Exclusive: Senate Republicans Oppose Water Restrictions With Wildfire Bill

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Senate Republicans are working to eliminate the environmental regulations they think contributed to the devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires last month.

In response to the wildfires, which devastated more than 60 square miles of Southern California, Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., joining two other senators, introduced two measures Tuesday intended to provide foresters and land managers with resources to fight wildfires.

First, the Critical Water Resources Prioritization Act dovetails with President Donald Trump’s executive orders in the wake of the Los Angeles fires, slashing regulations in the Endangered Species Act that limit residents’ water supply.

The bill would provide a “human needs exemption,” granting residents access to water sources they require. It would also authorize federal agencies such as the federal Bureau of Reclamation, an agency of the Interior Department, to grant exemptions to water restrictions.

In addition, Lummis is also introducing the Emergency Fuel Reduction Act, which amends environmental regulations to allow foresters to remove dying trees, other vegetation, and other forms of fuel from the paths of devastating fires.

The legislation coincides with Trump’s assertion that, if Californians were granted full access to their water sources, they would have more easily been able to quell the wildfires.

When the fires broke out in California, the 117 million-gallon Santa Ynez Reservoir was empty, despite the fact that it was designed expressly for the purpose of helping fight fires.

Soon after being inaugurated, Trump harshly criticized California’s policies when he visited the affected areas, telling officials in the charred Pacific Palisades neighborhood, “We want to get that water pouring down here as quickly as possible, let hundreds of millions of gallons of water flow down into Southern California, and that’ll be a big benefit to you.”

Those words coincided with an executive order, “Putting People Over Fish Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California” intended to “route more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to other parts of the state for use by the people there who desperately need a reliable water supply.”

In the order, Trump accused California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state officials of causing damage by directing water into the Pacific Ocean, “allegedly in protection of the Delta smelt and other species of fish.”

Tuesday’s legislation backing up Trump’s push to provide water to vulnerable Californians was introduced by Lummis and two other Western state Republican lawmakers, Sens. John Barrasso of Wyoming and Tim Sheehy of Montana.

For those senators’ states, wildfires are a very real threat, as fires in recent years have burned hundreds of thousands of acres in both Wyoming and Montana.

“After a catastrophic and costly wildfire year across the West, it is even more important to implement policies that prioritize forest management and provide needed water storage flexibility,” Lummis, who chairs the Senate Western Caucus, said in a press statement.

“My legislation would give foresters and local land managers extra tools to protect federal land and communities from avoidable wildfire destruction, as well as the opportunity to put humans over fish and ensure water is available to fight fires,” she said.

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