Professor Karrigan Börk spoke to the New York Times and several other media outlets about President Donald Trump’s escalating criticism and actions regarding California’s management of its water supplies. During the catastrophic recent wildfires in Los Angeles, then-President-Elect Trump lamented on Truth Social that Gov. Gavin Newsom kept water from Los Angeles to protect “an essentially worthless fish called a smelt.” Trump was alluding to the Delta smelt, a nearly extinct, small fish species found only in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Protected by federal and state laws, the Delta smelt has been the subject of conservative criticism of California water policy for decades. [...] Continue here to read the full article.  

From UC Davis School of Law: "Professor Börk Talks to N.Y. Times, Other Outlets About Trump Blaming L.A. Fires on California Water Policy," January 29, 2025

From HuffPost: "Inside Trump’s Yearslong War With A Fish," January 27, 2025