Gov. Gavin Newsom hits back at Trump in new fight over who controls California water

[freemexy]

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration is taking unprecedented steps to combat President Donald Trump’s efforts to ship more water to his agricultural allies in the San Joaquin Valley.water supply control

Saying Trump’s water plans are scientifically indefensible and would violate the state’s Endangered Species Act, the state Department of Water Resources on Friday began drawing up new regulations governing how water is pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the southern half of the state.

The move sets the stage for another confrontation between Trump and Newsom over the future of California’s water supply and the fish that live in it. Already, the state has sued the Trump administration more than 45 times over issues ranging from immigration to climate change.

State officials believe the Trump administration’s plans will hurt the Delta’s fragile fish populations — and could lead to water supply cuts to the 25 million Californians who receive drinking water from the state’s pumps in the estuary. The Trump administration has argued that the pumps can be opened wider without harming the endangered fish.

The issue revolves around the delicate arrangement between the State Water Project and the federal government’s Central Valley Project, both of which pump water south from the Delta.

The state traditionally defers to the federal government on environmental rules in the Delta. For the first time, with its announcement Friday, the state is drawing up its own rules — throwing down a legal gauntlet that could force the federal government to comply with state laws.

The move is a response to the Trump administration’s decision in February to fulfill the president’s 2016 campaign promise that he’d be “opening up the water” for Central Valley farmers who’d been victimized by why what he called “insane” environmental rules protecting fish.

On Feb. 5, the federal Bureau of Reclamation began the process of reinterpreting the scientific “biological assessments” that are used to set pumping restrictions to keep endangered fish species from being harmed by the pumps.

The Trump administration didn’t hide its intent to effectively change the outcome of those scientific assessments: “Maximize water supply and delivery” for irrigation districts that belong to the Central Valley Project.

On Friday the state made its own move. It began the process of drawing up new rules for the State Water Project, and how it draws water out of the Delta.

Because the state and federal Central Valley Project pumps work in tandem, the state could trigger a legal showdown if the state’s move ends up formulating stricter rules, as many experts believe. The key issue would be whether the U.S. government would have to comply with state law.