May fast-track expensive and inefficient dam and Delta Conveyance construction projects that have been challenged, overriding protections for fish, ecosystems, and communities; prioritize maximizing reservoir capacity, halting dam removal or modification efforts; roll back regulations that safeguard water resources under the guise of ensuring water security for farms and urban areas.
- More to come: Orders a prompt rewrite of some regulations that implement the federal Endangered Species Act, all over the country.
“These executive orders are a direct assault on the health and economic vitality of Delta communities. By diverting water away from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and prioritizing storage and conveyance projects, this policy threatens to degrade our water quality, leading to increased pollution and health risks for residents, and also destroying our local economies,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director with Restore the Delta. “Governor Newsom must resist this federal overreach and stand firm for California’s water protections. Capitulating to Trump-era water policies would prioritize profits for industrial agriculture and foreign entities over the health, safety, and livelihoods of Californians.”
These Executive Orders come on the heels of the wildfire emergency in Los Angeles. In the last two weeks, Trump has falsely claimed that Delta water protections cause water shortages and exacerbate wildfires. Experts overwhelmingly agree that Southern California’s water challenges stem from climate-driven drought and infrastructure constraints—not protections for fish or the Delta. Despite this, Trump has used this misinformation as the foundation for his attack on California water policy. The result threatens to irreversibly damage the largest estuary on the West Coast, destroy sacred sites, and marginalize sovereign and state-recognized California tribes.
“Our people and the waters they depend on are under extreme threat. Fish and plants that are integral to our culture and our traditional food sources are endangered. We will not stand by while the Trump Administration attacks our ways of life and we call upon California’s elected and appointed officials to oppose these vile and unprecedented actions to destroy our culture and environment,” said Malissa Tayaba, Vice-Chair, Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians.
President Trump is trying to strip Tribal members of birthright citizenship; and he is trying to drown the Winnemem Wintu people with the raising of Shasta Dam,” said Gary Mulcahy, Government Liaison for Winnemem Wintu Tribe.
Governor Newsom faces a critical decision: uphold California’s environmental protections and public health or capitulate to Trump-era water policies that prioritize corporate profits over people. Standing firm means safeguarding the Bay-Delta, honoring commitments to Indigenous sovereignty, and protecting millions from the impacts of ecological collapse. Capitulation would undermine decades of progress, deepen inequality for frontline and tribal communities, and align California with regressive policies that harm the environment and public trust. This moment will define California’s leadership in sustainability and justice
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS FROM SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA GROUPS:
“The linkage of wildfires in Los Angeles with California water policy is coherent in one sense only: it leverages a crisis to advance a radical conservative agenda. Today, it’s a radical assault on every duck, frog, and fish in the West, and on every body of water they live in. It’s also an attack on all the people who live near and depend on the West’s rivers, ponds, marshes, lakes, bays, and seas,” said Chris Shutes, Executive Director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.
“Conflating the health of the Bay-Delta in northern California with the catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles is not only factually inaccurate, it’s dangerous as it does nothing to address the underlying causes of the wildfire crisis – including climate change. Today’s announcement by the new administration demonstrates both a severe misunderstanding of water management and a blatant disregard for the needs of imperiled wildlife. Communities like Altadena and Palisades desperately need aid, not more political posturing that ignores science and continues to fan the flames of climate change,” said Ashley Overhouse, Water Policy Advisor, Defenders of Wildlife.
“President Trump’s decision to use the need for disaster relief for Los Angeles wildlife victims to force through unrelated California water management policies is not only wrong, it’s surreal. None of the actions he’s taking to overrule state law would have made a difference in preventing or fighting the wildfires. Southern California reservoirs have plenty of water stored, and protections for endangered species constitute a very small portion of the state’s overall water budget. Instead, implementing the President’s wish list will dewater California rivers, promote toxic algal blooms, cause a number of native species to go extinct – not just Delta smelt, but salmon, steelhead and sturgeon – and the biggest winners would be corporate agribusinesses in the San Joaquin Valley, not the people living in the fire-prone areas. This exploitation of a humanitarian crisis to impose misinformed and destructive policies in California is an insult to the state’s residents and the victims of the wildfires,” said Gary Bobker, Program Director of Friends of the River.
There is no connection between ongoing efforts to fight southern California’s urban wildfires and protections for northern California’s water quality and imperiled wildlife. President Trump is deliberately misinforming people about the causes of Los Angeles’s catastrophic fires to distract from his real goal, which is to divert more water to wealthy corporate cattle ranches and nut farms. Ultimately, environmental laws protect people and communities. Increasing water diversions beyond levels that are already unsustainable will harm communities that rely on San Francisco Bay’s water quality and fisheries. We call on Governor Newsom to help the people of Los Angeles recover, quickly, while defending California’s waters, wildlife, and vulnerable communities from the Trump’s radical anti-environmental agenda,” said Jon Rosenfield, Ph.D., Science Director for San Francisco Baykeeper.
“Two consecutive salmon season closures, tens of thousands of fishermen and women out of work, fishing businesses closed, toxic algal blooms, temperature-polluted rivers, and millions of baby salmon killed before they even have a chance to reach the ocean – that’s the reality of the Bay-Delta watershed today. Let’s make it clear that water for fish is water for people and jobs. The lack of action to save salmon and protect the health of the Bay-Delta watershed and its communities is simply a way to facilitate a joint state and federal water grab. It’s unfortunate that this precedent means the fourteen most terrifying words for fishermen and anyone who relies on this ecosystem are: I’m from the state and federal government, and I’m here to help the Delta. I call on Governor Newsom to finally stand up and fight for California’s Bay-Delta watershed and salmon fishing jobs. Frankly, the Governor’s agencies failed to do that last time,” said Scott Artis, Executive Director of Golden State Salmon Association.
