Trump Signs Order On California Water Projects

President Donald Trump on Friday ordered the government to speed up environmental reviews and streamline regulations that he says are hindering work on major water projects in California and other Western states.

Trump signed a memorandum aimed at helping the Central Valley Project and the California State Water Project in California, the Klamath Irrigation Project in Oregon and California and the Columbia River Basin system in the Pacific Northwest.

“We will resolve the issues blocking the completion of the Central Valley project,” Trump said in Arizona during a swing through Western states. “I hope you enjoy the water that you’re going to have.”

The announcement is a boost for endangered Republican lawmakers in California’s Central Valley facing tough challenges from Democrats looking to take control of the U.S. House.

But it is likely to inflame an ongoing battle in California over divvying up water between cities, farms and environmental needs like the protection of fish.

Farming interests have long pushed to raise Shasta Dam, which holds back California’s largest reservoir as part of the Central Valley Project, by more than 18 feet. The project is opposed by environmentalists who say it would harm threatened fish species and by the Winnemem Wintu tribe, which says it would flood sacred sites.

“This order stems from ignorance and election year pandering to wealthy Central Valley agribusiness interests,” said John Buse, legal director with the Center for Biological Diversity.

Buse said Trump does not understand complex water issues and ignores the need to protect the environment as well as farming and cities.

“Trump’s view that water is wasted if not used by agriculture or urban users is just idiotic,” he said.

Among other things, Trump’s memorandum orders separate federal agencies to consolidate their environmental reviews of California water projects and the Klamath Irrigation Project.

“From our standpoint, it’s really encouraging and we feel like we’re being listened to,” said Dan Keppen, executive director of the Family Farm Alliance in Klamath, Oregon.

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