U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate on Monday announced they have reached an agreement on comprehensive water resources infrastructure language, the Water Infrastructure Improvements Act for the Nation (WIIN) Act, which should be considered this week on the House floor, and includes critical provisions to improve California’s water system and bring immediate relief to the Valley.

“The timing of these drought provisions is critical so our water system can capture and store desperately needed water,” said Rep. Jeff Denham, who represents the Oakdale-Riverbank-Escalon area in Congress. “The regulatory flexibility of the provisions will benefit the Valley and allow our local districts to begin protecting our threatened salmon and steelhead from non-native predator fish and to allow for additional storage at New Melones Reservoir.”

Among the provisions included are Rep. Denham’s Save Our Salmon Act, a fish predation pilot program on the Stanislaus River, and expanding storage at New Melones reservoir, which passed the House during the 114th Congress.