by Catherine Smith
California is suing the Trump administration for the administration’s failure to protect endangered species in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, Reuters reports.
The lawsuit by the state Attorney General Xavier Becerra, the California Natural Resources Agency and the California Environmental Protection Agency filed suit on Thursday against the Trump administration in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
The attorney general said in a statement, “California won’t silently spectate as the Trump Administration adopts scientifically challenged biological opinions that push species to extinction and harm our natural resources and waterways.”
State officials have complained the Trump administration’s proposed rules don’t do enough to protect endangered species.
Late last year, fulfilling a campaign promise by the president, the administration announced a plan to divert water to California farmers and would change the way the Endangered Species Act was applied.
However, an analysis completed by some experts and federal biologists found the administration’s proposed plan jeopardized the future of endangered fish.
“We are challenging the federal biological opinions, which do not currently govern water project operation in the delta, to protect highly imperiled fish species close to extinction,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said.
Trump’s order comes as the state has taken several steps to deal with the water scarcity that has lasted for decades.
On Wednesday fulfilling his promise, President Trump signed an order in California to re-engineer the state’s water plans. In a news release announcing the action U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said, “President Trump gave the Department of the Interior and the Department of Commerce clear direction to move forward and provide water to California’s communities and farms.
“This action furthers President Trump’s commitment to America’s hardworking farmers who need water to feed our nation,” Bernhardt said.
“A major obstacle to providing water for the region’s farmers has now been totally eliminated by the federal government,” President Trump said Wednesday in Bakersfield, California.
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Catherine Smith is a regular contributor to American Greatness.
