SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — California’s environmental landscape is already being shaken this week by word that the Trump administration will roll back environmental laws.

It’s raising concerns about how far the administration might be willing to go to achieve its agenda in California.

When the Trump administration ordered the Army Corp of Engineers to open the gates on two Federal dams in California earlier this year, it may have been the first shot in an evolving war on California’s water and environmental protections. It’s prompted Bay Area Congressmember Jared Huffman to fire off a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, demanding answers, including who specifically gave the order and whether similar actions are being considered moving forward.

“And we’re getting a lot of deflection. And I think the reason is pretty obvious. This is an embarrassment to anyone who was involved in it. There’s no way this water should have been dumped. There’s no way that it complied with the Army Corps’s operating manual,” Huffman said.

MORE: NOAA braces for mass layoffs, fueling concerns about lifesaving weather services

Environmental groups are also concerned that the president may try to use another device to circumvent endangered species protections in areas like the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, potentially leveraging emergency powers of the Endangered Species Committee, referred to as the “God squad.” It includes the heads of the EPA, NOAA, and the Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture, among others appointed by the president. Jon Rosenfield, Ph.D. is the science director of the nonprofit San Francisco Baykeeper.

“So the you know, the appointments that have been made and those that are forthcoming are people that are ideological zealots,” Rosenfield said.

The committee has the potential power to override protections for endangered species like the Delta Smelt. Legal experts say the process is still complicated and requires specific emergency criteria. While the committee has only been convened three times in its history, President Trump is now ordering members to meet quarterly.

“And now the Trump administration is proposing to eliminate the rules entirely and just go for broke, which will result of the direction of the San Francisco Bay ecosystem. Several extinctions, permanent closures of fisheries,” Rosenfield said.

MORE: San Francisco wins Supreme Court case against EPA over wastewater discharge into bay, Pacific Ocean

And concerns are also spreading from the Delta to the coast. A Republican congressmember is now introducing legislation to strip power from the California Coastal Commission. The agency has recently tangled with billionaire Elon Musk over environmental issues connected to his Space X launch program.

Huffman believes climate actions being driven by the White House may be a preview of tactics to come and a broader assault on decades of environmental and water management policy in California.

“You know, Donald Trump hates California and anything he can do to trigger California, to punish California, to embarrass California, he’s going to do. And he seems to have singled out water management,” Huffman said.

Environmental groups say their fear is that the president may try to use the Endangered Species Committee to divert water to Southern California or Central Valley farms, moves that could come at the expense of species like native Salmon.