The executive order directs the Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior, along with other relevant agencies, to restart work on routing more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to southern California for use by its residents, who desperately need a reliable water supply.
The order is in response to California’s lawsuit filed during President Trump’s first term, which halted improvements to California’s water infrastructure. The original plan would have allowed water from Northern California’s rivers to flow into the Central Valley and Southern California, but was blocked allegedly to protect the Delta smelt and other species of fish. The recent wildfires in southern California underscore the need for a reliable water supply and sound vegetation management practices, leading to immediate reimplementation of the policies outlined in the memorandum.