State strongly opposes Trump's water plan

Sending more from Delta to Central Valley farms would harm fish, officials say.

- IAN JAMES

JOSH EDELSON For The Times STATE officials have warned of significant consequences from the plan. Above, the Sacramento River.

The Trump administration plans to weaken environmental protections for threatened fish in California's Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and pump more water to Central Valley farmlands, according to letters obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

The letters show Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration strongly criticizing the Trump administration's plan.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation recently notified California agencies that it plans to pump more water out of the Delta into the southbound aqueducts of the federally operated Central Valley Project. That would send more water to farmlands and communities across the San Joaquin Valley.

The proposal advances a January executive order by President Trump and weakens protections for several kinds of fish whose populations have declined significantly in recent years.

Three state agencies objected to the plan in letters to the Bureau of Reclamation last month, signaling a new round of confrontation with the Trump administration over how California's giant water systems should be operated.

The push to send more water to farms is supported by some growers in the Central Valley, who have long condemned state policies as harmful to agriculture. For years, drivers on the valley's highways have seen their signs and billboards with slogans such as "Stop Dumping Our Farm Water & Jobs In the Ocean." Trump has questioned why the state should keep more water in rivers to help "a tiny little fish" such as the Delta smelt.

But California officials warned the Trump administration that pumping more water into the federal aqueducts will bring significant negative consequences for fish and the Delta environment.