“A bill to amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to reauthorize and improve the Water Source Protection Program, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section revises the Water Source Protection Program to (1) define "adjacent land" as non-Federal land (including State, local, and private land) that is adjacent to, and within the same watershed as, National Forest System land on which a watershed protection and restoration project is carried out; (2) expand the program to authorize projects on such adjacent land, provided the landowner provides express support and is a willing partner, with no change to land ownership or management except during project implementation; (3) add as eligible partners acequia associations, public entities managing stormwater or wastewater, land-grant mercedes, and private entities with water delivery authority; (4) require projects to protect and restore watershed health, water supply and quality, municipal or agricultural water supply systems, water-related infrastructure, or forest health from insects, disease, or wildfire (or any combination thereof); (5) establish selection priorities for projects providing drought, wildfire, or flood risk management; supporting aquatic restoration; involving capable partners (or those likely to succeed in disadvantaged communities); offering greater-than-required non-Federal contributions; delivering quantifiable water benefits via nature-based solutions; or enhancing climate, watershed, or fire resilience; (6) authorize use of good neighbor agreements (16 U.S.C. 2113a) and facilitate non-Federal partner leadership in assessments, planning, design, and implementation; (7) require water source management plans to protect ecological integrity using best available science and allow use of existing watershed plans to reduce redundancy; (8) simplify authorized project purposes to advancing purposes in new subsection (b)(2); and (9) reduce the required non-Federal cost share to not less than 20 percent. (As background, the program authorizes the Forest Service to partner with water providers for restoration projects on National Forest System lands to protect municipal water supplies.)
This section revises the Watershed Condition Framework for National Forest System lands—under which the Forest Service evaluates watershed conditions (i.e., water quality, aquatic habitat, riparian vegetation, roads/trails, soils, groundwater ecosystems, and terrestrial indicators such as fire risk and invasive species), identifies up to five priority watersheds per national forest and two per national grassland for protection and restoration based on impacts including wildfire behavior and flood risk, and develops and implements action plans—by adding a seventh 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 (16 U.S.C. 6543(a)); and authorizes appropriations of $30 million annually for FY2025 through FY2029.
This section provides that nothing in the Act supersedes or affects state water law, federal water law, interstate compacts, or treaty obligations, nor authorizes federal acquisition of land or exertion of federal control over non-federal land.