CWIN: Trump's Executive Order on Delta Smelt Ignores the Law, Science and Water Equity

Losers: Ratepayers, Delta Farmers and the Environment. Winners: A Handful of Corporate Growers

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 River Delta to Southern California as a matter of prioritizing people over a tiny and worthless fish – the endangered Delta Smelt, according to a press release from the California Water Impact Network (C-WIN).

“But nothing could be farther from the truth,” C-WIN stated. “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  C-WIN. “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 devastated 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.”

On Monday, Jan. 27, Trump implied that his executive orders were already being hastily and aggressively carried out as he posted on Truth Social: “The United States Military just entered the Great State of California and, under Emergency Powers, TURNED ON THE WATER flowing abundantly from the Pacific Northwest and beyond. The days of putting a Fake Environmental argument, over the PEOPLE, are OVER. Enjoy the water, California!!!”

This prompted the California Department of Water Resources, or DWR, to tweet the following response.

“The military did not enter California,” DWR clarified. “The federal government restarted federal water pumps after they were offline for maintenance for three days. State water supplies in Southern California remain plentiful.”

The disinformation spouted off by Donald Trump was issued at a time when the Bay-Delta Estuary ecosystem is in its worst-ever crisis.

No Delta Smelt, an indicator species that has been villainized by Donald Trump and his corporate agribusiness allies, have been caught in the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Fall Midwater Trawl Survey in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta for the seventh year in a row.

Once the most abundant fish in the Delta, it is significant that zero Delta smelt were caught in the survey despite the release of tens of thousands of hatchery-raised Delta smelt into the estuary over the past few years by the state and federal governments.

“The 2024 abundance index was 0 and continues the trend of no catch in the FMWT since 2017,” reported  Taylor Rohlin, CDFW Environmental Scientist Bay Delta Region in a Jan. 2 memo to Erin Chappell, Regional Manager Bay Delta Region: nrm.dfg.ca.gov/…

Salmon fishing in California ocean and river waters has been closed for the past two years, due to the collapse of Sacramento and Klamath River fall-run Chinook salmon populations. The salmon season is also expected to be closed this year. 

The collapse of the Sacramento River fall Chinook, until recently the driver of West Coast salmon fisheries, is the result of massive water diversions from the Delta, combined with the poor management of water releases from upstream storage reservoirs, changes in ocean forage patterns, drought and other factors.

For my breakdown of Trump’s Big Lies about Delta Smelt and California water, go here: sacramento.newsreview.com/…