Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins warned California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Sunday that the Trump administration intends to save several dams that the state intends to tear down. [emphasis, links added]
Last year, Newsom backed a fast-track plan to remove two dams, the Scott and the Cape Horn, on the Eel River in Mendocino County in Northern California, partly to restore salmon runs.
“I got three more years [in office]. And I want to put it all out there,” Newsom said.
His plan is backed by environmental interests and Native American tribes.
But the dams also provide water for local farms and communities, and include hydroelectric power plants.
The utilities say that the aging hydroelectric plants no longer produce electricity, but local communities say that they will struggle to survive without the water that the dams provide.
There is an effort to find alternative sources, but these will likely prove expensive, including deep wells that many farmers cannot afford.
Rollins issued her warning on X on Sunday:
“The work to protect our farmers against a weaponized and often radical government continues,” Rollins wrote, referring to Newsom’s government as well as to the previous Biden administration.
After speaking with “farmers, ranchers, and community leaders” in the community of Potter Valley, she said, she had mobilized other government departments to find “real solutions to secure Potter Valley’s water supply.”
She warned that Newsom is “putting fish over people, destroying century-old farms and leaving families vulnerable to more drought and wildfire.”
“Is this really America?” she asked.
Newsom’s office (via the San Francisco Chronicle) responded by claiming that the power company, Pacific Gas & Electric, was responsible for the decision to take down the dams (despite Newsom’s earlier, enthusiastic support).
“Once she learns how Google works, she should reach out to PG&E,” a spokesperson for Newsom said.
Top image of Scott Dam via InfoPoint/YouTube screencap
Read more at Breitbart
My extended family lives in Oregon just over the boarder from California. A few years ago some dams were removed. What I found very irritating the cost of removing the dams was paid for by a surcharge on their electric bills.
Our local Water Supply comes from a Local Creek and a Small Dam I just hope the Eco-Freak don’t demand it be removed ever since the Klamath Basin Incident back in 2001 just a few Months before 9/11/01