S. 3738 — MORE WATER Act

This section reauthorizes the large-scale water recycling and reuse grant program by making the following changes to section 40905 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (43 U.S.C. 3205), which provides competitive grants to eligible entities (e.g., states, tribes, districts) for planning, design, and construction of projects in Reclamation States (i.e., 17 western states and territories administered by the Bureau of Reclamation) that reclaim wastewater or impaired water with minimum costs of $500 million: (1) adding a definition of "construction" by cross-reference to the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act, substituting "infrastructure" for "storage"; (2) expanding eligible grant activities to include development of feasibility studies; (3) increasing from 30 to 60 days the deadline for eligible entities to take specified action following the Secretary's concurrence on a project's feasibility; (4) extending the program's general termination date to 10 years after enactment (from 5 years), with an exception for projects under construction as of that date; and (5) authorizing $450 million for FY2028-FY2032.

This section establishes within the Bureau of Reclamation the Water Conveyance Improvement Program to authorize the Secretary of the Interior (acting through the Commissioner) to participate in and provide grants for conveyance projects—i.e., new, improved, or restored water conveyance facilities located in Reclamation States (i.e., the 17 western states and territories covered by the Reclamation Act of 1902). For Reclamation-led conveyance projects requested by states or public agencies, the Secretary may provide grants and enter agreements for design, study, and construction as part of new Reclamation projects, divisions, supplemental works, or capacity improvements to existing projects, with construction commencing only after a feasibility determination and securing of non-Federal cost-share funding. The section defines key terms, including eligible entities (e.g., states, Indian tribes as defined in 25 U.S.C. 5130, irrigation districts), multi-benefit projects (i.e., those providing quantified safe drinking water benefits to low-income communities or environmental benefits), and stakeholders (e.g., tribal governments, 501(c)(3) nonprofits).

This section reauthorizes appropriations for water recycling and reuse projects under the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act (i.e., a program to investigate, design, construct, and research facilities reclaiming and reusing municipal, industrial, agricultural wastewater and impaired ground or surface waters in the 17 Reclamation Act states and Hawaii), as follows: (1) authorizes $550 million to the Secretary of the Interior for new such projects for FY2028 through 2032; and (2) increases the ceiling on the federal share for individual projects to $50 million (in December 2025 prices, automatically adjusted annually by the CPI for all urban consumers) from $20 million (October 1996 prices). This section also authorizes $250 million to the Bureau of Reclamation for FY2028 through 2032 for environmental restoration activities benefiting endangered species, important habitat, and water bodies, including (A) habitat restoration at the Great Salt Lake and other saline inland lakes affected by Reclamation projects; (B) Sacramento River and tributary improvements for threatened or endangered fish species (e.g., Chinook salmon, steelhead trout), such as fish passage, monitoring, floodplain reconnection, hatchery modernization, and temperature control; and (C) related planning, studies, construction, and adaptive management.

This section amends the sunset provision (sec. 4013) of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (P.L. 114-322) to establish an expiration date of 15 years after the date of enactment of that Act for sec. 4009(c), sec. 4010(b)(2), and sec. 4011(a), (b), (c), (d), and (f) of that Act and to make conforming and technical changes thereto.

This section establishes a process to deauthorize Bureau of Reclamation projects—federally owned water resource projects (e.g., dams and reservoirs for irrigation, municipal supply, and hydropower)—that received no obligated funding in the fiscal year of enactment or the prior seven fiscal years, thereby reducing the backlog of authorized but inactive projects. It directs the Secretary of the Interior (acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation) to (1) submit an interim deauthorization list to specified congressional committees and a public website within one year of enactment, detailing each qualifying project's authorization date and modifications, description, completion cost, and remaining authorized but unappropriated amounts; (2) submit a final list one year later, excluding projects with post-interim congressional funding or those the Secretary deems vitally important based on public health and safety, economic, or environmental effects; and (3) deauthorize projects on the final list effective one year after submission, unless prior to that date a joint resolution of disapproval is enacted, Congress provides funding, or the non-Federal sponsor funds completion. (Thus, congressional action, new funding, or sponsor completion can prevent deauthorization at any stage.)