“Eliminating Delta water quality protections will not help people recover from the fires in Southern California or fight them in the future, and it will most definitely not help with the local water infrastructure we need for emergency protections including drought, flood and fire. It will take away water from Southern California people for unsustainable almond exports for big ag interests supporting Trump,” said Bruce Reznick, Executive Director of LA Waterkeeper.
“It is deeply concerning to see a critical moment for displaced wildfire survivors in Los Angeles exploited to attack the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The urgent need for wildfire aid and the need for sustainable water management are distinct issues, yet they are being conflated to pit communities against one another. Even if the Delta is sacrificed, natural resources will still flow to industrial-scale agriculture, leaving vulnerable communities on the losing end as climate disasters increase displacement. Urban areas like South Stockton will endure severe heat waves, toxic algae-polluted waterways, and year-round exposure to high levels of PM2.5. California must reject harmful environmental rollbacks that deepen inequity and exacerbate the climate crisis,” said Gloria Alonso Cruz, Environmental Justice Advocacy Coordinator with Little Manila Rising.
“There is no way to describe the pain these Executive Orders will cause in California — not just for the environment but for Tribes, environmental justice communities, fishing communities, and future generations. The harmful narrative that water is being wasted or that we do not have the best interest of all Californians in mind when participating in environmental processes is purposefully divisive. Tribes and other communities have been working together for years to find solutions that are sustainable and equitable, and it is disheartening to see such harmful actions being taken that will impact California’s Tribal communities. These orders taken in conjunction with the myriad of actions taken this week show that Trump intends to attack the environment in any way that he can. California has always been a leader in environmental protection and these executive orders are a giant leap backwards for our state. California has been placed on the chopping block and Governor Newsom must do everything he can to protect our beautiful state and all who live here,” said Kasil Willie, Staff Attorney of Save California Salmon.
“President Trump’s conflation of wildfire recovery with releasing more water from the Delta is a shameful political stunt that will threaten the safety and livelihood of millions of Californians. This comes on the heels of Trump’s Executive Order urging agencies to route more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which would cause the unsustainable depletion of water from an already failing ecosystem to be used for mostly large-scale agricultural purposes. Trump’s water policy is closely aligned with Governor Newsom’s, who wants to promote the $20 billion Delta Tunnel to draw even more water from the Delta. These policies would have severe consequences for local Delta communities, Tribes, fishermen, and endangered species. Sierra Club California strongly opposes Trump and Newsom’s environmentally destructive water policy, and we’ll be fighting to stop them in the courts and at the relevant state agencies. Sierra Club California and our allies will continue to push for adoption of local, sustainable water sources that will create shovel ready local jobs while protecting the Delta’s communities and threatened ecosystems,” said Caty Wagner, Sierra Club California Water Campaign Manager.
“The Trump Administration is leveraging the crisis endured by tens of thousands in fire-stricken communities in Los Angeles to undermine Delta Tribes and communities grappling with environmental justice and public health crises. By framing water policy as a zero-sum game and pitting communities against each other—the Administration isn’t solving problems—it’s deepening divisions and endangering millions while flouting the law. This isn’t about helping wildfire victims or addressing drought; it’s about dismantling environmental protections and exploiting the state’s most vulnerable communities for corporate gain. For nearly a century, California law has required maintaining adequate flows in the Delta to preserve water quality and ecological integrity, ensuring that all residents—including Tribal Nations and disadvantaged communities—can rely on this critical watershed for their health, safety, and livelihoods. We can, and Governor Newsom must, demand solutions that protect everyone,” said Terra Baer, Certified Student Attorney, Yale Environmental Justice Law and Advocacy Clinic on behalf of the Delta Tribal Environmental Coalition
San Luis-Delta Mendota Water Authority
“We thank the President for his continued focus on highlighting issues of water supply reliability for the people and communities in California,” said Federico Barajas, Executive Director of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority. “We look forward to working with the Administration on a path forward to implement the Order in a way that will improve water supply reliability for the communities, farms, and ecosystems reliant on water from the Water Authority’s member agencies.”
State Water Contractors
Jennifer Pierre, General Manager, writes, “The State Water Contractors appreciate President Trump’s support for our California water users. As stewards of more than half of California’s water supply, managing water that serves one in twelve Americans, our focus is always on working toward a stronger and more resilient water future for our cities, farms and environment.
California’s current set of water delivery regulations are guided by real-time science to maximize water supplies and deliveries for all users in compliance with the law and based on the best available information.
This real-time, data-driven approach has been successful and is a huge step forward from where we used to be as a state. But we can still do more. The State Water Contractors welcome ongoing coordination with state and federal leaders to ensure continued improvements in water reliability through the water system.
California’s water infrastructure is vast and sophisticated, but it is also outdated. Our aging infrastructure directly impacts California’s ability to deliver and store water at the times and in the volumes needed. Projects like delta conveyance, addressing subsidence and improving our storage capacity will give California, and especially southern California, the resiliency it needs.
We look forward to working with partners at all levels of government to better understand the recent Executive Order and January 20 Memo in order to work together to modernize our infrastructure and benefit all users.”
Westlands Water District
President Trump’s Executive Order regarding water resource in California ensures that the needs of the people of California, including family farmers and San Joaquin Valley communities, are duly and appropriately considered.
Westlands Water District thanks President Trump for his attention to California’s ongoing water crisis. The challenges that he highlights are real, and his leadership in addressing the barriers to water delivery are welcomed. 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.
“We appreciate President Trump’s readiness to address these issues head-on and look forward to collaborating with federal and state partners to bring common sense back to the Food Basket of the United States,” remarked Allison Febbo, General Manager of Westlands.
