AGRICULTURE/CALIFORNIA/ELECTION/GOP/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “President Donald Trump is jumping into Western water wars on the side of agricultural interests just weeks before the midterm elections — a major political gift for GOP incumbents in some of the most competitive House races in the country where water supply is a top campaign topic. The effort appears aimed at helping endangered Republicans including California Reps. David Valadao, Devin Nunes, Tom McClintock and Jeff Denham, as well as Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the sole woman in House leadership who is facing an unexpectedly competitive race. Denham, McClintock, Nunes, Valadao and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy joined Trump in Arizona this afternoon for the closed-press signing of a presidential memorandum. The memo sets a swift new timeline for reviewing the environmental impact of the dams and canals that pump water to central and southern California farms and communities and seeks to streamline all such reviews. It also addresses water supply and hydroelectric projects in Oregon and Washington.”
–Annie Snider, “Trump jumps into Western water wars ahead of midterms,” Politico, October 19, 2018 10:49 am