Wednesday March 12, 2025
Daily Kos —
Karla Nemeth, Governor Gavin Newsom’s top water official, told an audience of growers and water managers at the Kern County Water Summit on March 6 that the state is willing to work with the Trump Administration to weaken environmental rules that restrict the pumping of water, allowing them over-pump the imperiled Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
“She said that she expected updating one particular rule governing pumping water in the state’s main water hub, called the Old and Middle River flow limit, to be part of ongoing regulations with federal counterparts this spring and throughout the year,” according to Politico.
“My spidey sense is that’s probably going to be part of what plan comes out of the federal administration’s plan to implement the executive order,” said Nemeth, the Director of the California Department of Water Resources. “The state is open to that. We’re looking for a federal partner to help us work through that information together.”
Delta advocates condemned this plan, saying it will destroy the Delta and its once abundant fish populations and ecosystem.