Legislation - Policy

Experts give the real facts on California water

From Governor Newsom:

Scientists, water managers, state leaders, and experts throughout the state are calling out the federal administration’s ongoing misinformation campaign on water management in California. Here is a snapshot of what water leaders and media are saying in California and nationally:

State water officials and water districts weigh in

Association of California Water Agencies: “Water supply has not hindered firefighting efforts. Reservoirs in California are at or above average storage levels for this time of year, thanks in part to years of proactive water management.”

Deven Upadhyay, Metropolitan Water District: “The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has enough water in storage to meet roughly three years of water demand. We can deliver what our agencies need.”

Marty Adams, former general manager and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power or DWP: “ There’s way more water in local storage than you could ever fight a fire with.”

Jennifer Pierre, general manager, State Water Contractors: “The policies currently in place overseeing the movement of California water maximize supply in compliance with the law and based on best available science.”

Leading state researchers and university professors

Tom Holyke, Fresno State University political science and water policy professor: “There is no ‘valve…’”

Letitia Grenier, director of the Public Policy Institute of California’s Water Policy Center: “The transfer of water from Northern California to Southern California is not related to water availability to fight the fires in the Los Angeles area. Currently, reservoirs in the Los Angeles area are mostly full.”

Stephanie Pincetl, director of the California Center for Sustainable Communications at UCLA: “We’re finger pointing away from the problem.  We have really no lack of water. What we have is an infrastructure that is not made to fight cataclysmic fires, biblical-size fires.”

Community voices push back on misinformation

Peter Gleick, hydro-climatologist and co-founder of the Pacific Institute: “[Trump’s order on California water policy] is what you get when you mix bluster, ignorance, and disinformation. There are no ‘enormous amounts of water’ that can be redirected legally, economically, or environmentally to different users in California ….”

John Buse, general counsel for the Center for Biological Diversity: “It’s difficult to explain what he’s talking about because nobody knows what he’s talking about. The idea of a valve and water will just flow is preposterous.”

Mark Gold, water scarcity director for the Natural Resources Defense Council and a board member of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California: “Tying Bay-Delta management into devastating wildfires that have cost people’s lives and homes is nothing short of irresponsible, and it’s happening at a time when…

Full article with fact-checks: link

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