President Trump this week signed an order in California fulfilling a campaign promise to fix the water issues affecting farmers in southern California.
Late last year the Department of the Interior reversed its opinion after a review from the Trump administration. The President said the plan will direct “as much water as possible, which will be a magnificent amount, a massive amount of water for the use of California farmers and ranchers.”
“A major obstacle to providing water for the region’s farmers has now been totally eliminated by the federal government,” Trump said Wednesday in Bakersfield, Calif., flanked by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), as well as Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, who helped make the changes to the state’s water policy.
“It would be different if you had a drought. You don’t have a drought. You have tremendous amounts of water,” added the President.
The Hill reports the elitist in the government of California are going to fight the order:
“California won’t allow the Trump Administration to destroy and deplete our natural resources,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) said in a statement after the speech. “We’re prepared to challenge the Trump Administration’s harmful attack on our state’s critical ecosystems and environment.”
Critics fear the new plan, which would allow large quantities of water to be diverted from the San Francisco Bay Delta to the Central Valley in order to irrigate farmland, would ultimately harm chinook salmon and the delta smelt, a finger-sized fish that for three decades has stood in the way of the diversion.
President Trump attacked Gov. Gavin Newsom for his lack of leadership on the issue.
“After decades of failure and delays in ensuring critical water access for the people of this state, we are determined to finally get your problem solved,” Trump said, referring to the state’s previous water policy as a “disgrace.”
McCarthy also praised Trump for fulfilling his campaign promise to divert more water to farmers in California.
“Isn’t it great to have a president who understands farming is not easy?” he said before the president came on stage. “Isn’t it great to have a president who keeps his promises?”
