H.R. 605 — Headwaters Protection Act of 2025

This section revises the Water Source Protection Program (authorizing Forest Service agreements with water providers and other partners to restore National Forest System lands that supply municipal drinking water) by (1) defining "adjacent land" as non-Federal land in the same watershed and expanding eligible partners to include acequia associations, stormwater/wastewater managers, land-grant mercedes, and water delivery entities; (2) authorizing projects on adjacent land if the owner consents and is an engaged partner (with no changes to ownership or management except during the project), specifying project requirements to protect watershed health, water supply/quality/infrastructure, and forest health, and establishing selection priorities such as drought/wildfire risk reduction, nature-based solutions, resilience improvements, and greater-than-required non-Federal contributions; (3) authorizing collaborative agreements with end water users to benefit other users, incorporating good neighbor agreements (16 U.S.C. 2113a), and promoting non-Federal leadership in planning and implementation; (4) requiring projects to protect ecological integrity using best available science and allowing existing watershed plans to reduce redundancy; (5) simplifying authorized project purposes to align with new requirements; and (6) reducing the minimum non-Federal cost-share requirement to 20% of total costs (from at least equal to the federal share).

This section revises the Watershed Condition Framework for National Forest System lands (i.e., a program to evaluate watershed conditions, identify up to 5 priority watersheds per national forest and 2 per national grassland for protection and restoration, and develop and implement action plans) by adding a new purpose to ensure that Forest Service management activities and authorizations do not result in long-term degradation of watershed health or lower any watershed's condition classification; and authorizes $30 million for each of FY2025 through FY2029 to carry out the framework.

This section provides that nothing in the Act supersedes or affects state water law, federal water law, interstate compacts, or treaty obligations and does not authorize federal land acquisition or control over non-federal land.