U.S. Senate candidate Kamala Harris said Tuesday that she would not support efforts to weaken the federal law governing endangered species, breaking with fellow Democrat and rival Loretta Sanchez, who has said she would be open to amendments to help address the state’s protracted drought.

“We have to support the Endangered Species Act,” Harris, the state attorney general, told The Sacramento Bee editorial board. “There’s just no question about that.” The law has been used to protect fish such as the Delta smelt and Chinook salmon, and has long been at the center of debate between environmentalists and farmers.