President Trump again said he “turned the water on” in California and that water could have been used to fight the wildfires.
A few facts:
The water released by the Army Corps of Engineers from 2 dams in Central California has no way to reach Southern California. The sudden rush alarmed local farmers whose land was nearly flooded.
The water is usually kept in reserve to help farmers in Central California during summer drought months. There are no crops that need the water right now. They are dormant.
The water was released by the Army Corps of Engineers from Terminus Dam at Lake Kaweah and Schafer Dam at Lake Success but has no way to connect to the aqueduct to deliver water to Southern California to be used for wildfires (most of which are now no longer burning.)
Democratic Senator Alex Padilla wrote to Defense Secretary Hegseth:
“If the purpose of these releases is to help fight wildfires in Los Angeles County (which are
already almost fully contained), what is the plan to transport this water to Los Angeles
rather than let the water simply be discharged into Tulare Lake where it will evaporate?”