|
Trump signed a presidential memorandum that directs Interior
Secretary Ryan Zinke and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to
"reduce regulatory burdens" and expedite environmental reviews
for projects in the West that provide water for farmers and
power generation.
Water wars have divided the West for decades. The supplies have
been fought over by cities, which tend to be mostly populated by
Democrats, and agricultural interests, which tend to lean
Republican. In addition, Trump's push for water projects is
aimed to win over voters in the region who oppose his crackdown
on immigrants.
"For decades burdensome federal regulations have made it
extremely difficult and expensive to build and maintain federal
water projects," Trump said at the signing of the memo. "Some of
the best farmland in the world, by the way, can't be used
because they don't have water, but they actually have a lot of
water."
California fishermen were expected to oppose any relaxation of
rules that protect populations of salmon and other fish.
Alongside Trump at the Scottsdale memo signing were Republican
U.S. representatives from California Jeff Denham, Devin Nunes
and Kevin McCarthy, the House majority leader. The memo allows
the lawmakers to tell voters they pushed Trump to support water
infrastructure.
It directs Zinke to submit assessments on wildlife at
California's Central Valley Project and the California State
Water Project by Jan. 21, 2019.
David Bernhardt, the 49-year-old deputy secretary of the U.S.
Interior Department, and a former lobbyist for water interests
in the West, told reporters in a teleconference that Trump's
directive "might be the most significant action taken by a
president on western water issues in my lifetime."
The directive "eliminates unneeded burdens while improving
coordination and communication of very complex water storage and
delivery systems," Bernhardt said.
"This is all about getting the agencies to act as efficiently
and as effectively as possible," a senior administration
official on the call said, speaking on the condition of
anonymity.
Asked whether there was a relationship between Trump's signing
of the memorandum and the Nov. 6 elections in which Republicans
are trying to maintain majorities in both the House of
Representatives and the Senate, Bernhardt said, "I'm certainly
not the one who sets timing."
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner and Makini Brice in Washington,
and Jeff Mason in Scottsdale, Ariz.; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
