SACRAMENTO, California — Former President Donald Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom want you to believe they’re on opposite ends of the spectrum on California water. But their policies aren’t drastically different — and both lean toward the Republican-leaning farmers of the Central Valley.
On the campaign trail, Trump has promised to force Newsom to turn on the faucet for water-strapped farmers if he is elected. Meanwhile, Newsom’s putting extra guardrails around his state’s environmental protections in case Trump wins.
But he’s also advancing controversial proposals to store and move around more water, a perennial ask of the agricultural industry, and easing pumping limits meant to protect an endangered fish in order to send more water south to parched farms.
Newsom’s positioning has put the otherwise green-leaning governor squarely on the foe list for environmental groups and garnered him credit from unlikely sources.
