Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Trump Emergency Order Triggers Water Dump From Tulare County Lakes
SJV-Water
By SJV Water
Published 2 weeks ago on
January 31, 2025

Success Lake (above) and Lake Kaweah in Tulare County began releasing massive amounts of water being stored for summer irrigation to comply with President Trump's executive order to send water to Southern California to fight wildfires. (US Army Corps of Engineers)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The sudden announcement Thursday by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that Kaweah and Success lakes would immediately begin dumping water was in response to President Trump’s Jan. 24 executive order mandating that federal officials exert all efforts to get more water to fight southern California wildfires, the Army Corps confirmed Friday.

Lois Henry

SJV Water

“Consistent with the direction in the Executive Order on Emergency Measures to Provide Water Resources in California, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is releasing water from Terminus Dam at Lake Kaweah and Schafer Dam at Success Lake to ensure California has water available to respond to the wildfires,” wrote Gene Pawlik, a supervising public affairs specialist in the Army Corps’ Washington, D.C. office.

Tulare County water managers were perplexed and frustrated, noting both physical and legal barriers that make it virtually impossible for Tulare County river water to be used for southern California fires.

First, it would have to be pumped at great expense across the San Joaquin Valley to get to the California Aqueduct and then travel hundreds of miles south.

Second, this isn’t “loose” water free for the taking.

“Every drop belongs to someone,” said Kaweah River Watermaster Victor Hernandez. “The reservoir may belong to the federal government, but the water is ours. If someone’s playing political games with this water, it’s wrong.”

Water Managers Received an Hour’s Notice

It was no game on Thursday when area water managers were given about an hour’s notice that the Army Corps planned to release water up to “channel capacity,” the top amount rivers can handle, immediately.

The Army Corps later agreed to more measured releases, alleviating a mad scramble to alert first responders and have crews on standby in case river banks were breached and levees overtopped, as happened during the 2023 floods.

Flows in the Tule River went from 55 cubic feet per second Thursday to a high of 987 cfs and dropped to 798 cfs by Friday afternoon. Kaweah flows went from 5 cfs to 1,545 cfs.

That’s where flows are expected to stay, according to Tulare Irrigation District Aaron Fukuda.

“Every drop belongs to someone. The reservoir may belong to the federal government, but the water is ours. If someone’s playing political games with this water, it’s wrong.” — Kaweah River Watermaster Victor Hernandez

How long those flows will last is another question left unanswered by the Army Corps.

Location map for Lake Kaweah and Lake Success
Locater map for Lake Kaweah and Lake Success (SJV Water)

Districts Allowed to Hold Excess Water

The releases are from excess water that downstream districts are allowed to hold in reservoirs to hedge against dry years.

The Army Corps requires its reservoirs to be drawn down in fall to keep “flood control capacity,” or space, available in anticipation of winter storms and spring snowmelt.

Typically, however, ag users can negotiate to hold a little extra water in the lakes, or “encroach” on that flood control capacity, depending on weather forecasts, climate models, and snow surveys.

The winter flood control capacity limit for Lake Kaweah is 12,000 acre feet and it was holding about 39,000 acre feet Thursday morning, according to Hernandez.

He said that under the sort of dry conditions now being experienced in the region, Army Corps guidelines allow the lake to go up to 72,000 acre-feet.

“We just had a snow survey 10 days ago that showed very little snow coverage, about 45,000 acre-feet, and were talking almost daily with the Corps watching forecasts for these new storms that are expected to get us about an inch,” Hernandez said. “There was no risk of flood at this point.”

He was still stunned by the call he got Thursday ordering Kaweah to evacuate 27,000 acre feet immediately. Success was ordered to dump 4,923 acre-feet to bring it down to 12,295 acre-feet.

‘A Complete Lack of Understanding’

The Army Corps did not respond to questions about whether it will keep all its California reservoirs at flood control capacity going into the future. If so, that could have a major impact on how much is available for irrigation.

“A decision to take summer water from local farmers and dump it out of these reservoirs shows a complete lack of understanding of how the system works and sets a very dangerous precedent,” said Dan Vink, a longtime Tulare County water manager and principal partner at Six-33 Solutions, a water and natural resource firm in Visalia.

“This decision was clearly made by someone with no understanding of the system or the impacts that come from knee-jerk political actions.”

For now, water managers are capturing flows in recharge basins, Eric Limas, General Manager for the Lower Tule River and Pixley irrigation districts, wrote in a text.

