Trump signs EO to deliver more water, power to southern California via federal Central Valley Project

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday titled "Emergency Measures to Provide Water Resources in California and Improve Disaster Response in Certain Areas," which aims to aid firefighters in the Los Angeles area who have been battling massive blazes since the start of the new year that have claimed at least 28 lives and thousands of structures. 

Under the executive order, the Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, Secretary of Homeland Security, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of the Interior, and Secretary of Agriculture will "expeditiously take all measures, consistent with all applicable authorities, to ensure adequate water resources in Southern California. Each shall report to me within 15 days on all authorities, including emergency authorities, available to ensure, require, maintain, or use infrastructure necessary to fight and prevent massive wildfires in Southern California."

The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce have been tasked with taking action "to override existing activities that unduly burden efforts to maximize water deliveries" under the executive order and will consider "actions including those consistent with the 'No Action Alternative' in the Final Environmental Impact Statement issued November 15, 2024, by the Bureau of Reclamation on Long-term Operation of the Central Valley Project [CVP] and State Water Project."

The order states that the Secretary of the Interior, through the Bureau of Reclamation, "shall utilize his discretion to operate the CVP to deliver more water and produce additional hydropower, including by increasing storage and conveyance, and jointly operating federal and state facilities, to high-need communities, notwithstanding any contrary State or local laws."

Trump wrote on Monday evening, "The United States Military just entered the Great State of California and, under Emergency Powers, TURNED ON THE WATER flowing abundantly from the Pacific Northwest, and beyond. The days of putting a Fake Environmental argument, over the PEOPLE, are OVER. Enjoy the water, California!!!"

The bureau was ordered to take "all available measures" to make sure that state agencies like the California Department of Water Resources "do not interfere with the Bureau of Reclamation’s operation of the project to maximize water delivery to high-need communities or otherwise, including but not limited to the issuance of a new Record of Decision maximizing water deliveries and consistent with the 2020 Record of Decision."

21 days after breaking out, the Palisades fire is 95 percent contained and the Eaton fire is 99 percent contained. The former grew to over 23,000 acres and the latter burned over 14,000 acres. The Hughes fire, which broke out on January 22, quickly grew to over 10,000 acres burned and is 98 percent contained as of Tuesday.

The order also directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the Secretary of Homeland Security to "expeditiously provide an Integrated Federal Housing Strategy and Implementation Plan to the Director of OMB and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs that expedites options for housing relief to survivors displaced by wildfires in California."

A plan will be developed and executed within 5 days of the order’s signing regarding the removal of contaminated debris left from the fires, and a plan will be implemented to "to enable the timely and appropriate use of Federal preparedness grants for the City of Los Angeles," of which the city has not used the "majority" of its $213 million allotment since fiscal year 2021. The executive order noted, "These Federal preparedness grants shall not be used to support illegal aliens."

A spokesperson for California Governor Gavin Newsom, Tara Gallegos, told Reuters, "Trump is either unaware of how water is stored in California or is deliberately misleading the public. There is no imaginary spigot to magically make water appear at a wildfire, despite what Trump claims."