Right-wing media push Trump's false claim that California water policies are hurting efforts to suppress LA fires
Right-wing media push Trump's false claim that California water policies are hurting efforts to suppress LA fires
Right-wing media are falsely blaming the reports of low water pressure or dry hydrants in Los Angeles on state and local mismanagement – including suggesting that local authorities refused to fill the reservoirs – and conflating the hydrant issue with the false claim that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s water p...
Casting blame on environmental policies in an attempt to distract from increasingly deadly climate impacts is core to right-wing media’s extreme weather playbook
Right-wing media are falsely blaming the reports of low water pressure or dry hydrants in Los Angeles on state and local mismanagement – including suggesting that local authorities refused to fill the reservoirs – and conflating the hydrant issue with the false claim that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s water policies are to blame.
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According to the LA Times, “Before the fire, all 114 tanks that supply the city water infrastructure were completely filled,” but the firefighting efforts required four times the normal demand, for 15 hours, which reduced water pressure. Fact-checker Verify noted, “Fire hydrants used by firefighters ran out of water because of high water demand that is outpacing the speed at which water service officials can replenish the tanks,” and quoted water policy expert Jeff Mount, who said, “At no time during this fire has there been a shortage of water in southern California. Their reservoirs are full. And there is nothing to be done with water that would have changed the course of these fires.” [Los Angeles Times, 1/8/25; Verify, 1/8/25]
My understanding was that a key reservoir was empty because it needed repairs, but they don't mention this. Did they miss this detail or were earlier reports incorrect?
The obvious answer to that is that the best time to do critical maintenance on a resevoir is when its broken. Which it is. The next best time would be in the coldest and wettest part of the year. January.
Yeah I don't think it was wrong to do so. In the past climate regime, destructive wildfires in January were essentially unheard of. I was just surprised that the article did not mention this detail.