Alex Padilla U.S. Senator for California

By Ashley Zavala

A day after President Donald Trump claimed to have used the U.S. military and emergency powers to pump more water from Northern California to Southern California, federal officials have yet to provide details or explain the action.

In a Truth Social post on Monday night, the President wrote, “The United States Military just entered the Great State of California and, under Emergency Powers, TURNED ON THE WATER flowing abundantly from the Pacific Northwest, and beyond. The days of putting a Fake Environmental argument, over the PEOPLE, are OVER. Enjoy the water, California!!!”

California U.S. Senator Alex Padilla sent a letter to Trump’s Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday afternoon, demanding clarity on the President’s use of the military and executive powers. He also asked how much more water is now flowing through the federal pump.

“Clarity and transparency on these matters are crucial to ensure that the public is properly informed and that any actions comply with federal laws governing the use of the U.S. military within the United States,” Padilla wrote.

Several state water experts told KCRA 3 on Tuesday the President was referring to the C.W. Bill Jones Pumping Plant in Tracy. As of Tuesday night, the Bureau of Reclamation had yet to respond to repeated requests for comment and information.

California’s Department of Water Resources denied that the military came into the state to do the water work, and that the President’s post was the result of the conclusion of routine maintenance at the plant.

“Between [January] 21st and 24th the federal government was doing maintenance on their system. It’s a maintenance that is well coordinated with the state water project that does not end pumping, it shifts some of the responsibility,” Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporters in Los Angeles on Tuesday. “It takes a few days to get the pumps back to 100%, I think perhaps that’s what they were celebrating and reflecting on last night.”

The Trump administration’s new Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE, posted on X that it had visited the site and congratulated the Department of the Interior and Bureau of Reclamation for “more than doubling the Federally pumped water flowing toward Southern California in < 72 hours. Was an honor for the DOGE team to work with you.”

David Guy, the President of the Northern California Water Association echoed the governor’s account of what happened.

“My understanding is that the federal system was down for several days, and I believe it was for routine maintenance,” Guy told KCRA 3 in an interview. “That’s one of the challenges of being a water manager is you sometimes have to stop the system so that you can do the maintenance that is important to keep the infrastructure fresh. My understanding is those systems are back online, and water is absolutely flowing south.”

Guy noted the Tracy facility is near a state water project facility known as Clifton Court Forebay in the San Joaquin Delta.

“Those projects are very closely operated together,” Guy said. He said both systems go into the San Luis Reservoir to be used at a later time during dryer parts of the year.

Former Republican State Senator Brian Dahle told KCRA 3 he was not sure what happened Monday night, but noted the flow of water from Northern California to Southern California is controlled by a system that involves a series of decisions.

“We do have the aqueduct, we have San Luis Reservoir, we have the abilities to move water south, absolutely,” Dahle said. “There’s pumps in Tracy that we use to take water out of the Delta, and those pumps are regulated by the smelt, when you can pump and when you can’t pump,” he said. “There are certain times you can pump, and certain times you can’t turn the pumps on.”

“They’re really good systems,” Guy said of both the state and federal systems. “My sense is both administrations are really committed to doing that, they just have to kind of say what they need to every now and then.”

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