The Iowa delegation split on party lines yesterday over a bill designed to give California farms more access to water in the San Joaquin Valley. The bill would overturn Obama administration regulations designed to protect endangered fish populations.

H.R. 1837, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act, passed by a mostly party-line vote of 246 to 175 (roll call). Tom Latham (IA-04) and Steve King (IA-05) supported the bill, as did all but one House Republican present. Bruce Braley (IA-01), Dave Loebsack (IA-02) and Leonard Boswell (IA-03) voted against the bill, along with all but 10 House Democrats.

Pete Kasperowicz summarized the Republican case for the bill:

The bill is a GOP response to the Obama administration’s 2009 regulations under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that diverted water away from residents and farmers in order to ensure the survival of salmon and the Delta smelt fish. Republicans have called water access problems in 2010 a “man-made drought,” and in a rare floor appearance, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said the ESA rules were a “perfect example” of government overreach.

“They’re using a law, the endangered species law, for what I would describe as an unintended purpose,” Boehner said. “They’re using the law to shut down production agriculture, that they don’t like, and abusing the law that was created by this Congress. It is wrong, and it should not stand.”

Several Democrats argued that the bill violates state’s rights, because it would create a federal water policy for California and other states that would be affected. […]

But Republicans argued the bill reinstates a 1994 agreement known as the Bay-Delta Accord that was seen at the time as a compromise between environmentalists, farmers and representatives of the local, state and national governments. […]

The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), said the ESA regulations took water away from farms, which forced the region to import food even though it’s known as a significant agricultural producing area.

Boswell’s vote against the San Joaquin Valley bill surprised me, because typically I would expect him to take the side of production agriculture in this kind of dispute. Last year the U.S. House passed a bill favored by agribusiness interests, which would weaken the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to enforce Clean Water Act provisions. Boswell voted for that bill in the House Transportation Committee and on the House floor (joined by Latham and King).

Before the final vote on the San Joaquin Valley water bill, the House rejected seven Democratic amendments on mostly party-line votes. Braley, Loebsack, and Boswell supported all of the Democratic amendments as well as the motion to recommit, which typically functions as the last chance to kill a House bill before final passage.