After the Washington Post revealed late last week that the Army Corps of Engineers knew that releasing water from two California reservoirs at President Donald Trump’s direction in January was unlikely to reach the southern part of the state, Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif., is demanding answers from the Pentagon and the Department of Interior for what he calls the “politically motivated, uncoordinated, unscheduled, and opaque water releases” in the Central Valley between Jan. 31 and Feb. 2. “We fear that these releases were conducted to placate the President’s vow to ‘open up the valves’ to bring more water to Los Angeles to combat the devastating wildfires—which had already been 100% contained by that point,” Levin wrote in his letter Tuesday.

Other California/federal water news:

• Politico: California water official ‘open’ to working with Trump on environmental rules
• Daily Kos: Blog: Newsom’s top water official will work with Trump to weaken California Delta water protections
• Esquire: Looks like the water that Trump ‘turned on’ to combat California wildfires was nothing more than a photo op