When President Trump called on the federal government to “maximize” water in California, commanders of the Army Corps of Engineers quickly found two dams that they could execute. And, despite the fact that officials knew that according to Trump’s will, officials could not move out of the lightness in the middle, they released billions of gallons of water.
On February 3, a memorandum by Colonel Chad Caldwell, the Corps’ regional commander, provided the most detailed account to date on how the agency responded to Trump’s orders directing federal agencies to increase water delivery in California. The document tells how Legion officials suddenly decided to dump water from the dam in January and how they encountered problems and opposition from local water managers and lawmakers who feared that releasing water would not make sense and high flows pose the risk of flooding.
“It was a fanatical decision and wasted,” said Ann Willis, director of the U.S. Rivers Region, a nonprofit environmental organization.
Willis, who worked for the Legion in 2007 and 2008, said there was no reason to dump water that farmers and cities depend on, and that accidental release of water could release floods and put people at risk.
“It is intentional to create a situation that may be the result, it is degenerate and shocking,” Willis said.
Indeed, many California water officials and experts agree that the plan could be devastating. When local water managers learned about plans for Legion officials to release water from the dam, they retreated, telling the agency that there is no need for water this time of year and that a sudden surge in water could cause damage.
To address these issues, federal officials have scaled back their initial plans and released much less water than originally expected, the memo said.
The plan took shape five days after Trump issued the order. The Legion on January 29 “was asked to review the existing authorities and water levels within our area of responsibility,” Caldwell wrote.
Purpose: Trump said he intends to increase water flow in the Los Angeles area after the devastating wildfires. But this idea conflicts with the inconvenient reality. Los Angeles water managers say they already have enough water for firefighting. Federal officials responsible for carrying out the president’s orders know that the state (rather than the federal government) controls aqueducts and pump stations that supply water to cities in Southern California.
In the memorandum, Caldwell said staff at the Legion Regional Office noted that the water held in the two San Joaquin Valley reservoirs, Lake Success and Lake Cavill were available but “cannot be delivered directly to Southern California.”
Moving water to cities in Southern California requires coordination with the state Department of Water Resources to pass Rarely use connections For the aqueducts of the national water project, “otherwise the water will remain in the Lake Talia Basin” – farmers usually rely on the water stored in the reservoir to provide crops in the summer.
Caldwell said in the memorandum that he “has the right to release water under flood control procedures.” On January 30, “In the company of William “Butch” Graham, Jr., Commander-in-Chief of the Legion.
The memorandum was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act on request. This is the first Reported by The Washington Post.
Army officials did not respond to the criticism publicly and declined to comment on the details in the memorandum. The document is titled as a record memorandum, which is “showing authority or basis for taking action” under Army regulations.
After the plan, Caldwell began informing managers of other agencies about the plans to release water, according to the memorandum. At about 3:30 p.m. on January 30, he called two other major water managers, California Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth and Federal Reclamation Regional Director Karl Stock, both of whom “showed that it took more time for them to activate their system to activate their system and that they might not be able to use such a short notice to take advantage of the extra water.”
The Legion team also contacted local “sailors”, including the manager of the agricultural irrigation zone using dam water. The memo said the regiment “significantly reduced the initial estimate outflow” based on concerns raised by one of the officials.
The water managers in the area who were caught off guard by the decision said they Convince federal officials Release less water than originally planned.
Members of Congress and state legislators representing the agricultural areas near the dam were also involved.
According to the memorandum, several members contacted the Legion to “ask why water was released because the typical summer growing season was typical water.” These included Rep. Vince Fong (R-Bakersfield), David Valadao (R-Hanford) and Jim Costa (D-Fresno), and the state parliament hall Alexandra M. Macedo (R-Tulare). Caldwell noted in the memorandum that lawmakers also “expressed concern from voters about potential downstream land flooding.”
The colonel said he “confirmed that the water was being released [President Trump’s] Executive Orders” and after consultation with local water officials, “flows will be limited to safe levels without causing downstream impacts. ”
After reading the memo, Willis of the U.S. River said that Army Corps of Engineers officials “don’t feel they can exercise their discretion to delay release until they can actually use the water.”
