Washington – President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that seeks to avoid federal and state laws that deal with the California water system in an effort to provide the southern part of the State with the necessary water resources to combat forest fires.
Almost immediately after the appearance of the recent series of forest fires in Los Angeles, “Firefighters could not fight the fire due to dry hydrants, empty deposits and inappropriate water infrastructure,” said the executive order.
Trump’s order said the forest fire disaster has affected the entire country and that it is in the “interest of the nation to ensure that California has what he needs to prevent and combat these fires and others in the future.”
“Therefore, it is the United States policy to provide the necessary water resources, despite actively harmful state or local policies,” the order said.
The order requires “annuling the disastrous policies of California” and directs the heads of the Departments of Defense, Justice, National Security, Commerce, Interior and Agriculture to take measures to ensure that southern California has adequate water resources.
It also specifically asks the secretaries of the interior and trade that take measures immediately “to cancel existing activities that excessively carry efforts to maximize water deliveries.”
The order requires that the Trump administration take over the federal project of Valle Central in California, which is operated by the State’s claim office. The water system “reduces the risk of flooding for the Central Valley and supplies domestic and industrial water of the Valle and protect fish and wildlife, and to improve water quality, “according to the office.
The presidential action also threatens to cut federal funds to the State, saying that it wants the Trump administration to end “the subsidy of the bad management of California”. The order instructs the director of the Office of Management and Budget to review all funds for programs related to Earth and Water in California and the Disaster Response.
The Office of the Governor of California Gavin Newsom did not immediately respond to the request for comments of NBC News on Monday.
Before Trump’s visit to California on Friday, Newsom said that Trump’s criticism for the management of his water was equivalent to erroneous information.
“Perhaps the president does not know that there is no spike that can be rotated that can solve all the water problems he alleges, that do not exist when it comes to the state water project here in California,” he said.
The main democrat of the House Natural Resources Committee in Congress, representative Jared Huffman, from California, criticized Trump’s executive order, saying in a statement, “with the coup of a pen, Trump has chosen to undermine the safeguards of critical importance and a complete host of the needs of the community with respect to the largest and most complex water operations in the world. “
Huffman added that the policies described in the executive order “will even move a single drop of additional water to the communities devastated by these forest fires. The president should focus on convincing his allies in Congress to provide angels desperately as soon as possible and free of conditions.
