Federal Water Tap, February 3: Trump Interferes in California Dam Releases

The Rundown

• President Trump orders water released from California reservoirs.
• Senate confirms leaders of EPA and Interior.
• Agencies begin taking down climate and equity web sites.
• EPA withdraws proposed rules on Florida water quality and industrial PFAS discharge.

And lastly, a bill to reauthorize the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is introduced in Congress.

“Photo of beautiful water flow that I just opened in California. Today, 1.6 billion gallons and, in 3 days, it will be 5.2 billion gallons. Everybody should be happy about this long fought Victory! I only wish they listened to me six years ago – There would have been no fire!” – Statement from President Donald Trump on the social media site X after ordering the Army Corps of Engineers to release water from a reservoir in California’s Sierra Nevada foothills. SJV Water, a local news site, confirmed with the Army Corps that the release followed the intent of Trump’s January 24 executive order to provide water to Southern California.

The statement and the subsequent action display a complete misunderstanding of California’s water system and its role in fighting wildfires in the Los Angeles area. Water released from these reservoirs – Lake Kaweah and Success Lake – goes to farms in the Central Valley, not to the L.A. area. And the photo used in the X post was from a different body of water.

By the Numbers

$500 Million: Annual authorized funding in a bill to reauthorize the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a federal program to clean up contaminated sites in the region.

News Briefs

Cabinet Confirmations
The Senate confirmed the leaders of two Cabinet agencies that deal directly with water supply and protection.

Doug Burgum, former governor of North Dakota, will lead the Interior Department, while Lee Zeldin, a former House member who represented New York, will helm the Environmental Protection Agency.

Zeldin had the closer margin, being confirmed with just three Democratic votes in addition to the Republican bloc.

Cleaning House
Two weeks into the Trump administration, federal agencies have started to remove references on their web sites to some climate and equity programs.

The Department of Health and Human Services, for instance, removed the web site of the Office of Climate Change and Health Equity, which the Biden administration established in 2021 to address the public health consequences of a warming planet. DHHS spokespeople did not respond when asked if the office had been disbanded.

Rules Withdrawn
The EPA withdrew several Biden-era rules to reduce water pollution.

One rule would have placed limits on toxic discharges into waterways from PFAS manufacturing facilities.

Another rule would have strengthened Florida’s water quality standards for rivers and lakes. The rule was intended to protect human health for public water supply, recreation, and fish and shellfish consumption.

Studies and Reports

Army Corps Permitting
The Government Accountability Office says the Army Corps should make publicly available all data related to permits issued under Section 214 of the Water Resources Development Act. This section allows the Army Corps to accept funds from nonfederal entities that have proposed projects on land under agency’s jurisdiction, in order to evaluate the projects for permitting. The Corps agreed, in part.

On the Radar

Great Lakes Briefing
On February 4, the Northeast-Midwest Institute and the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research will host a Great Lakes science briefing for Congressional staff.

Delaware River Water Quality
The EPA reached an agreement to set water quality standards for the lower Delaware River.

The consent decree gives the agency until June 30, 2025, to set pollutant standards for the section of river between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.

Federal Water Tap is a weekly digest spotting trends in U.S. government water policy. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton