House moves to strip protections for fish at heart of California water wars

Three Democrats joined all but one Republican in voting to overturn a Biden-era Endangered Species Act listing for the longfin smelt.

May 01, 2025

President Donald Trump's efforts to "maximize" California's water got a boost Thursday when House lawmakers approved a measure to strip protections for a tiny fish at the heart of the state's long-running water wars.

By a vote of 216-195, House lawmakers passed a Congressional Review Act resolution, (H.J. Res. 78), to overturn a June 2024 decision by the Fish and Wildlife Service to designate longfin smelt as endangered. Three Democrats joined all but one Republican in the vote.

"They're using the longfin smelt as the latest weapon to take water away from farmers, take water away from people who grow some of the richest crops in the great Central Valley of California," Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.), who sponsored the resolution, said before the vote.

It is the longfish smelt's close relative — the delta smelt — that has drawn most of the attention, including Trump's. For nearly a decade, he has blamed protections for the tiny fish that resides in the state's main water hub for causing federal water managers to "waste" water that could otherwise be sent to powerful farm districts in the Central Valley.

But longfin smelt have also been harmed by the same forces that pushed the delta smelt to the brink, namely reductions in water flows in the delta due to pumping, heat and drought. California wildlife officials declared the longfin smelt endangered under state law back in 2009.

Rep. Jared Huffman, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee and an environmental lawyer, said the CRA resolution was scapegoating the fish for the much bigger problems affecting the state's water supplies.

"Removing protections for the longfin smelt will not make it rain, it will not rebuild California's snowpack, it won't refill our reservoirs," he said. "California's water shortages are driven by climate change and also prolonged drought, aging and outdated infrastructure and over-allocation. It's not the fault of some tiny fish."

The Senate has not yet indicated whether it will take up the resolution.

California's water wars have loomed large in Trump's mind since taking office. The White House has issued a series of executive orders demanding that agencies "maximize" water deliveries, has directed water to be dumped from a pair of Central Valley reservoirs, and has called for invoking a provision of the Endangered Species Act known as the "God Squad," which can decide to allow activities that would cause a species to go extinct.


By:  Annie Snider
Source: Politico Pro