California's water fight makes a splash in Washington

Scorched land, low river beds, and parched crops all testify to the lack of water available for farmers during California’s four-year drought. When their wells go dry, farmers in the central valley turn to the San Joaquin River to keep their crops alive.

California water regulators ordered a group of farmers to stop pumping water from the river on Thursday amid an escalating battle over whether the state or federal government should be regulating waterways that are drying up in the drought.

The State Water Resources Control Board issued a cease and desist order, saying farmers had failed to obey a previous warning to stop pumping. But the action against the farmers may fall flat as federal legislators have stepped in to propose new legislation to allow them access to the water.

Also on Thursday, the House passed the Western Water and American Food Security Act of 2015, allowing farmers to take more water out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta before it flows into the ocean and divert it to other uses.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said people would lose their livelihoods if lawmakers didn't act.

“We designed the bill to move as much water down south to our farms and to our cities as possible without making any fundamental changes to the environmental law,” McCarthy said.

Authored by Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., the bill requires federal regulators to maintain certain pumping levels unless the Interior Department certifies that level would harm the long-term survival of the delta smelt fish. The bill also includes plans to enlarge five dams in the state and ends efforts to build up salmon populations in the San Joaquin River.

Democrats said the GOP proposal would upset the balance of the delta, harming both the environment and the quality of the drinking water.

“If that fresh water doesn’t run through and run out to the ocean, the salt water runs back in. I have two major cities in my district that rely on that for a source of water,” said Rep Mike Thompson, D-Calif. “If this bill were to pass, their water supply is in jeopardy. You can’t drink salt water. It just doesn’t work.”

Republicans have blamed some of the water cutbacks on environmental regulations designed to protect salmon populations and the threatened delta smelt, a three-inch-long fish that is disappearing. Over the years, state and federal officials have reduced the amount of water pumped from the delta to prevent smelt from getting sucked into the pumps, and to help salmon and enhance water quality.

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, chairmen of the committee on natural resources, said these environmental laws have further perpetuated the drought. He said the bill will “liberate Americans from the prison of outdated water laws and radical environmental regulations that have exacerbated the drought and choked the economy.”

Still facing opposition from Democrats and the White House, it is questionable whether the bill will go into effect. In the meantime, California farmers must abide by more strict water regulations.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.