Feds ink deal with water district tied to Bernhardt

The Trump administration on Friday awarded a permanent water delivery contract to the country's largest agricultural district, brushing aside environmentalists' concerns about California's uncertain water future in the face of climate change. Bernhardt signed an ethics pledge in August 2017, vowing not to participate in any issues on which he lobbied in the two years before he joined Interior, initially as deputy secretary. Critics have alleged Bernhardt has violated that pledge. The Campaign Legal Center has filed a complaint charging that while he was deputy secretary, Bernhardt was improperly involved in decisionmaking that affected Westlands.

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