In an apparent poke at California politics, one of President Donald Trump's executive orders on Monday directed federal agencies “to route more water" from across the state instead of trying to protect a nearly extinct tiny fish species. Experts say the state's water flow has been complex for more than four decades, and the president's mandate might be considered a bit fishy as he tries to keep a longstanding campaign promise. In the executive order titled “Putting People Over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California,” Trump mandated water from Northern California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, one of the state's main water sources, to be redirected south.

Trump issued an executive order to the Interior and Commerce departments, under the title “Putting People over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California.” The order directs the departments to find a way to “route more water” from California’s wet north to its dry south, where Trump says the population “desperately need a reliable water supply.” The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is a major water hub for California, providing water to about 30 million people and irrigating 6 million acres of farmland.

The executive order is seen as a continuation of efforts from Trump's first term, during which he signed new biological opinions allowing more federal water to flow through California. The Biden administration later reversed these rules. The order reads in part, "I hereby direct the Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the heads of other departments and agencies of the United States as necessary, to immediately restart the work from my first Administration by the National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, and other agencies to route more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to other parts of the state for use by the people there who desperately need a reliable water supply." Promoted