Michael Gennaro

(CN) — Environmentalists and California state leaders on Monday slammed President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to circumvent both California and federal law by taking a massive water conveyance system — and threatening to withhold federal wildfire disaster relief.

"It’s sickening to see this pointless attack on California’s water management. And it’s disgusting that Trump is still threatening to hold desperately needed relief funds hostage. This order allows the lead Project 2025 author and incoming director of the Office of Management and Budget to potentially indefinitely withhold all federal financial assistance to California over perceived disagreements on immigration policies or other extreme MAGA ideas,” said Kierán Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement. “We won’t stand by and watch this lawless president blatantly disregard the safeguards that protect both people and the environment.”

The order, issued over the weekend, calls for the federal Central Valley Project in California, which is operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, to deliver more water "notwithstanding any contrary state or local laws."  The order directs the heads of the departments of Defense, Justice, Homeland Security, Commerce, Interior and Agriculture to take measures to ensure Southern California has adequate water resources.

It also specifically calls on the interior and commerce secretaries to immediately take action "to override existing activities that unduly burden efforts to maximize water deliveries." California's State Water Project conveyance system shares many facilities with the Central Valley Project, but while the federal system serves primarily agricultural users in the Central Valley, the State Water Project's main function is to deliver water to urban users — including in Southern California, where the federal project does not go.

The order invokes Trump's national energy emergency declaration, meaning all actions taken to move more water are exempt from Endangered Species Act requirements or considerations.

The presidential action also threatens to cut off federal funding to the Golden State by ending  "the subsidization of California's mismanagement.”

Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for California Governor Gavin Newsom, said in a statement Monday that there was no shortage of water in Southern California to fight the fires that broke out earlier this month, and that Newsom has already opened an investigation into the local response to the blazes.

“The premise of this executive order is false. Attempts to connect water management in Northern California to local wildfire fighting in Los Angeles have zero factual basis," Gallegos said. "California continues to pump as much water as it did under the Trump administration’s policies, and water operations to move water south through the delta have absolutely nothing to do with the local fire response in Los Angeles."

Trump has repeatedly claimed that firefighters were not given enough water to combat the Los Angeles fires and could have been given enough water easily.

Before Trump’s visit to California this past Friday, Newsom called the president's criticism of water management in the state unfair.

“Maybe the president doesn’t know that there’s not a spigot that can be turned that can solve all the water problems that he alleges exist, that don’t exist when it comes to the state water project here in California," Newsom told reporters Friday.

California Representative Jared Huffman, a Democrat representing California’s 2nd Congressional District and the ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, blasted the executive order in a statement released Sunday.

“Do not be fooled by Trump’s lies: none of the policies in this executive order will move even a single drop of extra water to communities devastated by these wildfires. This administration is presenting us with a false choice. Fishers, farmers, treasured species, and every water user all depend on our water resources — we do not have to pick winners or losers,” Huffman said.

Jon Rosenfield, the science director for the environmental nonprofit San Francisco Baykeeper, said Trump is deliberately misinforming people about the causes of Los Angeles’ wildfires in order to distract people from his real goal, which is to divert water to wealthy corporate cattle ranchers and nut farms.

“Ultimately, environmental laws protect people and communities. Increasing water diversions beyond levels that are already unsustainable will harm communities that rely on San  Francisco Bay’s water quality and fisheries. We call on Governor Newsom to help the people of Los Angeles recover, quickly, while defending California’s waters, wildlife, and vulnerable communities from the Trump’s radical anti-environmental agenda,” Rosenfield said.

Directors for California’s water and resources agencies could not be reached for comment before press time.