[fullwidth background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”0″ padding_right=”0″ hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”underline solid” sep_color=”#000000″ margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]Republicans introduce bill that they say would rebalance water needs in drought-plagued California[/title][fusion_text]Friday, June 26th 2015
House Republicans today introduced a bill that they say would rebalance the water needs of drought-plagued California between protected fish species and the farm communities and cities and towns that are running dry. GOP aides say much of the framework for the bill – the Western Water and American Food Security Act of 2015 – was constructed following months of “collaboration” with Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who in the past has fought previous Republican legislation on the grounds that it would weaken protections under the Endangered Species Act and would primarily benefit large agribusinesses in the state. The bill would require regulators to integrate new science developed since the biological opinions on the status of the fish were issued in 2008 and 2009 for several state water projects then under consideration. The GOP aides say the new science and advanced monitoring techniques may result in higher fish counts than previously thought. Additionally, the legislation includes provisions that would preserve existing water rights, some of which were put in place a century ago or more and many critics say need to be modernized. The overview notes that the bill also takes a long-term approach to help California and other Western states deal with drought by requiring the federal government to complete consideration of feasibility studies for several water storage projects in California that have been “languishing in bureaucratic purgatory” for up to 10 years. The measure should pass the House but the Republican aides said at least six Democrats need to join the Republican majority in the Senate to get the bill through. They did not specify what if any concessions were made to elicit Democratic support. California, the nation’s biggest agricultural producer, is now in the fourth year of a drought that’s said to be the worst to hit the region in more than a thousand years. The dry conditions are threatening almost $50 billion in agriculture production from more than 75,000 farms and ranches in the state, which grows about half of the fruits, vegetables and nuts consumed in the U.S.
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