No, California is not trying to irrigate the Pacific Ocean
Trying to debunk all of Trump's lies is playing whack-a-mole. But there is one recent lie that was new to me. His claim: "California is going to have to ration water. You know why? Because they send millions of gallons of water out to sea, out to the Pacific, because they want to take care of certain little tiny fish that aren't doing very well without water, to be honest with you."
First of all, whenever Trump says "to be honest with you," it's a tell. He's not being honest with you.
And no, fish in the sea are not without water. In fact, sea levels are rising, not falling. What is this bafflegab about? Turns out that a small amount of fresh water is being diverted to freshwater estuaries to prevent saltwater intrusion that is fatal to endangered delta smelt and other fish. But it also protects farmland.
"Though many believe that the increase of freshwater flow through the delta is a waste of water to protect smelt, the main reason for the freshwater outflow is to decrease salinity in the delta in general, not just for delta smelt. In fact, maintaining proper salinity is helpful to the farmers as well, as it prevents saltwater from being pumped into agricultural land. High salinity values are common when freshwater is exported through pumps to agricultural land. From 2011 to 2016, freshwater outflow used to protect Endangered Species Act-listed species only accounted for 6.5% of the freshwater outflow.
However, delta smelt continue to take the blame for the water controversy in California, often scapegoated when farmers face challenges involving water. Delta smelt are often portrayed in the media as the useless fish responsible for farmers losing crops and jobs."
https://envirobites.org/2019/06/24/farmers-vs-fish-the-story-of-delta-smelt/?fbclid=IwAR2dU25mlM5iWsJSZxYwhZwXbawPkaTv-Pyt2A1yS4PGhQd5laraoSMv1BM
ENVIROBITES.ORG
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