Sponsors (3)
This bill provides targeted, multi-year federal funding and broadened eligibility to help tribal, rural, and local watershed groups plan and deliver projects faster, but it raises federal costs and administrative complexity that could delay awards or shift resources away from other needs.
Local governments, rural communities, and nonprofits receive sustained federal funding via a $40 million/year authorization for FY2027–2031, enabling more watershed projects and local job support.
Indigenous and tribal governments and communities with ancestral lands can join watershed groups and receive prioritized access to grants, improving their ability to obtain federal support for watershed restoration and management.
Watershed groups in areas impacted by drought, wildfire, or other disasters are eligible for priority assistance, speeding relief and recovery for communities with urgent needs.
Taxpayers face higher federal spending from the increased grant authorizations and continuations, which could contribute to budget pressures or crowd out other federal programs.
Prioritizing disaster-affected watersheds may delay assistance for communities with chronic but less acute needs, leaving some long-term problems unaddressed.
Introducing tribal/ancestral-land eligibility criteria could complicate eligibility determinations and increase administrative burden for the Department and applicants.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Reauthorizes and expands the Cooperative Watershed Management Program, raising early grant caps and durations, broadening eligible uses and membership (including tribes), and authorizing $40M/year for FY2027–2031.
Introduced March 10, 2026 by Steve Daines · Last progress March 10, 2026
Reauthorizes and expands the Cooperative Watershed Management Program to broaden who can participate, enlarge allowable uses of early-stage grants, and authorize new funding. The bill adds tribes explicitly to membership criteria, allows groups showing need from drought, wildfire, or other disasters to qualify, raises first-phase grant caps and durations, permits additional follow-on funding for strong performers, and authorizes $40 million per year for fiscal years 2027–2031 to carry out the program. The changes emphasize planning and technical support by allowing grant writing, project management, feasibility studies, design, preliminary environmental review, and engineering as eligible uses, and require continuous enrollment with multiple application windows each year to increase access for watershed groups.