Putting People over Politics: The Glaring Holes in Trump’s New SoCal Executive Order

Author: Jessie Satovsky

Editor: Clara Conry and Sonya Doubledee

President Trump’s second term in office began with a bang. He signed 26 executive orders (EO) on Inauguration Day, on issues including immigration, government structure changes, and the environment. While many of these orders were related to the President’s campaign promises, this ambitious start raises many questions about President Trump’s motivations and goals and what he’ll do throughout his four-year term.

“Operations to move water south through the Delta have absolutely nothing to do with the local fire response in Los Angeles,” Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for Governor Newsom

One of the many EOs redirected water from California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta further south. This order was a 2016 campaign promise by President Trump and order which he issued in 2020. However, the EO was never enforced due to opposition from California Governor Gavin Newsom. Now in his second term as President, Trump has decided to try again with this executive order entitled “Putting People Over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California” (White House, 2025). Besides the bias of its headliner, the science behind the EO is unclear and seemingly does not consider the long-term environmental implications. While providing water for citizens is vital, many LA officials and Southern California residents have explicitly stated that this EO will not affect their water access. Understanding the issues with this order is critical to preserve Californian biodiversity and water, and further spread awareness.

Despite the order’s confident language—it does nothing to resolve water shortages and wildfire issues in California. In fact, it will be detrimental to farmers and firefighters across the state. The new executive order will overwrite current rules that direct the federal Central Valley Project and State Water Project. These two water systems deliver water from Northern California to Southern California residents and farmers (CalMatters, 2025). According to Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for Gov. Newsom, “operations to move water south through the Delta have absolutely nothing to do with the local fire response in Los Angeles,” (Bloomberg, 2025). Thus, the executive order is hollow; by overwriting a more effective rule and forcing a new redistribution of resources, it prioritizes rhetoric over efficiency and effectiveness. Trump directed the Bureau of Reclamation to take precautions and immediate action to prevent state agencies from interfering.

This executive order will be detrimental to Californian biodiversity in already-sensitive ecosystems. Redirecting such a large amount of California’s freshwater will harm protected fish like salmon and smelt. Long-term effects on these populations will damage local ecosystems and commercial fishing, hurting California residents the most. President Trump is not known for his environmental sensitivities; some of his rules from 2019 violated the Endangered Species Act by deeply negatively affecting winter-run Chinook salmon at Shasta Dam and steelhead at Delta pumps. Redirecting the Delta’s water will affect organisms inland and remove vital water needed to sustain the West Coast’s largest estuary. This estuary provides a habitat for many species and is a critical economic and resource center for many residents who depend on it for clean water and commercial activities.

One of the most frustrating parts of this executive order is that it overwrites a deal sponsored by former President Biden and CA Governor Newsom, which was worked out over three years before it was announced at the end of 2024. The Director of California’s Department of Water Resources, Karla Nemeth, said that President Trump’s order will not increase Los Angeles’ access to water, and could harm Central and Southern California communities that depend on water from the Delta. Nemeth complimented Biden and Newsom’s deal, which received support from many Central and Southern California groups that represent local residents and farmers.

On the other hand, President Trump’s recent executive order has received some California support. One supporter is the Westlands Water District, an organization representing part of the San Joaquin Valley farming region in Central Southern California, who applauded Trump’s prioritization of California residents. However, this support emphasizes how the order will largely help farmers rather than fight wildfires or save Southern communities from dry reservoirs.

The lack of substance behind Trump’s EO is emphasized by an environmental analysis conducted by the Bureau of Reclamation. The report found that Biden and Newsom’s rules would send more water to Southern California than President Trump’s plan would. This evidence exemplifies how this order is an effective PR boost but nothing more. According to Southern California water officials, they “have a record amount of water in storage” (CalMatters, 2025). Furthermore, LA Water and Power Department officials said that they had trouble responding to fires because systems could not function at such a high capacity, not because their reservoirs had run dry. In the face of these facts, the utility of Trump’s executive order is incredibly unclear.

Another of the many issues with this order is its lack of detail. The executive order has a glaring hole: it fails to outline any tasks for agencies to carry out. It simply states that executive agencies in California should redirect water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to ‘people in need’ and report back with advice and progress updates in 90 days.

The effects of Trump’s new executive order, and how–or whether–it will be implemented, remains to be seen. Following this order’s developments alongside the plethora of other orders and actions that are to come is all we can do in the coming days. This executive order has some local support and could be helpful to residents, though it could increase some inefficiencies and hurt California’s biodiversity. Like in 2020, it is likely that this new order will face backlash, though it’s unclear what Gov. Newsom will do or if he will have the capacity to block the rule for a second time. The themes of this executive order will likely continue to be repeated throughout the next four years. Staying up-to-date and fact-checking Trump’s loud rhetoric is critical to preserving the environment as well as communities’ health and safety.