“A bill to reauthorize the Cooperative Watershed Management Program, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section revises the Cooperative Watershed Management Program (CWMP)—which provides two-phase competitive grants to self-sustaining watershed groups representing diverse stakeholders (e.g., agriculture, industry, environmental interests, tribes, and disadvantaged communities) to develop and implement watershed restoration plans that promote water conservation, quality, ecological resiliency, and conflict reduction—as follows: **(a) Definitions.** (1) Adds a definition of "Indian tribe" with the meaning given in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304); (2) expands eligibility for watershed groups to include, to the maximum extent practicable, any Indian tribe that has ancestral lands within the watershed. **(b) Program.** (1) Revises grant selection criteria to prioritize proposals that represent diverse water interests, including Indian tribes, or demonstrate significant need due to drought, wildfire, or other natural disaster; (2) increases first-phase planning grants to $150,000 each year for a period of not less than three years (from $100,000), subject to application sufficiency and appropriations availability; (3) authorizes the Secretary to extend first-phase grants for up to two additional years at up to $150,000 each year upon satisfactory performance; (4) expands eligible second-phase implementation grant activities to expressly include grant writing, project management, and technical assistance (e.g., feasibility studies, design, preliminary environmental reviews, engineering); (5) requires continuous enrollment by making funding opportunities available regularly and accepting grant applications multiple times per year; (6) requires the Secretary to make program reports available to the public; and (7) authorizes $40 million annually for FY2027 through FY2031.