The California Department of Water Resources has rejected President Donald Trump’s recent effort to position himself as a savior amidst the catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles.
“The United States Military has just come into the Great State of California and, utilizing Emergency Powers, RELEASED THE WATER flowing generously from the Pacific Northwest, and beyond,” Trump shared late Monday on his social media outlet Truth Social. “The era of prioritizing a False Environmental argument over the PEOPLE is OVER.”
Shortly after, the DWP countered the president’s remarks in a message on the social media site X.
“The military did not come into California,” they stated. “The federal government resumed operations of federal water pumps after being offline for routine maintenance for three days. Water supplies in Southern California continue to be abundant.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House seeking feedback.
Trump has consistently alleged that California Governor Gavin Newsom obstructed efforts to control the severe wildfires in Los Angeles by restricting the state’s water supplies—a claim Newsom and state agencies have categorically denied, according to the Los Angeles Times. Trump also clashed with California’s water authorities during his first term over policies aimed at safeguarding endangered marine species.
The final remnants of the wildfires were extinguished over the weekend when rainfall concluded Los Angeles’ exceptional dry period, achieving over 95 percent containment of all five fires. The blazes resulted in the deaths of 29 individuals and the destruction of over 16,250 homes and other buildings.
On Friday, Trump issued an executive order instructing federal agencies to “optimize” water deliveries in California and “override” state regulations if required, in order to increase water flow to the Los Angeles region from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
California’s Central Valley Project, one of the state’s two primary aqueduct systems, is under federal management, while the State Water Project is overseen by the state.
The Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for 17 of the CVP dams. This may explain why Trump referenced the military, even though troops didn’t actually invade the California Republic—and despite the fact that the Corps halted its own pumps before reactivating them, as detailed by the state.
Reservoir levels are at record highs, according to the Times, but directing water southward would not have had any impact on the wildfires. The CVP, as its name indicates, channels water to agriculture in the Central Valley and terminates in Bakersfield, which is over 100 miles from Greater Los Angeles.
However, residents of Palisades, one of the areas devastated by the fires, expressed fury earlier this month upon discovering that a reservoir constructed in the 1960s in Santa Ynez Canyon to safeguard their homes against wildfires was offline and devoid of water when the fire broke out, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, resulting in several lawsuits.
It remains uncertain if the reservoir—which had been offline for repairs for about a year—would have significantly impacted the situation, since high winds rendered aerial firefighting efforts ineffective, according to the Times.
Experts indicate that municipal water systems are not prepared to handle the perfect storm of factors that contributed to the rapid spread of the Los Angeles wildfires. Although the recent rainfall provided essential relief, it has thus far not been sufficient to completely conclude the fire season.
Yet Trump was undeterred by any of these facts in his quest to claim he had rescued the state from its own troubles.
“Enjoy the water, California!!!” he concluded in his post.
