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Many things preceded the “nonsensical” response by Los Angeles and California leaders to the devastating wildfires that continue to rage in the region, according to historian and political commentator Victor Davis Hanson.
“To remedy the situation, you have to know what went wrong, and there were short-term and long-term problems,” Davis, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution public policy think tank, said in an interview Tuesday with Fox News Digital. “And I don’t think climate change played a role, at least not a non-direct role.”
Davis described the situation as a “woke green hydrogen bomb” – by Karen Bass, Mayor of Los Angeles Absence during the critical first 24 hours of the inferno featured empty fire hydrants, a dysfunctional reservoir, a lack of funding for the fire department and a lack of new water infrastructure, despite Gov. Gavin Newsom supporting the billions of dollars earmarked to deal with the problem.
Historian Victor Davis Hanson shares his analysis of what went wrong that led to the disastrous wildfire suppression in Los Angeles. (Getty Images)
“It’s a very fragile system,” Hanson said. “What Gavin Newsom didn’t do is he didn’t take the allocated money to build the reservoirs that would have absorbed the growing population. Secondly, the water that is pumped across the sea.” [Sacramento-San Joaquin River] He allowed Delta to sail out into the bay amid demands from environmentalists. In his defense he said the reservoirs were full. That’s not true. If you look at the largest one, it’s only 75% full and we’re in a semi-drought right now.”
Newsom told NBC News in a pre-recorded interview that aired Sunday: “The reservoirs are completely full – the state reservoirs here in Southern California. I do not believe this misinformation and disinformation will benefit or benefit any of us.”
But as of Tuesday, Shasta Lake, California’s largest reservoir, was at 77% capacity, holding about 3.52 million acre-feet of water out of its total capacity of 4.55 million acre-feet. according to the Bureau of Reclamation.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Newsom’s office for comment and has not yet heard back.
California exists Reservoirs can only hold a certain amount of water and many were built in the mid-20th century.
In 2014, Golden State voters voted Proposal 1also known as the Water Quality, Supply and Infrastructure Improvement Act, which authorized $2.7 billion in bonds to increase the state’s water storage capacity through the construction of new reservoirs and groundwater storage facilities. However, no new reservoirs under Project 1 had been completed as of January.
In 2024, the state experienced record-breaking rainfall following an atmospheric river event, but existing water infrastructure struggled to handle the sudden influx of water. A significant portion of that rainfall was dumped into the ocean as the state struggled to properly store the water, several California officials said.
“There was about a 120 million gallon storage tank that could have been used because they only had three million in reserve – that probably would have made the difference,” Hanson said. “It sat idle for almost a year and that was because the cover was torn. That was just nonsense.”
The out-of-service reservoir Hanson mentioned, known as Santa Ynez Reservoir in Pacific Palisades, has been closed for repairs since February due to a crack in its cover designed to maintain water quality, the Los Angeles Times first reported Tuesday.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was criticized for being on a trip to Africa when the wildfires broke out, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom shifted blame and called for an independent review of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Angeles ordered. (AP/Getty)
Hanson has a Central Valley Farm that relies on snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada mountains, he explained.
In California’s Central Valley, agricultural water typically comes from the Sierra, primarily through the San Joaquin River system, which is supported by large dams such as Shaver, Huntington and Pine Flat. This water is often discharged into the Sacramento River, which 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 Cascade Range and the Northern Sierra, which fill larger reservoirs such as Oroville and Folsom. These reservoirs were designed to store water in wet years to ensure a constant supply in average years and a reserve in drought years.
However, California has experienced a prolonged dry spell in recent weeks with little rain and snow, leading to a decline in reservoirs.
“So when Gavin Newsom says, ‘They’re full,’ they’re not all full, but they’re sinking at a high rate because he’s not going to stop the releases into the ocean,” Hanson said. “As you and I speak, they are still operating, and they are not pumping 100% of it to the aqueduct that serves agriculture in Los Angeles.”
Newsom has since shifted blame to local management and ordered an independent review of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
“We need answers about how this happened,” Newsom wrote Jan. 10 to the department’s director and the Los Angeles County public works director, referring to reports of lost water service.
In this aerial drone photo, the primary pump in the foreground is part of a groundwater recharge project aimed at capturing excess flow for groundwater storage in Fresno County, California, March 13, 2023. (Andrew Interior/California Department of Water Resources via AP)
Newsom, for his part, also proposed providing at least $2.5 billion additional financing to bolster California’s emergency response and recovery efforts in Los Angeles, his office announced Monday.
The proposed funding would support recovery and cleanup efforts, improve wildfire preparedness and help reopen schools that were closed due to the fires. Funding would come from the state’s Disaster Response Emergency Operations Account, with $1.5 billion coming from accelerated use of climate bond funds for immediate use, his office said.
Containment of the deadly Palisades and Eaton fires has increased slightly Burning in Los Angeles Countyaccording to a Wednesday evening update from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The Palisades Fire, the larger of the two at 23,713 acres as of Wednesday, is 21% contained after igniting in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood more than a week ago, according to the department.
The Eaton Fire in the Altadena/Pasadena area was 45% contained as of Wednesday evening. Both fires broke out on January 7th.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Bass’ office for comment.
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Elizabeth Pritchett of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
