There were many things that preceded the “nonsensical” response from Los Angeles and California state leaders to the devastating wildfires that continue to blaze across the region, according to historian and political commentator Victor Davis Hanson.
“To mitigate you have to know what went wrong, and there were short-term and long-term problems,” Davis, a Hoover Institution public policy think tank senior fellow, told Fox News Digital in a Tuesday interview. “And I don’t think climate change played a role, at least a non-immediate role.”
Davis described the situation as a “woke green hydrogen bomb” — from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ absence during the critical first 24 hours of the inferno to empty fire hydrants, a dysfunctional reservoir, a defunded fire department and a lack of new water infrastructure despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s support of the billions of dollars earmarked to address it.
LA COUNCILWOMAN WHOSE DISTRICT RAVAGED BY WILDFIRES LOOKS TO HOLD LEADERS ACCOUNTABLE FOR EMPTY RESERVOIRS
Historian Victor Davis Hanson shares his analysis of what went wrong and led up to the catastrophic wildfire management in Los Angeles. (Getty Images)
“It’s a very fragile system,” Hanson said. “What Gavin Newsom did not do is he did not take the allotted money and build the reservoirs that would have accommodated the increased population. Number two, that water that is being pumped across the [Sacramento-San Joaquin River] Delta, he let go out into the bay under the demands of environmentalists. He said in his defense that the reservoirs are full. That’s not true. If you look at the biggest one, it’s only 75% full, and we are in a semi-drought right now.”
Newsom told NBC News in a pretaped interview that aired Sunday, “The reservoirs are completely full — the state reservoirs here in Southern California. That mis- and disinformation, I don’t think, advantages or aids any of us.”
But as of Tuesday, Shasta Lake, California’s largest reservoir, was at 77% capacity, holding approximately 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 reached out to Newsom’s office for comment and has not yet received a response.
California’s existing reservoirs can only hold so much water, and many were built in the mid-20th century.
In 2014, Golden State voters passed Proposition 1, also 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 building new reservoirs and groundwater storage facilities. Yet as of January, no new reservoirs have been completed under Prop. 1.
In 2024, the state experienced record-breaking rainfall after an atmospheric river event, but the existing water infrastructure faced difficulties managing the sudden influx of water. A significant portion of that rainfall was dumped into the ocean as the state struggles to properly store water, multiple California agencies said.
“There was a roughly 120 million gallon reservoir that could have been used because they only had three million in reserve — that would have probably made the difference,” Hanson said. “That had been idle for almost a year, and it was because the cover was torn. It was just nonsensical.”
The out-of-order reservoir Hanson referred to, known as the Santa Ynez Reservoir in Pacific Palisades, has been closed for repairs since February due to a tear in its covering, which was designed to maintain the water quality, the Los Angeles Times first reported Tuesday.
FIRST HEARING IN ‘TRUMP-PROOF’ CALIFORNIA SPECIAL SESSION CANCELED AS CHAIRMAN’S DISTRICT HIT BY WILDFIRES
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has been criticized for being on a trip to Africa when the wildfires broke out, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom has shifted blame and ordered an independent review of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. (AP/Getty)
Hanson has a Central Valley farm that relies on snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada Mountains, he explained.
In California’s Central Valley, farming water typically comes from the Sierra, mainly through the San Joaquin River system, which is supported by major dams like Shaver, Huntington and Pine Flat. That water is often released into the Sacramento River, which flows into the Delta. Despite increasing demand, no new dams have been built on the San Joaquin system in decades.
On the west side of the valley, water comes from snowmelt in northern California’s Cascade Range and northern Sierra, filling larger reservoirs like Oroville and Folsom. These reservoirs were designed to store water during wet years, ensuring a steady supply in average years and a backup for drought years.
However, California has faced a prolonged dry spell, with little rain or snow in recent weeks, causing reservoir levels to drop.
“So when Gavin Newsom says, well, ‘they’re full,’ they’re not all full, but they’re descending at a rapid rate, because he will not stop the releases to the ocean,” Hanson said. “They’re still going on, as you and I speak, and they’re not pumping 100% of it to the aqueduct, which serves agriculture in Los Angeles.”
Newsom, meanwhile, has shifted the blame to local management and ordered an independent review of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
“We need answers to how that happened,” Newsom wrote to the department’s director and the director of Los Angeles County Public Works on Jan. 10, regarding reports of lost water supply.
‘DEVASTATING’: CALIFORNIA HAD RECORD RAINFALL LAST YEAR, BUT LACKED INFRASTRUCTURE TO STORE IT
In this aerial drone photo, the primary pump in the foreground is part of a groundwater recharge project designed to capture excess flow for groundwater storage in Fresno County, California, on March 13, 2023. (Andrew Innerarity/California Department of Water Resources via AP)
For his part, Newsom also proposed allocating at least $2.5 billion in additional funding to bolster California’s emergency response and recovery efforts in Los Angeles, his office announced on Monday.
The proposed funding would support recovery and cleanup operations, enhance wildfire preparedness and assist in reopening schools closed due to the fires. The funding would come from the state’s Disaster Response Emergency Operations Account, with $1.5 billion coming from speeding up the use of climate bond funds for immediate use, according to his office.
There has been a slight increase in containment for the deadly Palisades and Eaton fires burning in Los Angeles County, according to a Wednesday night update from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The Palisades fire, the larger of the two at 23,713 acres burned as of Wednesday, is at 21% containment after its ignition in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood more than a week ago, according to the department.
The Eaton Fire in the Altadena/Pasadena area was at 45% containment as of Wednesday night. Both fires broke out on Jan. 7.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Bass’ office for comment.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report.
Jamie Joseph is a writer who covers politics. She leads Fox News Digital coverage of the Senate.
