Who's deflecting? You said and I quote: "No hydrant water in LA to fight surging fires despite record snow caps the last two years bc intent on saving the smelt fish."
Your statement is false, the intent to save the smelt fish did not create a water shortage per the sources quoted in the article. I'm quoting you and disputing that statement, are you denying making it? Look at your own post.
To answer your question that you posed on a totally different issue, I can't fault government every time there's a natural disaster that's overwhelming. Do you blame Desantis for government hurricane policy when Florida gets clobbered by a hurricane? There was no water shortage. There was no pressure in some hydrants because the pumps had been cut off because the electricity powering the pumps had to be shut off due to the risk of additional fires sparking from the electrical lines. And the demand in certain areas overhwelmed the system, I don't think the urban water system in any city in this country is equipped to handle wildfires of this magnitude when fueled by hurricane force winds and the dry conditions. Getting water to the fires was a problem, but not due to water shortage as you claim and not due to any government shortcomings in my opinion. From what I've read, most knowledgeable people say nothing that the firefighters could have done, even with all the hydrants working, would have stopped these wildfires from causing most if not all of the destruction that has occurred.