Newsom orders more water for farmers and towns

From CalMatters environment reporter Alastair Bland:

As downpours soak Northern California, Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered state officials to capture and store more stormwater in San Joaquin Valley reservoirs for farmers and towns, and to “remove or minimize” any obstacles that stand in the way. 

If that sounds familiar, it is: The governor issued similar orders two years ago, when he waived environmental laws to store more water as storms drenched the state and caused disastrous flooding. Months later, the Legislature and Newsom enacted a new law that smooths the way for such actions. 

In a video posted on social media, Newsom said he aims to store more stormwater “for people and agriculture.” The three-year, statewide drought “yielded ongoing, significant impacts” on farm communities, he wrote in his order. 

Growers and cities that use water from the State Water Project welcomed Newsom’s action. 

But environmental groups worry that it will kill salmon and other fish spiraling toward extinction. By diverting and storing more water, less is left in Delta rivers for fish.

Environmentalists also noted the similarity between Newsom’s order and President Donald Trump’s order last week to waive the Endangered Species Act and pump more water out of the Delta. The Army Corps of Engineers then abruptly increased outflow from two small San Joaquin Valley reservoirs. 

Trump posted on social media that the water would have prevented the Los Angeles wildfires — but that water does not reach Southern California. It also will do little to help farmers, since they need irrigation water for crops in spring and summer, not now. 

• Jon Rosenfield, science director at San Francisco Baykeeper: “Trump issued an executive order that is nothing short of an assault on California’s environment, and it’s like Newsom said, ‘Hold my beer.’”

Speaking of Trump: On Saturday Trump issued an order imposing tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada and China. The tariffs are meant to hold the countries “accountable to their promises of halting illegal immigration” and stopping fentanyl and other drugs “from flowing into our country,” according to the order.

As CalMatters reported in November, Mexico and China made up 40% of California’s imports in 2023 and the state could feel the brunt of the tariffs. Nationally, prices are projected to rise by nearly 1 percentage point, according to the UCLA Anderson Forecast. Because Canada is also a key supplier of lumber for the U.S., Trump’s order also has major implications for Southern California as it rebuilds from the deadly wildfires.

In addition to customers and small businesses feeling a hit, leaders from Canada and Mexico said they will impose retaliatory tariffs on American goods. California’s top exports include almonds, wine and dairy products.

When voters approved Proposition 35 in November to lock in tax revenue to pay more to the doctors who treat low-income Medi-Cal patients, voters also nixed dedicated funding to keep kids insured, among other Medi-Cal earmarks.

That’s now a problem. As CalMatters’ Kristen Hwang explains, due to administrative errors or missing paperwork, about 400,000 children on Medi-Cal lose coverage every year for a period of time and then must re-enroll. 

To pay for this gap in coverage, Newsom and state legislators passed a law last year allocating $33 million to fund the program starting in 2026. But there’s a rub: The legislation stipulated that continuous coverage would not be funded if Prop. 35 passed, which it overwhelmingly did.

Advocates are now urging Newsom to try again, and allow low-income children to stay on Medi-Cal without renewal requirements until age 5. But they face an uphill battle: To spend Medi-Cal money this way, California needs federal approval. And Trump’s initial attempt to freeze federal funding signaled his intent to slash spending for social safety net programs.

Read more here.

Demand for immigration legal services are skyrocketing at California colleges, write Delilah Brumer and Mercy Sosa of CalMatters’ College Journalism Network. The sudden uptick follows Trump’s pledges of mass deportations and the operations that federal immigration enforcement authorities are carrying out across the U.S. and California.

California has an estimated 100,000 students who are either undocumented or come from mixed-status families — more than any state. Over the last five years, the state has provided $52.2 million to fund college immigration resource centers, also known as Dream centers, to help undocumented students navigate financial aid applications and connect them with free legal services.

Since Trump’s November victory, legal service providers say their free consultations are booked several months out. Some Dream center coordinators also say that state funding is critical to the centers, and are calling for more stable sources of money. 

Read more here.

California’s homeless population grew at a slower rate last year than the rest of the country, according to federal data. CalMatters homelessness reporter Marisa Kendall and video strategy director Robert Meeks have a video segment on the latest homelessness rates as part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it here.

And check out another video by CalMatters College Journalism Network reporters and Robert about the state’s partnership with Nvidia to prepare college students for careers in artificial technology. Watch it here.

SoCalMatters airs at 5:58 p.m. weekdays on PBS SoCal.