Memorandum on Developing and Delivering More Water Supplies in California
Issued 2020-02-19 by Donald J. Trump
Plain-English Overview
AI-generated summary explaining what this action does, who it affects, and why it matters
The "Memorandum on Developing and Delivering More Water Supplies in California" is a presidential directive issued by President Donald J. Trump in February 2020. This memorandum instructs the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality to work on increasing water supplies in California. It directs them to build upon an existing plan to make water deliveries more reliable and plentiful, and to implement provisions focused on developing water storage, capturing more water during storm events, and fully implementing recent administration improvements to programs under the Endangered Species Act.
This action primarily affects federal agencies responsible for water management and environmental protection in California. It is intended to deliver more water to communities and provide more regulatory certainty for agricultural and municipal water users
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Constitutional Analysis
How this action fits (or doesn't) within Article II authority and existing law
This presidential memorandum ("Memorandum on Developing and Delivering More Water Supplies in California") provides direction to executive branch agencies. The stated purpose: "affected species and their habitats." Presidential memoranda function similarly to executive orders but are typically more narrow in scope, addressing specific agencies or implementation details. The President's authority to direct executive branch operations is grounded in Article II of the Constitution.
Memoranda are a routine administrative tool. They guide agencies on priorities, interpretation of statutes, and implementation procedures. As long as they operate within the bounds of existing law and respect congressional mandates, they are a standard exercise of presidential power that every modern administration has used.
Official Summary
Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2020 Memorandum on Developing and Delivering More Water Supplies in California February 19, 2020 Memorandum for the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality Subject: Developing and Delivering More Water Supplies to California By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby direct the following: Section 1 . Policy . For decades, many of our Federal western water infrastructure investments have been undermined by fragmented and outdated regulatory actions. In a memorandum dated October 19, 2018 (Promoting the Reliable Supply and Delivery of Water in the West), I directed the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce to work together, to the extent practicable and consistent with applicable law, to complete the review of the long-term coordinated operations of the Central Valley Project (CVP) and the California State Water Project (SWP), and subsequently to issue an updated Plan of Operations (Plan) and Record of Decision (ROD). It is the policy of the United States to modernize our Federal western water infrastructure to deliver water and power in an efficient, cost-ef