You are now in California and the U.S. category.

There was much talk Friday night on the floor of the U.S. Senate about whether the controversial California drought legislation now awaiting the president’s signature overrides the biological opinions that protect Delta fish or, by extension, the Endangered Species Act itself. Depending on which senator was doing the talking, it definitely does or it definitely doesn’t. I haven’t had the opportunity yet to speak with ESA experts on the very specific and technical language in the bill.

Californians relying on small water utilities to bring drinking water into their homes, or who work or go to school in places providing their own water, are far more likely to be exposed to lead, according to a new analysis of Environmental Protection Agencydata by The Desert Sun and USA TODAY. Small public water systems across the state made up the vast majority of systems found to have high levels of lead in their drinking water or testing violations since 2010, the analysis found.

In 2014, Proposition 1, a water bond for $7.545 billion, was passed by the voters in California so that new reservoirs could be built to prevent future droughts. I might ask where is the action? Why isn’t it full speed ahead? Are we playing another shell game with taxpayer money? Is all the water being dumped into the sea because nothing is being done? Time to light a match!

The Fresno Bee editorial “Temperance Flat is linchpin of Valley’s water future” omitted critical facts about this project, including how much water it will reliably produce, who will actually benefit from that water, and how much it will really cost. The reality is that this dam will never produce as much water as promised and it will only be built if state and federal taxpayers are saddled with the lion’s share of its multibillion-dollar price tag.

There are many reasons to be skeptical about a federal water bill that is sitting on President Barack Obama’s desk, but the biggest reason is this: We don’t trust a bunch of politicians to solve such a complex problem. Congress appears willing to sacrifice a few types of fish so that farmers can continue to grow food in a seasonal desert. That’s what happens when decisions are made by people more interested in the next election than science. People vote. Fish do not. Guess who wins?