Many things preceded the “illogical” response from Los Angeles and California state leaders to the devastating wildfires still burning across the region, according to the historian and political commentator. Victor Davis Hanson.
“To mitigate the problem you have to know what went wrong, and there were short-term and long-term problems,” Davis, a senior fellow at the Center for Public Policy Research at the Hoover Institution, told Fox News Digital in an interview Tuesday. “I don't think climate change played a role, at least not an immediate role.”
Davis described the situation as “an awakened green hydrogen bomb” – from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass Absences during the crucial first 24 hours of hell to empty fire hydrants, a busted tank, a defunded fire department, and a lack of new water infrastructure despite Gov. Gavin Newsom's support with billions of dollars earmarked to address it.
Historian Victor Davis Hanson shares his analysis of what went wrong that led to the management of Los Angeles' disastrous wildfires. (Getty Images)
“It's a very fragile system,” Hanson said. “What Gavin Newsom didn't do is he didn't take the appropriated funds and he didn't build the reservoirs that would have accommodated the growing population. Secondly, that water that's being pumped through the (Sacramento-San Joaquin River) delta, he let it slip away.” Exiting to the Gulf under the demands of environmentalists said in his defense that the reservoirs are full almost dry now.
“The reservoirs are completely full – the state reservoirs here in Southern California. I don't think this false and misleading information is benefiting or helping any of us,” Newsom told NBC News in a recorded interview that aired Sunday.
But as of Tuesday, Lake Shasta, California's largest reservoir, was at 77% capacity, holding about 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 has reached out to Newsom's office for comment and has not yet received a response.
California exists Reservoirs can only hold so much water, and many were built in the mid-20th century.
In 2014, voters in the Golden State succeeded Proposition 1also 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 by building new reservoirs and groundwater storage facilities. However, as of January, no new tanks have been completed under the first proposal.
In 2024, the state saw record rainfall after an atmospheric river event, but existing water infrastructure struggled to manage the sudden influx of water. Multiple agencies in California said much of the rainfall was dumped into the ocean as the state struggled to properly store water.
“There was approximately 120 million gallons of tank that could have been used because they only had three million in reserve — and that probably made the difference,” Hanson said. “This had been sitting idle for about a year, and that was because the cover was torn. It was just rubbish.”
The faulty tank referred to by Hanson, known as the Santa Ynez Reservoir in Pacific Palisades, has been closed for repairs since February due to a rupture in its lid, which was designed to maintain water quality, the Los Angeles Times first reported Tuesday.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was criticized for taking a trip to Africa when the wildfires broke out, while California Governor Gavin Newsom shifted blame and ordered an independent review of Los Angeles' water and power department. (AP/Getty)
Hanson has the Central Valley He explained that the farm depends on the melting of snow from the Sierra Nevada mountains.
In California's Central Valley, agricultural water typically comes from the Sierra Mountains, mainly through the San Joaquin River system, which is supported by major dams such as the Shaver, Huntington, and Pine Flat. This water is often released into the Sacramento River, which flows into the Delta. Despite growing demand, no new dams have been built on the San Joaquin system in decades.
On the western side of the valley, The water comes from melting snow Northern California The Cascade Mountains and the northern Sierra, filling larger reservoirs such as Oroville and Folsom. These reservoirs are designed to store water during wet years, ensuring a constant supply in medium years and a reserve in dry years.
However, California has faced a prolonged drought, with little rain or snow in recent weeks, causing reservoir levels to drop.
“So when Gavin Newsom says, 'Well, it's full,' it's not all full, but it's going down at a rapid rate, because it's not going to stop the releases into the ocean,” Hanson said. “They're still going, as you and I are talking, and they're not pumping 100 percent of it into the canal that serves L.A. agriculture.”
Meanwhile, Newsom shifted the blame to local administration and ordered an independent review of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
“We need answers about how this happened,” Newsom wrote to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works director on Jan. 10, regarding reports of a loss of water supplies.
'Devastating': California saw record rainfall last year, but lacked the infrastructure to store it
In this drone aerial photo, the main pump in the foreground is part of a groundwater recharge project designed to capture groundwater storage overflow in Fresno County, California, on March 13, 2023. (Andrew Inerariti/California Department of Water Resources via AP)
For his part, Newsom also proposed allocating at least $2.5 billion Additional financing His office announced Monday support for California's emergency response and recovery efforts in Los Angeles.
The proposed funding will support recovery and cleanup operations, enhance wildfire preparedness and help reopen schools closed due to the fires. The funding will come from the state's Disaster Response Emergency Operations Account, with $1.5 billion coming from accelerating climate bond funds for immediate use, according to his office.
There has been an uptick in containment of the deadly Palisades and Eaton fires Burning in Los Angeles Countyaccording to a Wednesday night update from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The Palisades Fire, the larger of the two blazes that had burned 23,713 acres as of Wednesday, was 21% contained after burning through the Pacific Palisades neighborhood more than a week ago, according to the department.
The Eaton Fire in the Altadena/Pasadena area was 45% contained as of Wednesday night. Both fires broke out on January 7.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Bass' office for comment.
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Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report.
