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Historians and political commentators say a lot happened before Los Angeles and California leaders responded “ridiculously” to devastating wildfires that continue to rage across the region Victor Davis Hansen.
“In order to mitigate this, you have to know what’s wrong, and there are short-term and long-term problems,” Davis, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution public policy think tank, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. “And I don’t Think climate change plays a role, at least not indirectly.”
Davis described the situation as a “wake-up green hydrogen bomb” – via Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass Despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s support for billions of dollars earmarked to address these issues, fire hydrants were empty, reservoirs were dysfunctional and fire departments were underfunded in the critical first 24 hours of the fires. And there is a lack of new water infrastructure.
Historian Victor Davis Hansen shares his analysis of the issues that led to Los Angeles’ catastrophic wildfire management. (Getty Images)
“This is a very fragile system,” Hansen said. “What Gavin Newsom didn’t do is he didn’t take the allocated money to build reservoirs that could accommodate the increased population. Second, he let go of the water that was being pumped through the (Sacramento-San Joaquin River) delta. “In his defence, he said the reservoirs are full and if you look at the largest reservoir it’s only 75% full. It is now in a semi-arid state. “
“The reservoirs are completely full — the state reservoirs in Southern California,” Newsom told NBC News in a pretaped interview that aired Sunday. “I don’t think this kind of misinformation and disinformation does any of us any good or good. help.”
But as of Tuesday, Lake Shasta, California’s largest reservoir, was 77% full, holding about 3.52 million acre-feet of water out of a total storage capacity of 4.55 million acre-feet. According to the Bureau of Reclamation.
Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom’s office for comment but has not yet received a response.
Available in California Reservoirs have limited storage capacity, and many were built in the mid-20th century.
In 2014, Golden State voters passed Proposition 1Also known as the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act, the bill authorizes a $2.7 billion bond issuance to increase the state’s water storage capacity by building new reservoirs and groundwater storage facilities. However, as of January, Proposition 1 had yet to build any new reservoirs.
In 2024, the state experienced record rainfall following an atmospheric river event, but existing water infrastructure faced difficulties managing the sudden influx of water. Multiple California agencies say much of the rainfall is being discharged into the ocean as the state struggles to properly store water.
“There’s a reservoir of about 120 million gallons that could be used because they only have 3 million gallons in reserve — that could have an impact,” Hansen said. “That one has been sitting idle for almost a year because the cap was torn off. . This is nonsense.”
The failed reservoir Hansen was referring to, the Santa Ynez Reservoir in Pacific Palisades, has been closed for repairs since February after its capping designed to maintain water quality ruptured, the Los Angeles Times reported. reported on Tuesday.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has been criticized for traveling to Africa when wildfires broke out, while California Governor Gavin Newsom deflected blame and ordered an independent review of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. (AP/Getty)
Hanson has a central valley He explained that the farm relies on snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
In California’s Central Valley, agricultural water typically comes from the mountains, primarily through the San Joaquin River system, which is supported by major dams such as Shaver, Huntington and Pine Flat. This water is often discharged into the Sacramento River and flows into the Delta. Despite increasing demand, no new dams have been built in the San Joaquin system in decades.
on the west side of the valley, Water comes from melting snow Northern California The Cascade Mountains and northern Sierra fill larger reservoirs such as Oroville and Folsom. These reservoirs are designed to store water during wet years, ensuring a stable water supply during normal years and backup during dry years.
However, California faces a prolonged drought with little rain or snowfall in recent weeks, causing reservoir levels to drop.
“So when Gavin Newsom says, ‘They’re full,’ they’re not all full, but they’re declining rapidly because he’s not going to stop the release into the ocean,” Hansen said. “As you And as I said, they’re still continuing, they’re not pumping 100 percent of the water into the aqueduct that serves Los Angeles agriculture.”
Newsom, meanwhile, placed the blame on local management and ordered an independent review of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
On Jan. 10, Newsom wrote to the department director and the Los Angeles County Public Works director about reports of water outages, “We need to know how this happened.”
‘Devastating’: California saw record rainfall last year but lacks infrastructure to store it
In this drone aerial photo, the main pump in the foreground is part of a groundwater recharge project designed to capture excess flow for groundwater storage in Fresno County, California, March 13, 2023. (Andrew Innerarity/California Department of Water Resources via AP)
Newsom also proposed funding at least $2.5 billion additional funds His office announced Monday to bolster California’s emergency response and Los Angeles’ recovery efforts.
The proposed funding will support recovery and cleanup operations, enhance wildfire preparedness, and assist in the reopening of schools closed due to fires. The funding will come from the state’s Disaster Response Emergency Operations Account, with $1.5 billion coming from the immediate use of the Accelerated Use of Climate Bonds Fund, according to his office.
Containment efforts slightly stepped up on deadly Palisades and Eaton fires Los Angeles County BurningAccording to the latest news released by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection on Wednesday night.
The Palisades Fire is the larger of the two blazes, measuring 23,713 acres as of Wednesday, according to the department, and has reached containment after igniting in the Pacific Palisades community more than a week ago. twenty one%.
As of Wednesday evening, the Eaton Fire in the Altadena/Pasadena area was 45% contained. Both fires broke out on January 7.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Bass’ office for comment.
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Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report.
