this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2025
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/26559092

Summary

DOGE staffers Tyler Hassen and Bryton Shang tried pressuring the Bureau of Reclamation to open a California water pump to aid Los Angeles during January’s wildfires, though the system couldn’t reach the city.

When denied, they flew there to do it themselves but failed due to maintenance and access restrictions.

Critics called DOGE a “slapstick operation of 20-somethings they’re seeing as whiz kids but have zero knowledge.”

Trump later ordered dam releases, flooding farmland. Critics called DOGE’s actions reckless and uninformed.

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[–] jubilationtcornpone@sh.itjust.works 72 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (3 children)
  • Attempting to "open" a water system that is ~~not at all~~ sort of remotely connected to the LA municipal water system.

  • Flooding the California central valley in winter which will undoubtedly leave reservoirs depleted during spring and summer, when water is actually needed.

America the Kakistocracy

Edit: The US Army Corps of Engineers operates over 90,000 dams, and the reservoirs they contain, throughout the country. All of which are currently at the discretion of the stupidest person to ever be commander in chief. He can flood your home, cut off your electricity, dry up your farmland, or cause all kinds of havoc on a whim.

[–] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

Former Californian here. I’m quite familiar with the water issues in the state; there’s going to be regional to nationwide food shortages this summer as a pretty direct result of this. I’m sure orangeboi hopes it’s the former, so it primarily hurts CA. I hope it’s the latter, so it hurts everyone, and maybe some of them eventually learn when real life hits them in the face at highway speeds.

This is the “find out” part.

[–] skuzz@discuss.tchncs.de 31 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

Worse, they were working with half information. The San Joaquin valley water does eventually connect to LA. California has, over the last century, interconnected a majority of their water, and water from other states, to LA. LA shouldn't exist in its current form. It's arid desert, yet way too many people and crops exist there. The El Diablo Canyon nuclear facility exists solely to pump water over mountains for LA. (Was hilarious when Newsom wanted to shut it down until he was educated.)

All that said, wasting reservoirs thinking the water will instantly teleport to LA is so destructively stupid. There is so much interplay in their water infrastructure.

Those boneheaded idiot kids shouldn't have been given the time of day by anyone. Farmers should hunt them down and make those two work the fields by hand until they recoup their losses. Including filtering out the salt brine they likely contaminated some fields with.

[–] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 4 points 8 hours ago

And yet every single one of those farms probably still has a sign out front blaming Democrats for the drought.

Including filtering out the salt brine they likely contaminated some fields with.

And here I was thinking it could not possibly get any stupider.

[–] tonytins@pawb.social 8 points 21 hours ago

Zero to prison time.