anyone in calif want to respond ?

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http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-tells-california-there-is-no-drought/ar-BBtz6oK?li=BBnb7Kz

Associated Press Associated Press
By JILL COLVIN and ELLEN KNICKMEYER, Associated Press
14 hrs ago

Trump tells California 'there is no drought'

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FRESNO, Calif. — Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told California voters Friday that he can solve their water crisis, declaring, "There is no drought."

Speaking at a rally in Fresno, Calif., Trump accused state officials of denying water to Central Valley farmers so they can send it out to sea "to protect a certain kind of three-inch fish."

"We're going to solve your water problem. You have a water problem that is so insane. It is so ridiculous where they're taking the water and shoving it out to sea," Trump said to cheers at a rally that drew thousands.

Trump's rallies Friday in Fresno and San Diego drew vocal crowds of protesters, many carrying signs critical of Trump's plan to wall off the U.S. border with Mexico.

About a thousand Trump foes demonstrated outside San Diego's convention center. Police said they made three arrests, including one man who climbed a railing separating protesters from officers. His arrest led protesters to spray water and throw empty plastic bottles at police.

In another tense exchange, demonstrators lurched toward Trump supporters when they left the center after the rally, prompting police to shove back the crowd.

In Fresno, Trump said he spent 30 minutes before the rally meeting with more than 50 farmers who complained to him about their struggles.

"They don't understand — nobody understands it," he said, adding that, "There is no drought."

Trump appeared to be referring to water that runs naturally from the Sacramento River to the San Francisco Bay and then to the ocean. Some farmers want more of that flow captured and diverted to them. The three-inch Delta smelt is a native California fish on the brink of extinction. The smelt has become an emblem in the state's battles over environmental laws and water distribution.

Politically influential rural water districts and well-off corporate farmers in and around California's Central Valley have been pushing back against longstanding federal laws protecting endangered fish and other species, saying federal efforts to make sure endangered native fish have enough water is short-changing farmers of the water they want and need for crops.

Water authorities say they can't do it because of the water rights of those upstream of the farmers, and because of the minimum-water allowances needed by endangered species in the bay and by wildlife in general.

The farm lobby, a heavyweight player in California's water wars, also is seeking federal and state approval for billions of dollars in new water tunnels, dams, water distribution plans, and other projects.

Trump said, "If I win, believe me, we're going to start opening up the water so that you can have your farmers survive."

California is the country's No. 1 agriculture producer. The state's five-year drought is raising the stakes in water disputes among farmers, cities and towns, and environmental interests. California last year marked the driest four-year period in its history, with record low rainfall and snow.

A count by The Associated Press found Thursday that Trump has reached the required number of delegates to officially clinch the Republican nomination.

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Knickmeyer contributed from San Francisco. Associated Press writer Scott Smith contributed to this report.




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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-water-california_us_574910e0e4b03ede4414f435?pr019c05nyzcn89f6r
05/28/2016 09:27 am ET

Donald Trump Tells Drought-Plagued Californians: 'There Is No Drought'
"If I win, believe me, we're going to start opening up the water."


Donald Trump told voters in drought-plagued California on Friday that he had a solution to the water crisis: Open up the water for farmers, because "there is no drought."

"We're going to solve your water problem. You have a water problem that is so insane," the presumptive Republican presidential nominee told a crowd filled with farmers in Fresno. "It is so ridiculous where they're taking the water and shoving it out to sea."

California is now in its fifth year of drought, which has taken a heavy toll on agriculture in particular. Despite an El Niño event that saw an increase last year in snowpacks that supply about one-third of California's water, 86 percent of the state is still considered to be in drought.


OBERT GALBRAITH / REUTERS
The drought has taken a heavy toll on California's Lake Folsom.

Trump insinuated that state officials are mismanaging water policy, at the cost of farmers and their crops. Farmers have sharply criticized the state's irrigation policies, after cuts to water allotments forced them to leave more than a million acres of farmland uncultivated last year.

Water in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, which flows into the San Francisco Bay and onto the ocean, has been a particularly contentious issue. The delta is a key source of water to cities and farms in California's fertile Central Valley region. Some farmers there claim politicians are bending to environmental interests and prioritizing the habitat of fish and wetlands over farmland, creating a "man-made drought."

Trump aligned with those concerns Friday when he said state officials and environmentalists are trying "to protect a three-inch fish," presumably referring to the threatened Delta smelt.

"If I win, believe me, we're going to start opening up the water, so that you can have your farmers survive so that your job market will get better," the reality TV personality told the cheering crowd.

Trump said he had listened to farmers before the rally and many feel that the real reason they aren't getting water is because it is being diverted to the sea. Scientists are concerned that the drought and water diversions away from the estuary could push the smelt to extinction, and imperil other wildlife. As it has federal protections, officials have tipped more water toward the smelt's habitat, which eventually runs into the ocean. Former Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz suggested when he sided with farmers this month that officials should just play music to increase the smelt's libido, rather than send it more water.


HANDOUT . / REUTERS
The California Delta Smelt has become a symbolic front in the battle over water in the drought-stricken state.
"They don't understand it," Trump said. "There is no drought, they turn the water out into the ocean."

He did not go into detail about how officials would open up the water, nor what science supports the claim that the drought is not real. But he did tout himself as a champion of the environment.

"I've received many, many environmental rewards, really. Rewards and awards," Trump said. "I have done very well environmentally. I'm all for it."

"My environmental standard is very simple, I've said it to everybody," he added. "I want clean water. Clean air, clean water."

The businessman was campaigning in California ahead of the state's June 7 primary.

His dubious environmental claims come after he tapped Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), a drilling advocate and climate change skeptic, as his energy advisor this month. And he has vowed to renegotiate the Paris climate agreement. Trump said on Thursday he would throw out a "tremendous number" of federal regulations — "probably 75 percent of which are absolutely terrible."

Editor's note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.