SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom is taking steps to maintain control over California’s water and protect the state’s endangered species against a potential second Trump administration.
As federal and state officials renegotiate how to manage a 400-mile system of reservoirs, pumps and canals that transports water from the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta to taps and farms across the state, California water officials are moving to adopt guidelines set by the state’s own conservationists rather than federal guidelines.
Lenny Grimaldo, environmental director for the Department of Water Resources’ State Water Project, said in an email that the decision to seek a separate state permit to operate the system, rather than a joint state-federal permit, was “to ensure [California Endangered Species Act] Coverage will remain in effect even if there is a change in federal law in the future.”
The proposed split is a repeat of the approach the state took in 2019, when then-President Donald Trump approved endangered species regulations for the federal side of the pumps, which were slightly looser to allow more water to be sent to farmers and cities further south.
California water authorities broke with current practice and opted to adopt their own guidelines, which included additional requirements for fish species such as the longfin smelt and stricter restrictions on pumping.
But the discrepancies created “chaos,” said Jason Phillips, CEO of the Friant Water Authority, which delivers federal water to parts of the eastern Central Valley.
“It was unnecessary confusion, created a lot of extra work and cost the projects more water,” he said.
Tensions mounted, with Newsom suing the Trump administration over the changes and water agencies suing Newsom over the state’s guidelines. But they calmed after a court ordered state and federal officials to adopt joint interim annual plans instead of separate guidelines starting in 2020.
As the Newsom and Biden administrations rush to rewrite the original Trump-era rules by year’s end, the prospect of another rupture is stoking tensions.
“It’s a big deal,” said Phillips, who joined other water agencies in sending a letter to state and federal officials this week raising alarms about potential discrepancies between the state and federal plans and asking them to lift a fall restriction on pumping.
“We try to have a dialogue about this,” added Jennifer Pierre, the executive director of the State Water Contractors, the group of 27 agencies that receive water from the state. “The more we work together, the better we do.”
Biden and Newsom officials have said they are largely in agreement for now. But Trump has reiterated his campaign promise to send more water to farmers.
Environmentalists remain skeptical, however. Jon Rosenfield, the senior scientist at San Francisco Baykeeper, and others have said Newsom’s alternative guidelines for the State Water Project won’t prevent fish from dying, even calling them “Trump-lite.”
“We are distinguishing between two different rates of extinction, and not choosing between extinction and not extinction,” Rosenfield said.
Instead, he sees the Newsom administration’s split from the federal government as a strategy to solidify its own vision for the Delta region, which he opposes. That vision includes replacing fish-protecting limits on flows with a series of voluntary agreements with water agencies to reduce their water use and fund habitat conservation.
Rosenfield did not rule out a new lawsuit, nor did Phillips.
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