Sponsors
The bill expands federal support, predictability, and environmental investments for water recycling, conveyance, and habitat restoration—improving local water reliability and ecosystem outcomes—while shifting substantial costs and matching requirements to state/local sponsors, imposing caps and sunset timelines that could leave very large or low‑capacity communities underfunded and create budget pressures.
State, Tribal, and local water agencies (and the communities they serve) can receive federal grants to plan, design, and build large-scale water recycling, reuse, and conveyance projects, expanding local water supplies and reliability.
Low-income, Tribal, and environmentally sensitive communities can get prioritized or additional funding for projects that improve safe drinking water and ecosystem outcomes, increasing access to treated water and supporting habitat restoration.
The bill establishes clearer rules (definitions, a construction exception, a per-project federal share ceiling with CPI adjustments, and a 15-year sunset on certain provisions), giving state and local governments greater predictability for planning and budgeting.
State, local, Tribal, and project sponsors must provide substantial non‑Federal cost shares (often ~50% or more) and show financial solvency, which will force local budget cuts, higher water rates, borrowing, or bar low-capacity communities from accessing funds.
Taxpayers face increased federal spending and resulting budget pressures from new authorizations and subsidies for water projects, which could compete with other priorities or require offsetting fiscal measures.
Per-project caps, program funding limits, restrictions on very large conveyance projects, and limited authorization windows (FY2028–2032 plus 15‑year sunsets) create uncertainty and may leave multi‑decade or very large regional projects underfunded or impossible to complete through this Program.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Introduced January 29, 2026 by Alejandro Padilla · Last progress January 29, 2026
Establishes and funds multiple Bureau of Reclamation grant programs to expand large-scale water recycling, reuse, conveyance, and restoration projects, sets federal cost‑share rules and eligibility, and creates a process to deauthorize long-unauthorized Reclamation projects. It also adds a new Conveyance Improvement Program, reauthorizes and funds existing recycling/reuse and restoration authorities for fiscal years 2028–2032, and creates a 15‑year sunset for specified Reclamation authorities. The bill requires competitive grants and non‑reimbursable funding, sets caps on federal cost shares (with special rules for multi‑benefit projects and low‑income community drinking water benefits), prohibits federal funding for new conveyance facilities costing more than $5 billion, and directs the Interior Department to publish interim and final lists to deauthorize projects that received little or no federal investment, with those projects automatically deauthorized unless Congress or sponsors act within specified windows.