Representative Paul Cook of Yucca Valley joined all the Republican members of Congress in sponsoring HR23, The Gaining Responsibility on Water Act, or GROW Act, which was passed in the House Wednesday on a mostly party-line vote, 230-190. Cook said the bill would change water management plans and environmental restoration goals for the Central Valley region in California, will protect NorCal water rights, and restore availability of water supply for California agriculture. Governor Jerry Brown wrote a letter to the bill’s author, David Valadao, of Hanford, outlining his opposition to the bill and asking for it to be shelved. Brown said water management decisions are a state, not federal issue, and the GROW Act overrides California water rights laws and will benefit a small group of industrial agricultural irrigation districts at the expense of all other Californians. The bill now goes to the Senate; California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris also said they oppose the bill.
