State Water Problems ‘Don’t Exist’

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) accused President Donald Trump of spreading “misinformation” about California's water problems, saying there is a “spigot” to solve all of the state's water problems. He said he would not.

Water shortages became tragically evident during the Palisades Fire when firefighters discovered that the hydrants did not have enough water pressure to activate the hoses. moreover, Santa Ynez ReservoirOperated by the city of Los Angeles and located above the Pacific Palisades, it theoretically holds 117 million gallons of water, but was empty and offline for maintenance.

President Trump suggested that Southern California did not have enough water available to fight the fire because water supplies from Northern California were diverted to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to save the delta's smelt.

“It's very harmful for people to believe that kind of misinformation,” Newsom told reporters, particularly Erex Michaelson of local Fox affiliate KTTV-11. I don't mean that in a bad way. Maybe the president just doesn't know that there is no faucet he can turn to solve all the water problems he claims to have. [the] This is the water system here in California. ”

California has two major water systems, one state and one federal, with separate waterways carrying water to agricultural and urban users in the south. Both systems are chronically water-starved. The state hasn't added a major reservoir to its system in more than 40 years.

Newsom's specific reference to “state water systems” may be an attempt to shift responsibility to federal and local water authorities. But Los Angeles also relies on the State Water Project for some of its supplies.