As the wildfires continue in Southern California, President Donald Trump‘s administration released significant amounts of water from California’s dams on Friday in a move that bypassed state authorities, The New York Times reported.
Newsweek has reached out to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office and the White House via email for comment on Saturday.
Why It Matters
Trump has been fiercely critical of California Governor Gavin Newsom‘s efforts to contain the Los Angeles wildfires that broke out last month, dubbing him “Newscum” on social media.
The president has repeatedly attributed the disaster to what he says are water shortages caused by California state policies, such as fire hydrants that ran dry, though this was denied by state officials who claimed a water-pumping station that was down for maintenance has since been reopened.
What To Know
The directive to release water came after Trump issued an executive order to “maximize” water deliveries in California and “override” state policies where they deem it necessary.
According to the Times on Friday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had then been directed to dramatically increase the flow of water as federal data confirmed that by the end of Friday increased releases from Terminus Dam at Lake Kaweah and Schafer Dam at Lake Success would total approximately 1.6 billion gallons of water.
The sudden water release has since stunned local officials, who scrambled to prevent potential flooding as state and federal water managers typically coordinate releases carefully, ensuring that enough water is retained for future agricultural use while preventing flood risks. However, the Trump administration’s order bypassed this process, creating a chaotic response among local officials.
The unprecedented release, which sent water rushing into the Central Valley, had no impact on the recent Los Angeles wildfires, despite Trump’s claims, who took to his Truth Social account to tout the release of water.
“Photo of beautiful water flow that I just opened in California,” he posted, hailing the release as a “long fought Victory” that he suggested could have prevented the wildfires. “I only wish they listened to me six years ago—There would have been no fire!”
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
According to the Times, water experts explained the water released is headed for low-lying agricultural land, not Southern California, and has no physical route to reach wildfire-affected areas.
Laura Ramos, interim director of research and education at the California Water Institute at California State University, Fresno told the newspaper, “If the purpose was to help with the fires in Southern California, we do not believe that it will, because that’s not where that water goes.”
The release of the water comes after Trump claimed on social media on Monday that the U.S. military “just entered the Great State of California” in an attempt to improve the water supply.
Trump, a long-time critic of Newsom, said the military used emergency powers and “TURNED ON THE WATER” from the Pacific Northwest following the wave of devastating wildfires. This was denied by state authorities at the time.
On X, formerly Twitter, the California Department of Water Resources wrote: “The military did not enter California. The federal government restarted federal water pumps after they were offline for maintenance for three days. State water supplies in Southern California remain plentiful.”
What People Are Saying
Senator Alex Padilla, a California Democrat, sent a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday about what he called “the troubling unscheduled release of water” from the two dams:
“Based on the urgent concerns I have heard from my constituents, as well as recent reporting, it appears that gravely insufficient notification was given, recklessly endangering residents downstream.”
President Donald Trump, in an executive order directing the Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of the Interior to route more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to other parts of the state, wrote: “The recent deadly and historically destructive wildfires in Southern California underscore why the State of California needs a reliable water supply and sound vegetation management practices in order to provide water desperately needed there, and why this plan must immediately be reimplemented.”
Sanjay Mohanty, a civil and environmental engineering professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who studies water capture, told The New York Times on Friday the release of the water could ultimately hurt farmers: “If we have a drought coming, we are losing this water now and leaving ourselves vulnerable later.”
Gene Pawlik, public affairs officer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said in a statement that the release of the water is “consistent with the direction in the Executive Order on Emergency Measures to Provide Water Resources in California, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is releasing water from Terminus Dam at Lake Kaweah and Schafer Dam at Success Lake to ensure California has water available to respond to the wildfires.”
What Happens Next
While experts worry that the release of the water could have long-term consequences, particularly if California faces another drought, Trump has doubled down on vowing to continue his efforts, stating on Truth Social on Friday that “in 3 days, it will be 5.2 billion gallons” of water.
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