On the evening of January 30, Army officials began to open the door. Release flow From the Schafer Dam and the Terminus Dam, pass the waterway through the rivers near Porterville and Visalia. The traffic at night increases.
By then, local officials in Tarare County were already scrambling to prepare. Denise England, a county official who manages the local flood control area, said she had learned about plans to release water in an email earlier on January 30, and the sudden notification was shocking.
“It's very unusual and very worrying,” England said in an interview. “It seems very unnecessary.”
England said people were on the edge in the sudden prospect of flooding, as fierce storms triggered major floods in the same area nearly two years ago, flooding thousands of acres of farmland and Reform the long lake of Tarare.
“This has caused a little anxiety due to the storm events in March 2023,” England said. In these storms, flooding into the Lake Tuleri basin, flooding roads, breaking into dams and flooding farmland, workers were eager to move equipment to the high ground.
May 2, 2023, the bank of Lake Tulare.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
She said she was confused by “a meaningless decision.”
“We're just scratching our heads. “What's going on here? “England said. Because everyone knows that water won't be transported to Los Angeles, it's “just creating a problem locally.”
Fortunately, those who run the water agency responded quickly, she said. They managed to capture water from the swollen kaweah and tule rivers, routing the waterways to the basin that penetrated underground.
The manager of the agricultural water area says they Use water Replenish groundwater in the area. “It’s not a waste,” said Aaron Fukuda, general manager of Tulare irrigation zone.
But if the leaders of local agencies do not act quickly, the result is likely to be flooded farmland.
“It's good news that they can use water,” she said. “A lot of people are trying to react, and it doesn't need to happen this way.”
On January 31, Trump Posted a photo From the current of one of the dams, declare “the beautiful current that I just opened in California.” He called it “long-term victory!” He did not mention where the water went.
Cardwell wrote in the memorandum that on the same day, the Legion “further coordination” with local water managers, reduced flows from the two dams to “minimize the risk of downstream impacts.”
Later, on February 2, an excellent Caldwell and his team reduced the flow from the dam to normal low levels.
Trump said on social media that within three days, 5.2 billion gallons of water will be released from the dam. But Caldwell said in the memo that by the end of the business, the total amount released was about 2.5 billion gallons.
Members of Congress strongly criticized the Legion in handling water. Graham is the commander, About what happened By Rep. Mike Levin (D-San Juan Capistrano) Supervise hearings Last month, trying to answer questions about the decision, saying, “I don’t know what happened to the water.”
Levin and fellow Democratic Representatives. letter Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Home Secretary Doug Burgum said they were very concerned about “political motivation, incongruent, irregular and opaque water attacks”.
They said the water flowed into the dry lake basin, “sacrificing important resources in states prone to drought” and that water should be kept in reservoirs when needed in summer. “It is crucial that decisions related to water management are transparent and properly coordinated,” the lawmakers wrote.
Democratic Senator Alex Padilla also criticized the unplanned water issuance, saying it must be coordinated closely with local officials, security personnel and agricultural water users to reduce flood risk and “great notices are given that recklessly endanger downstream residents.”
The Trump administration has also been criticized for ordering fire and buyouts for the Reclamation Bureau, which operates other dams and water infrastructure in California.
Employees recently said the bureau has hired about 1,000 employees in the state and will lose about 100 employees through termination and buyout. However, the manager at Central Valley Water Management warned that making such a significant reduction would jeopardize the agency's ability to transport water safely and reliably, with 12 employees (some have been fired, while others have been terminated – respectively restored or retained – according to employees who were not authorized to discuss the issue.
“We are delighted to be motivated to resume some of the staff cuts at the California Reclamation Bureau,” Nemeth, the state’s top water official, said in an email. “These employees are necessary to operate California’s water supply systems safely and effectively.”
Nimes's department confirmed that she received a “polite call” from the Army Corps of Engineers on January 30, which began the day the dam was issued.
But, Nimes said, since then, the agency “has not seen any details of how the federal government plans to implement the president’s enforcement order on California water management.”
At a time when water supply in California is relatively good, the Trump administration is managing the water that is being managed by agencies that are doing. The Sierra Nevada snow accumulation is still less than average. But the state's major reservoirs account for 112% of the historical average, with precipitation across the state at this time of year at about average.
Times worker Jessica Garage contributed to the report.
