Trump says a 'valve' can solve California's water woes. Experts say it's not true.

[Judi Lynn]

Trump is taking aim at water supplies for an endangered fish, but scientists say he’s missing the point.

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People fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River delta's Elkhorn Slough near Courtland, California. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP)

By Dino Grandoni and Joshua Partlow

It’s one of California’s thorniest problems. The nation’s most populous state is full of sprawling cities, vast farmland, rich ecosystems — and it must decide how to divide scarce water resources among them.

But for President Donald Trump, the solution is simple: Turn a valve and more water will flow.
“Los Angeles has massive amounts of water available to it,” Trump said at a news conference Tuesday. “All they have to do is turn the valve.”

As Trump prepares to visit Los Angeles, which has been ravaged by wildfires, on Friday, he has offered different theories for how Southern California could get more water to fight fires.

He is blaming a minnow-sized fish, claiming water can be diverted from Canada and suggesting a single valve could be turned to solve the state’s water woes.

Trump said during a Fox News interview on Wednesday that California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) “can release the water that comes from the north.”

More:
https://www.removepaywall.com/search?url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/01/23/california-water-trump-valve-la-fires/#google_vignette

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/01/23/california-water-trump-valve-la-fires/