Four California Democrats -- two from the House and two from the Senate -- introduced a water transfer bill Wednesday that's cast as a way to help solve the San Joaquin Valley's water problems.

Reps. Dennis Cardoza of Merced and Jim Costa of Fresno joined with Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer to introduce the "Water Transfer Facilitation Act of 2009." In a sign of the cooperative effort, the House members prepared a joint press release; no freelancing on this one.

The bill, according to the lawmakers, "eases restrictions on the Bureau of Reclamation and would streamline environmental reviews for the giant garter snake. The bill would reduce unnecessary delays in water transfers at a time when Central Valley farmers have been hard hit by a three-year drought."

In part, the bill would mean that only one environmental study would be needed to examine the effect of water transfers on the protected garter snake, rather than individual studies for each individual transfer.

The bill's odds of passage are still to be determined. Environmental groups will want to read carefully this bill, which won the endorsement of the Friant Water Users Authority, Westlands Water District and others.