Memo Reveals Army Corps Of Engineers Knew Trump’s Releases Of 2 Billion Gallons Of California Water Would Be Wasteful

President Donald Trump ordered the release of billions of gallons of water in California’s Central Valley in late January, arguing that flows could have helped Los Angeles during the devastating wildfires. An order from Washington directed the Army Corps of Engineers to suddenly release water from two dams. Around 2.2 billion gallons of reservoir water from Terminus Dam at Lake Kaweah and Schafer Dam at Lake Success in Tulare County was sent into the San Joaquin Valley. 

The water stored in the two reservoirs is a vital source for many farms and ranches in the San Joaquin Valley during the driest times of the year. The reservoirs are also among the few the president can control directly. 

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“Everybody should be happy about this long-fought Victory!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social the day the release was ordered, boasting that he opened a flow for 5.2 billion gallons of water alongside a photo of a waterway. Local water authorities moved to convince federal officials to bring the total down to 2 billion, which was released over three days.

“No one can make heads or tails out of what Donald Trump did or why, or thinks it makes any sense whatsoever,” Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California) said in an MSNBC interview. “That water can’t get to Los Angeles. The fires are out, they’re not five percent contained, or 20 percent or 50 percent contained. They’re 100 percent contained. So, that water is going to be of no use to firefighters.”

Los Angeles County’s devastating January fires prompted Trump to issue an executive order that directed U.S. government agencies to override California’s water policies as needed. The Washington Post accessed an internal memo detailing that Army Corps officials knew that the sudden dam releases wouldn’t help Southern California. 

Four days after the release, Col. Chad W. Caldwell, commander of the Army Corps’ Sacramento District, wrote in a memo that on the afternoon before releases began, federal and state water officials told him, “It would take more time for them to activate their systems and they likely could not utilize the additional water with such short notice.” 

Caldwell also wrote in the memo that the water from the two reservoirs “could not be delivered to Southern California directly” but that the releases were aimed at following Trump’s executive order. 

The water ended up being used downstream of the reservoirs for “limited irrigation demand” and “groundwater recharge,” according to a joint statement from local water agencies.

Rep. Jim Costa (D-California), who represents part of the San Joaquin Valley, wrote in a Feb. 1 letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that the releases pose “grave threats to a reliable water supply this year.” He added that it could “increase the cost of water for farmers for this crop year exponentially due to dry conditions anticipated.”