The Western Water and American Food Security Act was — and is — pre-ordained to fail. It exacerbates the split within California over drought response, takes on the always controversial Endangered Species Act and, thereby, makes it easy for the other 49 states to ignore the problem. It also puts enormous pressure on Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) to come up with an approach that squares the circle and brings everyone together — a daunting task. And, for better or worse, many of the provisions in the Bill would certainly draw a Presidential veto if enacted.

A better approach could be for a “west-wide” bill addressing the imminent problems in the Colorado and Rio Grande rivers, and other basins and areas. This would lead to more buy-in from the other states and their elected officials and produce legislation that is not pre-ordained to fail.