“I have no idea if this is the new norm for operations or not. I certainly hope not.”

About the Author

CEO and editor Lois Henry has spent 30 years covering the San Joaquin Valley.

About SJV Water

SJV Water is an independent, nonprofit news site covering water in the San Joaquin Valley, www.sjvwater.org. Email us at sjvwater@sjvwater.org.

 

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Mind-to-Text: How AI Is Learning to Decode Brain Signals Into Sentences

DON'T MISS

NAACP Urges Support for Companies Upholding DEI Commitments

DON'T MISS

Rape Lawsuit Against Jay-Z and Diddy Dropped, Legal Battles Continue for Combs

DON'T MISS

Big Homeowner Rate Hike From State Farm Shot Down by California Regulator

DON'T MISS

Draymond Green on the State of the NBA: It’s ‘Boring,’ the Warriors Star Says

DON'T MISS

DOJ Seeks to Drop Corruption Case Against NYC Mayor Eric Adams

DON'T MISS

US Deports Immigrants to Venezuela After Judge Blocked Transfer to Guantanamo Bay

DON'T MISS

Abortions To Resume In Missouri After A Judge Blocks Restrictions

DON'T MISS

Legislative Immunity: A Privilege in Most States—Lawmaker’s Speeding Ticket May Change That

DON'T MISS

Trump’s EPA Reforms Cast Doubt on Toxic Site Cleanups

UP NEXT

NAACP Urges Support for Companies Upholding DEI Commitments

UP NEXT

Rape Lawsuit Against Jay-Z and Diddy Dropped, Legal Battles Continue for Combs

UP NEXT

Big Homeowner Rate Hike From State Farm Shot Down by California Regulator

UP NEXT

Draymond Green on the State of the NBA: It’s ‘Boring,’ the Warriors Star Says

UP NEXT

DOJ Seeks to Drop Corruption Case Against NYC Mayor Eric Adams

UP NEXT

US Deports Immigrants to Venezuela After Judge Blocked Transfer to Guantanamo Bay

UP NEXT

Abortions To Resume In Missouri After A Judge Blocks Restrictions

UP NEXT

Legislative Immunity: A Privilege in Most States—Lawmaker’s Speeding Ticket May Change That

UP NEXT

Trump’s EPA Reforms Cast Doubt on Toxic Site Cleanups

UP NEXT

Rwanda-Backed Rebels Advance in Eastern Congo, Thousands Flee

Big Homeowner Rate Hike From State Farm Shot Down by California Regulator

12 hours ago

Draymond Green on the State of the NBA: It’s ‘Boring,’ the Warriors Star Says

13 hours ago

DOJ Seeks to Drop Corruption Case Against NYC Mayor Eric Adams

14 hours ago

US Deports Immigrants to Venezuela After Judge Blocked Transfer to Guantanamo Bay

14 hours ago

Abortions To Resume In Missouri After A Judge Blocks Restrictions

14 hours ago

Legislative Immunity: A Privilege in Most States—Lawmaker’s Speeding Ticket May Change That

14 hours ago

Trump’s EPA Reforms Cast Doubt on Toxic Site Cleanups

14 hours ago

Rwanda-Backed Rebels Advance in Eastern Congo, Thousands Flee

14 hours ago

Kyle Larson Eyes Elusive Daytona 500 Win After Hot Start to 2025

15 hours ago

White South Africans Rally for Trump, Claim Racism Victimhood

15 hours ago

Mind-to-Text: How AI Is Learning to Decode Brain Signals Into Sentences

Imagine a world where your brain activity could be translated into text without lifting a finger. Sounds like the plot of a Black Mirror epi...

7 hours ago

7 hours ago

Mind-to-Text: How AI Is Learning to Decode Brain Signals Into Sentences

10 hours ago

NAACP Urges Support for Companies Upholding DEI Commitments

10 hours ago

Rape Lawsuit Against Jay-Z and Diddy Dropped, Legal Battles Continue for Combs

12 hours ago

Big Homeowner Rate Hike From State Farm Shot Down by California Regulator

13 hours ago

Draymond Green on the State of the NBA: It’s ‘Boring,’ the Warriors Star Says

14 hours ago

DOJ Seeks to Drop Corruption Case Against NYC Mayor Eric Adams

14 hours ago

US Deports Immigrants to Venezuela After Judge Blocked Transfer to Guantanamo Bay

14 hours ago

Abortions To Resume In Missouri After A Judge Blocks Restrictions

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend