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On the evening of Jan. 30, Army officials began opening gates and releasing flows from Schafer Dam and Terminus Dam, sending water coursing through river channels near Porterville and Visalia.

Mayor Greg Meister of Porterville — a city of about 60,000 at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Tulare County — put forward the proposal at a city council meeting on Wednesday, saying his goal is to protect biological girls and women.

He also said there had been no instances in Porterville of transgender women using their preferred restrooms.

He said he did not know if any transgender people live in Porterville and that he had no trans friends.

Despite the fact that the issue has not come up in Porterville, Meister said he wanted to confront it before it became an issue.