FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 31, 2025
Gary Bobker, gbobker@friendsoftheriver.org, 415-272-6616
Barbara Barrigan-Parilla, barbara@restorethedelta.org, 209-479-2053
Eric Buescher, eric@baykeeper.org, 510-671-5402Ashley Overhouse, aoverhouse@defenders.org, 408-472-4522
Balanced flood and river management planning needed
Sacramento, CA – Today, Governor Newsom took a page from President Trump’s playbook and ordered state agencies to pump even more water to boost water supplies and override regulatory and institutional barriers to new diversions, threatening water quality, the environment and communities that depend on healthy rivers and aquatic ecosystems.
Specifically, Executive Order N-16-25 requires California water managers and regulators to “maximize diversions of excess flows that become available as a result of the anticipated winter storms, and other winter storms, to storage” and to “identify any obstacles that would hinder efforts to maximize diversions to storage of excess flows that become available as a result of the anticipated winter storms, to remove or minimize such obstacles wherever possible, and to promptly report to my office any additional statutory or regulatory barriers that should be considered for suspension.” The Governor also waived the requirement that certain local water agencies and governments have a flood-control plan in order to know when to safely divert flood flows for groundwater recharge. This essentially allows “Proclaimed Drought Counties” to divert an unknown amount of water without a water right, and – now – without a connection to critical flood-protection procedures.
Sound familiar? In his January 24 Executive Order, President Trump ordered federal agencies to “take actions to override existing activities that unduly burden efforts to maximize water deliveries” and “to deliver more water … notwithstanding any contrary State or local laws.”
California water and environmental regulators have long recognized that the current water quality standards and other environmental safeguards are not working – far too much water is being diverted from the state’s rivers and aquatic systems, resulting in frequent toxic algal blooms and other water quality problems, the potential extinction of numerous fish and wildlife species, and the destruction of the fishing industry, among other problems. That is why the state is in the process of updating the standards, and that is why many organizations had problems with the proposed SB 1390, which would have authorized higher diversions of flood flows. Flows that are in “excess” of inadequate requirements are critical to water quality, species survival, ecosystem health, and viable fisheries. Proposals to divert even more water from the system must be thoroughly analyzed and reviewed by the public, as the law requires, to ensure that proper terms and conditions are placed on new projects and changes to operations.
Newsom’s executive order short-circuits the public processes that protect California communities at risk from floods, poor water quality, and environmentally destructive water policies and projects. It provides no justification for eviscerating environmental safeguards, when reservoir storage levels are already high and the incoming storms promise to boost the Sierra snowpack substantially. It doesn’t create a coordinated floodplain restoration plan for the Central Valley or lead to priority efforts for enhanced levees to protect vulnerable communities and create restoration opportunities at the same time. Each of these risks – flood protection, water quality improvement, and sustainable water management – needs holistic planning, not piecemeal executive orders.
“Californians had been looking to Governor Newsom to defend them from the Trump Administration’s misguided attempt to force bad policy down the state’s throat,” said Gary Bobker, program director of Friends of the River. “Instead, this rushed and poorly thought out executive order goes against the interests of all those Californians who depend on clean water, thriving fisheries, and living rivers.”
“We have to have emergency flood protection for people,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta. “We also have to make sure that there is enough freshwater flow for the restoration of fisheries. This is where regulatory planning has to be set in place rather than executive orders mimicking federal executive orders, because not everything can be an executive order. Climate extremes are the new normal, and our response should not be ad hoc.”
“Waiving legal requirements that protect communities and public resources by executive order is not the leadership California needs. Last week, that was Trump’s tactic,” said Eric Buescher, managing attorney at San Francisco Baykeeper. “This week, it’s Newsom’s. Today’s executive order demonstrates that Governor Newsom’s promise to stand up to Trump on behalf of California does not extend to ensuring the health of our rivers, fisheries, San Francisco Bay, and communities who depend on them.
“This haphazard executive order is not only unnecessary but also deprioritizes vulnerable communities with high flood risk,” said Ashley Overhouse, water policy advisor for Defenders of Wildlife. “This is yet another political attack on the already minimum environmental protections governing our water management system and the wildlife that depend on it. If it is not Gov. Newsom’s intention to undermine state law and jeopardize species, then I urge the administration to make that clear.”
Follow these links for more information on Friends of the River | Restore the Delta | and San Francisco Baykeeper | Defenders of Wildlife
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