Thumbs down: Donald Trump's Potemkin drought

The brown hills and dry forests? Must be an illusion. Empty reservoirs? Ditto. Like the drought itself, just part of a conspiracy hatched by environmentalists “to protect some kind of three-inch fish.” “There is no drought,” says Donald Trump, who promised Central Valley growers more water if he becomes president. “You have a water problem that is so insane. It is so ridiculous, where they’re taking water and shoving it out to sea.”

Trump didn’t mention it by name, but the three-inch fish is the endangered delta smelt. Ag interests have long pitted the smelt against Central Valley farmers in their pleas for more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, mostly because it’s an easier target than the endangered salmon that also traverse the delta.

Trump says letting water flow to the ocean is costing jobs. Ask a scientist, and you’ll hear about protecting fish (which support sport and commercial fishing jobs), preserving agriculture on delta islands (more jobs) and preventing saltwater intrusion into groundwater supplies (jobs and drinking water supplies). No wonder Trump’s last words on the subject were, “Don’t even think about it.”