Federal Water Tap, January 27: President Trump Attempts to Remake Environmental Policy through Executive Order

The Rundown

• President Trump issues executive orders on energy production, water supplies, and climate change.
• Other executive orders target foreign aid, FEMA, and the Paris agreement.
• In settlement with EPA, California mobile home park operator agrees to fix failing water system.
• Reclamation publishes a report detailing five options it will analyze for post-2026 Colorado River management.

And lastly, President Trump visits recent disaster zones in California and North Carolina.

“I wanted to go to Los Angeles and see what was going on with California, why they aren’t releasing the water. Millions and millions of gallons of water, they’re sending it out to the Pacific. Someday, somebody’s going to explain that one. In the meantime, they have no water in Los Angeles, where they had the problems.” – President Donald Trump, on January 24, while visiting Fletcher, North Carolina to see damage from Hurricane Helene before he flew to Los Angeles.

Trump’s comments displayed a misunderstanding of California water. Water flowing to the Pacific through the Golden Gate is necessary to prevent salt water from encroaching in the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta, a source of local drinking water and irrigation in addition to fish habitat. Hydrants in Los Angeles went dry in some areas during the fires because of the massive strain on the municipal water system from firefighting. Trump said he wanted to make disaster aid to California contingent on sending more water to the Central Valley and Southern California.

By the Numbers

12: Biden administration executive orders repealed in President Trump’s order on “Unleashing American Energy.” The repealed orders dealt with climate risk, forest protection, environmental justice, and clean energy.

News Briefs

The First Week
President Donald Trump spent his first week in office beginning to unravel the energy and environment legacy of his predecessor.

In a flurry of executive orders, Trump made good on campaign promises to reject international entanglements and promote the fossil fuel industry while trimming America’s financial commitments to the rest of the world.

Trump withdrew from the Paris climate agreement and froze international spending on climate mitigation and adaptation. The Biden administration estimated U.S. climate finance for developing countries was $9.5 billion in 2023. The executive order intends to claw back unspent funds and revoke policies that support international climate action.

Other foreign spending is at risk. Trump paused, for 90 days, new “obligations and disbursements” of foreign aid, saying in the order that foreign aid is “not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values.”

On the domestic side, another order directed the Commerce and Interior departments to begin the work to send more water from northern California to southern California via canals. In Trump’s view – supported by big farm groups that would benefit from the action – water that exits the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta is “wasted,” when in fact those flows are necessary to keep salt water out of the largest estuary on the West Coast. The order resurrects an attempt from the first Trump administration to rewrite water export policy. That attempt was halted by a federal district court.

In disaster policy, Trump signed an order to review FEMA’s mission and possibly eliminate the agency. A council of no more than 20 agency heads and people outside of government will make a recommendation. “I think, frankly, FEMA is not good,” Trump said while in North Carolina.

And in energy policy, Trump ordered a review of all policies that burden not only the development of domestic energy sources, but also their use. That means reviewing and possibly rescinding water and energy efficiency standards for appliances and showerheads. The order suspends Inflation Reduction Act funds for clean energy projects.

The order tells agencies to reconsider decisions that withdrew public lands from mineral exploration, such as mining leases near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Trump also revoked Biden administration orders that required agencies to account for the financial risks of climate change, consider the social cost of carbon, find opportunities to use nature-based solutions, protect old growth forests, and make climate change a foreign policy priority.

All told, the federal government’s priorities have been reordered, and agencies will evaluate future projects with new criteria for costs and benefits.

California Mobile Home Park
The operator of Oasis Mobile Home Park, located in Riverside County, California, reached a settlement with the EPA to fix the community’s failing water system, which is contaminated with arsenic and sewage from leaking septic systems.

The agency noted the failures for years, including an administrative order in 2021, but the operators did not comply, the complaint states. In addition to the fixes, the operators will pay a $50,000 fine.

The park is located within the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indian Reservation, in Thermal, California.

Studies and Reports

Colorado River Management Options
The Bureau of Reclamation published a report detailing the five options it will analyze when deciding how to manage the Colorado River after current guidelines expire in 2026.

The options present a range of water conservation plans and water release schedules that were submitted by states, tribes, and environmental groups in the basin.

On the Radar

Panama Canal Hearing
On January 28, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold a hearing to discuss the Panama Canal’s influence on U.S. trade and national security.

President Trump has suggested that the U.S. try to take back the canal, which it handed over to Panama in 1978. House Republicans introduced a bill to authorize purchasing the canal.

RFK Jr. Confirmation Hearing
On January 29, the Senate Finance Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

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