On a largely party-line vote of 245-176, the U.S. House passed a Republican-backed bill “that is unlikely to break the long-standing partisan stalemate over how to fix the drought” in California, said the Los Angeles Times. “Even if the bill makes it through the Senate, where it would need to pick up several Democratic votes to pass, the White House has indicated President Obama would veto it. But it does ratchet up pressure on Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who many hope will be able to craft a successful compromise bill in coming weeks.” Environmentalists say the bill would reduce protection for endangered fish in order to send more water to farms and cities.
The USDA declared the five counties in northeastern Washington State as a drought disaster area, along with five counties in Idaho, 14 counties in Montana and one county in Utah, reports Capital Press. The designation reflected the turnaround since early spring, when the water outlook was good. “The region, however, went through heat waves and received little spring rain.”