An annotated guide to the President-elect’s* January 8 tweet on California water and wildfires
Governor Gavin Newscum…
Civil society requires civil discourse. We have major disagreements with Governor Newsom over his misguided water policies, but everyone should be treated respectfully.
…refused to sign the water restoration declaration…
No one has any idea what the President-elect is referring to here, probably including he himself.
…put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess…
Excess is not defined here. California scientists and water managers almost universally acknowledge that there is insufficient freshwater flow dedicated to supporting numerous beneficial uses of water for ecosystem, fishery, water quality, tribal and other purposes.
…rain and snow melt from the North…
Much of the water supply for the areas currently burning comes from local groundwater, the Colorado River and the eastern Sierra.
…to flow daily into many parts of California, including areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way. He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt…
Delta smelt, a favorite target for opponents of environmental protections, was once the San Francisco Bay-Delta’s most common fish and is now its rarest; it historically played an important role in the estuary food web. Environmental protections for the Bay-Delta address concerns not just about smelt but numerous other fish species that are at record or near record low population levels, including salmon, steelhead and sturgeon.
…by giving it less water (it didn’t work!)…
The president-elect* apparently meant to say “more water,” but he speaks truer than he realizes. The Newsom Administration has been pursuing policies to reduce proposed environmental flow requirements, and the best available scientific evidence shows that this approach won’t work.
…but didn’t care about the people of California. Now the ultimate price is being paid. I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA!…
A basic understanding of geography and hydrology is lacking here.
…He is to blame for this. On top of it all, no water for fire hydrants…
Local infrastructure constraints are the limiting factor for fire hydrant capacity. Local water storage conditions have generally been favorable. For instance, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California reports that it has more water in storage than ever in its history. Read: Los Angeles saw dry hydrants during struggle to get water for fires.
…not firefighting planes. A true disaster!…
Limits on use of firefighting planes are primarily related to wind conditions, not water availability.
