LA Fires
Water
April 10, 2025

California did NOT run out of water while fighting the LA wildfires

Claim

Fact

Water reservoirs in Southern California were at record levels. There was no shortage of water in Southern California.
  • Wildland firefighters don’t use hydrants — they use water tenders to ensure continued water access. Three million gallons of water were stored in three large tanks for fire hydrants in the area before the Palisades fire, but the supply was exhausted because of the extraordinary nature of this hurricane-force firestorm.
  • There was no water shortage in Southern California during the January firestorms, despite Trump’s claims that he would open some imaginary spigot.
  • The Governor has called for an independent investigation into the loss of water pressure to local fire hydrants and the reported unavailability of water supplies from the Santa Ynez Reservoir. While urban water systems are built for structure fires and fire suppression, not hurricane-force firestorms, it is important to understand what happened so we can be better prepared in the future.
  • Orange County Water District, which supplies groundwater to the north half of the county, has enough supply to carry its 2.5 million customers through the worst of any potential droughts for 3 to 5 years.
  • The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California — which serves 19 million people mostly with imported water — also has an abundance, “with a record 3.8 million acre-feet of water in storage,” (1 million acres of land with water that is 3.8 feet deep) according to Interim General Manager Deven Upadhyay. That’s enough water to supply 40 million people for a year.

More Lies ...