Reactions poured in Monday to President Donald Trump’s executive order on California water management over the weekend. The order calls for ensuring adequate resources in Southern California by “overriding disastrous California policies.”
The president directed the Bureau of Reclamation to deliver more water and produce more hydropower by jointly operating state and federal facilities, despite state or local laws to the contrary. Reclamation must take steps to ensure the Department of Water Resources does not interfere with the directive, according to the order.
Reax: Water districts welcomed the support in modernizing operations. Allison Febbo, general manager of the Westlands Water District, said the challenges Trump described are real and the efforts to tackle them over the decades are not working.
The Friant Water Authority praised Trump for “consistently demonstrating bold leadership in tackling the policies and regulatory obstacles.” The farm water agency said the order “has brought renewed hope to the Central Valley and beyond.”
While welcoming a new partnership, the State Water Contractors gave a nod to recent progress in updating water regulations. The association noted the current delivery rules “are guided by real-time science to maximize water supplies and deliveries for all users.” But the aging infrastructure needs improvement projects like Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Delta tunnel, according to the contractors.
But: Tribes and sportfishing and environmental groups raised alarms. Scott Artis, executive director of the Golden State Salmon Association, called the order a federal water grab to deliver more supplies to agricultural barons. Artis and other groups worried Trump would revive the effort to raise Shasta Dam, which stalled under the state’s legal challenge. He said overriding endangered species protections and the resulting fish die offs would collapse the commercial fishing industry.
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta, said the order would exacerbate toxic algal blooms in the Delta, harming the health of local communities.
Trump to GOP: Please ‘stick together' this time
House Republicans are down in Florida today trying to hash out plans for the budget reconciliation process that’s critical to President Donald Trump’s spending and tax priorities. Monday evening, Trump appealed to the GOP rank and file to get unified behind the agenda.
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“You have to stick together,” Trump said. “It’s the one thing I would say we don’t get very high marks [on]. Everything is so hard. We always have two, or three, or five or something, people who just don’t want to do it. You’ve just got to do it.”
By the way: Trump spent a significant portion of his remarks to the GOP doubling down on his plans to use tariffs to protect U.S. industries. He stressed targeting specific products, steel, aluminum, copper, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.
“We're going to protect our people and our businesses, and we're going to protect our country with tariffs,” he said. He cited Sunday’s trade spat with Colombia as proof that tariffs — or the threats of tariffs — can get results.
Study: Canada, Mexico to lose big from tariff plans, others may gain
A new study being released today by Cornell University finds that if Trump implements proposed tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, the U.S.’ neighbors stand to suffer the most. On the other hand, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Vietnam would benefit from diverted trade flows.
Trump has suggested a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico and a 10% duty on Chinese products could come as soon as Saturday. If enacted, the proposals would reduce Canadian prosperity by more than 10% and Mexico’s by nearly 7%, a joint study from researchers in China, Australia and the U.S. finds.
The U.S. and China, meanwhile, would suffer only small losses to economic prosperity of less than 1%.
Remember: Researchers found the losses will be highly concentrated in the soybean, corn, ethanol, wheat and dairy sectors. Accordingly, Illinois and Nebraska stand to lose more than $1 billion in export losses, while Iowa’s losses could top $2 billion.
Ag producers seek legislation to deal with labor issues
Deportations are on the mind of many in the agricultural industry, some of whom are calling on Congress yet again to pass the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.
“While we remove dangerous individuals, we must also protect law-abiding immigrant workers who are vital to sectors like agriculture, health care, construction and manufacturing,” said Rebecca Shi, CEO of the American Business Immigration Coalition.
“Some sort of opportunity for legal status for [immigrant] workers would be really valuable,” Matt Teagarden, CEO of the Kansas Livestock Association, said on a webinar Monday hosted by the ABIC. The FWMA would provide a path to legal immigration status and citizenship for farmworkers.
Growers “desperately need … sensible immigration labor reform,” said Tony DiMare of Florida tomato grower DiMare Homestead. He said he supports targeting of criminals who are “not upholding the laws of this country and creating fear, and jeopardizing the safety and welfare of American citizens.”
At the AFBF annual meeting, Arizona Farm Bureau President John Boelts, said on a labor panel, “Those of us in agriculture have always said, ‘Congress, however you want to do it is up to you. That’s above our pay grade. But here’s what agriculture needs’.”
Final word
“I really don't have a time frame for the farm bill, except to say that sooner than later, because the longer that we wait until the fall, the more likely we're going to have to come back next December and ask for more economic disaster relief.” – House Ag Committee Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., speaking at the AFBF annual meeting with the panel’s ranking member, Angie Craig, D-Minn.
