Newsom Issues Executive Order Maximizing Water Diversions and Waiving Critical Protections

Is Newsom Mimicking Trump?

Sacramento, CA –  On Friday, Governor Gavin Newsom issued a controversial executive order that would make it easier to divert and store “excess” water from incoming winter storms as a multi-day atmospheric river arrived in California at a time when Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations are nearing extinction.

The order drew the wrath of a coalition of environmental groups that said it “took a page from President Trump’s playbook” by ordering state agencies to pump even more water to boost water supplies and override regulatory and institutional barriers to new diversions, threatening water quality, the environment and communities that depend on healthy rivers and aquatic ecosystems.

The groups blasting Newsom’s order include the Friends of the River, Restore the Delta, San Francisco Baykeeper and Defenders of Wildlife.

The Governor signed the order after he received a briefing on the latest forecast for the storm.

The executive orde directs the Department of Water Resources and other state agencies to take action to “maximize diversion of those excess flows to boost the state’s water storage in Northern California, including storage in San Luis Reservoir south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta,” according to a statement from the Governor’s Office. 

“It is more important than ever that we maximize every opportunity to recharge our groundwater supplies,” Governor Newsom stated.  “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. By storing these stormwaters, we are creating a literal rainy day fund to help us recover from a multi-year drought and prepare for our hotter, drier future.”

Environmental groups exposed the eerie similarity between Newsom’s Executive Order and a January 24 Executive Order by President Trump.

Specifically, Executive Order N-16-25 by Newsom requires California water managers and regulators to “maximize diversions of excess flows that become available as a result of the anticipated winter storms, and other winter storms, to storage” and to “identify any obstacles that would hinder efforts to maximize diversions to storage of excess flows that become available as a result of the anticipated winter storms, to remove or minimize such obstacles wherever possible, and to promptly report to my office any additional statutory or regulatory barriers that should be considered for suspension.”

The groups said the Governor also waived the requirement that certain local water agencies and governments have a flood-control plan in order to know when to safely divert flood flows for groundwater recharge.

“This essentially allows ‘Proclaimed Drought Counties’ to divert an unknown amount of water without a water right, and – now – without a connection to critical flood-protection procedures,” the groups said.

In his January 24 Executive Order, President Trump ordered federal agencies to “take actions to override existing activities that unduly burden efforts to maximize water deliveries” and “to deliver more water … notwithstanding any contrary State or local laws.” 

The groups continued, “California water and environmental regulators have long recognized that the current water quality standards and other environmental safeguards are not working – far too much water is being diverted from the state’s rivers and aquatic systems, resulting in frequent toxic algal blooms and other water quality problems, the potential extinction of numerous fish and wildlife species, and the destruction of the fishing industry, among other problems.”

“That is why the state is in the process of updating the standards, and that is why many organizations had problems with the proposed SB 1390, which would have authorized higher diversions of flood flows. Flows that are in ‘excess’of inadequate requirements are critical to water quality, species survival, ecosystem health, and viable fisheries. Proposals to divert even more water from the system must be thoroughly analyzed and reviewed by the public, as the law requires, to ensure that proper terms and conditions are placed on new projects and changes to operations,” they said. 

“Newsom’s executive order short-circuits the public processes that protect California communities at risk from floods, poor water quality, and environmentally destructive water policies and projects. It provides no justification for eviscerating environmental safeguards, when reservoir storage levels are already high and the incoming storms promise to boost the Sierra snowpack substantially. It doesn’t create a coordinated floodplain restoration plan for the Central Valley or lead to priority efforts for enhanced levees to protect vulnerable communities and create restoration opportunities at the same time. Each of these risks – flood protection, water quality improvement, and sustainable water management - needs holistic planning, not piecemeal executive orders,” the groups wrote.

Representatives of the groups commented on the similarity between Newsom and Trump’s Executive Orders — after hoping that Newsom would defend Californians against attacks by the Trump administration.

“Californians had been looking to Governor Newsom to defend them from the Trump Administration’s misguided attempt to force bad policy down the state’s throat,” said Gary Bobker, program director of Friends of the River. “Instead, this rushed and poorly thought out executive order goes against the interests of all those Californians who depend on clean water, thriving fisheries, and living rivers.” 

“We have to have emergency flood protection for people,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta. “We also have to make sure that there is enough freshwater flow for the restoration of fisheries. This is where regulatory planning has to be set in place rather than executive orders mimicking federal executive orders, because not everything can be an executive order. Climate extremes are the new normal, and our response should not be ad hoc.” 

“Waiving legal requirements that protect communities and public resources by executive order is not the leadership California needs. Last week, that was Trump's tactic,” said Eric Buescher, managing attorney at San Francisco Baykeeper. “This week, it’s Newsom’s. Today's executive order demonstrates that Governor Newsom’s promise to stand up to Trump on behalf of California does not extend to ensuring the health of our rivers, fisheries, San Francisco Bay, and communities who depend on them.”

“This haphazard executive order is not only unnecessary but also deprioritizes vulnerable communities with high flood risk,” said Ashley Overhouse, water policy advisor for Defenders of Wildlife. “This is yet another political attack on the already minimum environmental protections governing our water management system and the wildlife that depend on it. If it is not Gov. Newsom’s intention to undermine state law and jeopardize species, then I urge the administration to make that clear.”

The Golden State Salmon Association also weighed in on Newsom’s Executive Order.

“Governor Newsom’s executive order to ‘use every last drop’ is a death sentence for California’s already suffering salmon," said Scott Artis, executive director of Golden State Salmon Association. "On top of the recent federal water grab, Newsom’s plan to divert even more water for big agriculture while ignoring our rivers pushes #salmon and fishing families closer to extinction – killing jobs, ecosystems, and an entire way of life.”

“A real ‘rainy day fund’ protects all Californians—including the ones that fish for a living or wildlife that swim in our rivers—not just corporate interests,” Artis summed up.

The Executive Orders were 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 population, 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.

Meanwhile, Sacramento spring and winter-run Chinook populations continue to move closer and closer towards extinction.

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