“A bill to amend the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act to authorize assistance under the storage program, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section revises subsection (d) of section 4007 of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act, which authorizes Bureau of Reclamation financial assistance for water storage projects (i.e., planning, design, construction, or expansion of facilities for storage of non-Federal water). Specifically, the revision (1) authorizes assistance for projects in any Reclamation state (i.e., the 17 western states served by Reclamation); (2) makes the Verde Reservoirs Sediment Mitigation Project in Arizona—for which a feasibility study is authorized under 43 U.S.C. 3202(a)(1)(B)(i)—eligible for such funding notwithstanding limitations in subsection (i) or section 4013 of the WIIN Act, subject to construction eligibility criteria under 43 U.S.C. 3202(a)(2); and (3) requires the Secretary of the Interior to distribute assistance among projects across multiple Reclamation states.
This section reauthorizes and revises the competitive grant program for small water storage and groundwater storage projects administered by the Bureau of Reclamation (i.e., provides grants to non-Federal sponsors in Reclamation States—including Alaska and Hawaii—for planning, design, and construction of projects determined feasible by the Secretary of the Interior). Specifically, it (1) expands eligible projects to include groundwater recharge projects with average annual recharge capacity of 200 to 150,000 acre-feet (previously limited to projects with storage capacity of 200 to 30,000 acre-feet that increase surface/groundwater storage or convey water to/from such storage); (2) requires the Secretary to distribute grants across multiple Reclamation States; (3) extends program authority through 10 years after enactment (from 5 years); (4) authorizes $20 million annually for FY2027 through FY2033; and (5) states that the program does not affect State water law, Federal water law, interstate compacts, treaty obligations, authorize Federal water acquisition, or infringe water rights.
This section establishes a Bureau of Reclamation grant program for natural water retention and release projects—i.e., projects using primarily natural materials to mimic riverine, wetland, ecosystem, or hydrologic processes for increasing water availability through aquifer recharge, floodplain retention, altered runoff timing, or similar mechanisms. The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation, may award grants to eligible entities (i.e., states, Indian tribes, municipalities, irrigation districts, water districts, wastewater districts, other water or power delivery organizations, certain authorities composed of such organizations, or qualified nonprofit partners in Reclamation States) for projects in watersheds containing a Reclamation facility, provided that projects costing $20 million or less optimize storage or delivery of water and those costing more than $20 million additionally produce measurable retention or delivery benefits with quantified storage estimates for wet, normal, and dry years. Grants must be distributed across multiple Reclamation States; the federal share may not exceed 90% of total costs; federal funds are nonreimbursable; and $15 million is authorized annually for FY2027 through FY2031. (As background, Reclamation States are the 17 western states plus others where the Bureau of Reclamation develops and manages water resources; this program supplements the policy in 43 U.S.C. 390b for federal-state cooperation on municipal and industrial water supplies by funding nature-based solutions rather than constructed storage.)