President Trump frequently blamed the devastating wildfires in Southern California on what he claimed was a shortage of water being provided from the northern portion of the state and promised to address the issue.
He shared an announcement on Friday that featured a picture of a river in motion, referring to it as the “beautiful water flow that I just opened in California.”
He gave the Army Corps of Engineers an executive order to open the floodgates at two dams on Tulare County reservoirs.
In a statement issued from Washington, D.C., the Corps “Consistent with the Executive Order…the US Army Corps of Engineers is releasing water from Terminus Dam at Lake Kaweah and Schafer Dam at Lake Success to ensure California has water available to respond to the wildfires.”
However, there are some issues with that.
“Apparently, Mr. Trump felt that that was going to help Southern California,” Barry Nelson, a water consultant, stated. First of all, Southern California is not connected to those rivers. Southern California will not receive that water. Second, the Corps was storing the water for farmers to use for irrigation the next season. The only benefit of releasing it now, while it’s raining, is that it raises the very real possibility of flooding.
Nelson is upset about this for his own reasons. Due to the startlingly low amount of Chinook salmon left in the wild, members of the Golden State Salmon Association, of which he is a policy consultant, have been unable to go fishing for the past two years.
“California salmon are right now at one of the most disastrous points they’ve been at, certainly in human history,” Nelson stated. “We’ve now gone to a point where many of our most important salmon runs are on the brink of extinction.”
According to fishermen, in order for salmon to thrive during the dry months, rivers must have higher flows. This time, the farmers are likewise dissatisfied with the water releases, despite the fact that they often compete with Central Valley agriculture for water.
“After examining it, the agricultural community asks, ‘What is going on here?’ According to Nelson, that water was being stored so that farmers could grow crops the following season. “Releasing water now only does one thing: puts people at risk from flooding.”
Nelson worries that this billion-gallon water waste will serve as a preview of the resource management that the nation may anticipate over the next four years.
“California has the most complex plumbing system on the planet,” he stated. “It is not an easy task to perform. Furthermore, you end up making extremely poor choices if you believe it to be easy and give others instructions on what appear to be straightforward choices.
More than five billion gallons of water would be released within three days of the dams being opened, according to President Trump’s proclamation. Nelson stated that he thinks the Army Corps of Engineers must understand the futility of releasing water at this time. However, he believes they were just carrying out their Commander in Chief’s orders as a part of the U.S. military.
“What’s interesting here is that this experience with this just dumb release of water — that didn’t benefit anybody and threatened public safety — shows that expertise actually matters when you’re running big complicated systems,” Nelson stated. “We’ll see if anyone in Washington D.C. is listening to that lesson.”
Eliot Pierce is a dedicated writer for ChiefsFocus.com, covering local crime and finance news. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, Eliot aims to provide his readers with clear and insightful analysis, helping them navigate the complexities of their financial lives while staying informed about important local events. His commitment to delivering accurate and engaging content makes him a valuable resource for the community.