LOS ANGELES - Scientists, water managers, state leaders, and experts throughout the state are calling out the federal administration’s ongoing misinformation campaign on water management in California. Here is a snapshot of what water leaders and media are saying in California and nationally:

State water officials and water districts weigh in 

Association of California Water Agencies: “Water supply has not hindered firefighting efforts. Reservoirs in California are at or above average storage levels for this time of year, thanks in part to years of proactive water management.” 

Deven Upadhyay, Metropolitan Water District: “The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has enough water in storage to meet roughly three years of water demand. We can deliver what our agencies need.”

Marty Adams, former general manager and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power or DWP: “?There’s way more water in local storage than you could ever fight a fire with.”

Jennifer Pierre, general manager, State Water Contractors: “The policies currently in place overseeing the movement of California water maximize supply in compliance with the law and based on best available science.”

Leading state researchers and university professors 

Tom Holyke, Fresno State University political science and water policy professor: “There is no ‘valve…’”

Letitia Grenier, director of the Public Policy Institute of California’s Water Policy Center: “The transfer of water from Northern California to Southern California is not related to water availability to fight the fires in the Los Angeles area. Currently, reservoirs in the Los Angeles area are mostly full.”

Stephanie Pincetl, director of the California Center for Sustainable Communications at UCLA: “We’re finger pointing away from the problem. ?We have really no lack of water. What we have is an infrastructure that is not made to fight cataclysmic fires, biblical-size fires.” 

 Community voices push back on misinformation

 Peter Gleick, hydro-climatologist and co-founder of the Pacific Institute: “[Trump’s order on California water policy] is what you get when you mix bluster, ignorance, and disinformation. There are no ‘enormous amounts of water’ that can be redirected legally, economically, or environmentally to different users in California ….” 

John Buse, general counsel for the Center for Biological Diversity: “It’s difficult to explain what he’s talking about because nobody knows what he’s talking about. The idea of a valve and water will just flow is preposterous.”

Mark Gold, water scarcity director for the Natural Resources Defense Council and a board member of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California: “Tying Bay-Delta management into devastating wildfires that have cost people’s lives and homes is nothing short of irresponsible, and it’s happening at a time when the Metropolitan Water District has the most water stored in its system in the history of the agency. It’s not a matter of having enough water coming from Northern California to put out a fire….”

“Los Angeles has access to more than enough water to fight the fires. I can say with great authority, we have as much water stored as any time in the history of our agency.”

LA Water Keeper: “There is no need to increase water deliveries from the Bay-Delta or any other source from which LA imports water for the region to be able to fight the current fires.”   

Miles Johnson, Columbia Riverkeeper: “That idea [of a valve] is completely far-fetched and detached from reality.”   

Jason Wise @jasonjourneyman, water and environment influencer: “LA has plenty of water, reservoirs are near full because of the last two years of heavy rain. Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to score political points off a tragedy.”

State and national elected leaders defend California water, rebuke false claims

Senator Alex Padilla: “Trump is fixated on false claims about California’s water supply. And he’s using it to withhold disaster aid from wildfire victims…Let’s get one easy thing out of the way. There’s no ‘valve’ that needs to be turned.”

California State Assemblymember Isaac G. Bryan: “I hope while Trump is in California he takes us to the giant faucet that he says releases all the water. I chair the state Natural Resource Committee and I’d love to see it. It’s got to be huge. We could turn it on together.”

Fact checks in the media

POLITIFACT: “Experts said that statewide, there are no major reservoirs that have been dry for more than 15 years, and most of California’s reservoirs are above their historic average storage.”

New York Times: In California Fires, Trump Blames Newsom for Withholding Water. Experts Say He’s Wrong

Wall Street Journal: The LA Fires have sparked waves of criticism and misinformation. Here’s what really happened with the fire hydrants and California’s water system.

Washington Post: Trump says a ‘valve’ can fix California’s water. It’s not that easy 

Los Angeles Times: Trump wants to alter California water policy. Experts say it could do harm

The Guardian: ‘Chaos agent’ Trump revives California water wars as experts warn of turmoil

Calmatters: Fact check: Donald Trump’s claims about LA fires and water

USA Today: Of fish and men: Trump’s California water order takes aim at Newsom and troubled smelt

Capital Public Radio: Conspiracies are rife about water and the LA fires. Here’s what experts say

KQED: Trump again wades into California water use fight, drawing skepticism from experts

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Fact check: Trump’s blame claims about wildfire response

Associated Press: Trump targets California water policy as he prepares to tour LA fire damage

Get the facts 

FACT: California pumps as much water now as it could under prior Trump-era policies.   

FACT: Water reservoirs in Southern California are at record levels. There is no shortage of water in Southern California.

FACT: Most of Southern California’s water does not come from Northern California. In fact, Southern California gets roughly a third of its water from Northern California, a third from the Colorado River, and a third from local sources.

FACT: State water operations have nothing to do with the local fire response in Los Angeles. The federal administration’s statements have been repeatedly fact-checked and debunked. 

FACT: There is no spigot to magically make water appear at a wildfire, despite the administration’s false claims.