McCarthy, GOP colleagues denounce lawsuit against federal regs to upgrade Calif. water policy

A lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra with support from California Gov. Gavin Newsom against federal regulations to upgrade the state’s water policy isn’t sitting well with U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and his home-state Republican colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“This baseless lawsuit demonstrates the governor and attorney general are playing a dangerous game of politics with California water policy,” Rep. McCarthy said in a statement released on Feb. 21 with GOP members including U.S. Reps. Ken Calvert (R-CA) and Paul Cook (R-CA).

“We pray this lawsuit does not ignite decades of litigation and a new water war, which will undoubtedly hurt the Californians we all represent,” said Rep. McCarthy and his colleagues.

On Feb. 20, Becerra, the California Natural Resources Agency, and the California Environmental Protection Agency filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against the Trump administration for failing to protect endangered fish species from federal water export operations.

Biological opinions prepared by federal agencies under the Endangered Species Act to direct water project operations lack safeguards for protected species and their habitat in the Sacramento and San Joaquin River watersheds, according to the lawsuit, which requests that the court declare the Trump administration’s adoption of the biological opinions unlawful. 

“The actions by Governor Newsom and Attorney General Becerra are a slap in the face to Central Valley farmers and the residents of southern California,” Rep. McCarthy and his colleagues said. “If this litigation is successful, Sacramento Democrats will have succeeded in denying Central Valley farms and communities in southern California, including Los Angeles and San Diego, the water they need to survive and grow the food we all eat.” 

The lawmakers also said that Gov. Newsom recently sent a letter to the Trump administration claiming California wanted to work cooperatively to find common solutions.

“This litigation — combined with the more than 60 other lawsuits California has filed against the federal government — is the exact opposite of working together, and strains the credibility of those commitments,” Rep. McCarthy and the lawmakers said. “We and the president remain committed to working in good faith with those who are truly interested in using the best science and latest data to move water south-of-the-Delta while protecting fish and the environment.”