"WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Tuesday moved to weaken protections for a threatened California fish, a change that would allow large amounts of water to be diverted from the San Francisco Bay Delta to irrigate arid farmland and could harm the region’s fragile ecosystem.
The plan, which administration officials expect to be finalized in January, is a major victory for a wealthy group of California farmers that had lobbied to weaken protections on the fish, the delta smelt. It also might intensify ethics questions about Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, who was the lobbyist for those farmers until just months before he joined the Trump administration.
Federal investigators are looking into whether Mr. Bernhardt’s efforts at the Interior Department to weaken protections for the fish violated “revolving-door” rules designed to prevent former lobbyists from helping past clients from within the government. Investigators also are looking into whether he improperly continued lobbying for those farmers even after he de-registered as a lobbyist just before joining the Trump administration."
Coral Davenport reports for the New York Times October 23, 2019.
SEE ALSO:
"Trump Plan Weakens Protections For California Fish, Diverts Water To Farms" (NPR)
"Trump Administration Unveils New Water Rules For California" (AP)
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