Garamendi issues statement on Trump executive order to route water from Northern to Southern California

Congressman John Garamenid issued this statement on President Donald Trump’s executive order to move California water.

As Californian communities are facing devastating wildfires, the Trump Administration is once again spreading misinformation to fuel his own political agenda. I am outraged to hear of Trump’s Executive Order to slash environmental protections for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

President Trump is continuing his attack on the environment and on California’s constitutional right to decide its own water and environmental policies.

Trump’s Executive Order is a blatant political ploy that does nothing to implement science-backed methods that would strengthen water supply or support firefighting capabilities.

As California’s Insurance Commissioner for eight years, I fought to defend and help those whose homes and lives were destroyed by wildfires. Unfortunately, Trump’s executive order does nothing to help them or address the ever-increasing risk of fires in the western U.S.

Furthermore, Trump’s executive order may set back four years of hard work and compromise by both state and federal agencies have done to improve science-based water delivery from Northern California to the farms and cities in Southern California.

Californians deserve leadership that prioritizes solutions over political games. Over four decades I have in various public positions fought to defend the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the vibrant communities who call the Delta home.  I know that there are water solutions that can more than adequately address California’s water needs both in the North and South but as Mark Twain has said, “Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over.”

Unfortunately, Trump’s executive order may start a new round of fighting not a new round of efforts to seek solutions to the challenges we all face as the climate continues to warm.

We are in a climate crisis, and I call on President Trump to put forth real, actionable steps to address the growing challenges our communities face.

An example would be my “Little Sip, Big Gulp: A Water Plan for All of California,” which safeguards the Delta and prioritizes water recycling and building new water storage instead of tunnel construction. Now is not the time for political posturing or false promises.

Text of Trump’s executive order
January 20, 2025

Memorandum for the Secretary of CommerceThe Secretary of the Interior

Subject: Putting people over fish: Stopping radical environmentalism to provide water to Southern California

I hereby direct the Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the heads of other departments and agencies of the United States as necessary, to immediately restart the work from my first Administration by the National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation and other agencies to route more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to other parts of the state for use by the people there who desperately need a reliable water supply.

During my first term, the State of California, at the direction of its governor, filed a lawsuit to stop my administration from implementing improvements to California’s water infrastructure.  My administration’s plan would have allowed enormous amounts of water to flow from the snow melt and rainwater in rivers in Northern California to beneficial use in the Central Valley and Southern California.  This catastrophic halt was allegedly in protection of the Delta smelt and other species of fish.  Today, this enormous water supply flows wastefully into the Pacific Ocean.

The recent deadly and historically destructive wildfires in Southern California underscore why the state of California needs a reliable water supply and sound vegetation management practices in order to provide water desperately needed there, and why this plan must immediately be reimplemented.

Within 90 days of the date of this memorandum, the Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of the Interior shall report to me regarding the progress made in implementing the policies in this memorandum and provide any recommendations regarding future implementation.