| Enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to someone else who'd like it! If this email was forwarded to you, sign up here. Did you hear something fact-checkable? Send it here; we'll check it out. Trump's 'tiny' fish, a 'giant faucet' and 'beautiful water flow' Earlier this month, Trump told reporters: "As you probably heard, I released billions of gallons of water going in from upstate California from the most northern parts of California, probably comes in from Canada to a certain extent. Thank you very much, Canada, we appreciate it." Confused? We produced a report on how, under Trump, a falsehood with a kernel of truth becomes ever grander — and eventually becomes ineffective policy. California water policy is notoriously complicated. At its core, it involves a constant battle between cities and farms, each side wanting more. A politically connected group of Central Valley farmers gave Trump their version of the truth during a meeting in 2016, and he has hung on to that tale ever since. There is a three-inch silvery fish — called a delta smelt — that needs fresh water to thrive. (It is considered functionally extinct, because no fish have been counted in seven years of surveys since 2018.) But the water flows ordered by California officials also benefited much bigger fish, such as salmon and other commercial fisheries. The smelt is considered a bioindicator, reflecting the health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, which is on the edge of California's agriculturally rich Central Valley and which empties into the Pacific Ocean. But water from Canada doesn't make it to Southern California — and, contrary to Trump's claims, there is no "giant valve" that can direct it. Instead, the Army Corps of Engineers released 2 billion gallons of water from two reservoirs it controlled — where it largely went to waste so Trump could claim success. To read our full report, please click the link below | 
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