California governor Jerry Brown and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed a memorandum of understanding for research and development cooperation in a number of technological fields, including water conservation, Reuters reports. Last Saturday Brown signed a $687 million package into law in an attempt to address the state’s ongoing drought.

President Obama plans to nominate Estevan López as commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, the largest wholesale water supplier and second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the US. López is a professional engineer with over two decades of experience in water resource management, the Interior Department said.

Senators John Barrasso (R-WY) and David Vitter (R-LA), top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, led a group of their peers in raising concerns about the nomination of Kenneth Kopocis to be the assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Water. The Senators say Kopocis was involved in the EPA’s attempt to significantly expand its authority under the Clean Water Act.