Sponsors (3)
The bill expands eligibility and funding for larger groundwater recharge and natural storage projects and spreads grant support across Reclamation States to boost drought resilience and equity, but funding levels are modest, federal outlays rise, and distribution and oversight rules may dilute, delay, or complicate support for some high‑need local projects.
State and local water agencies (including Tribes and nonprofits) can build much larger groundwater recharge and natural recharge/retention projects (up to 150,000 AF/year average) that increase long‑term water storage and drought resilience.
Project sponsors can receive grants covering a large share of costs (up to 90% for natural recharge/retention projects), lowering local cost barriers to implementing projects that mimic natural processes.
The bill creates predictable, dedicated federal funding streams to support storage and natural recharge projects: $20 million/year (FY2027–FY2033) for storage grants and $15 million/year (FY2027–FY2031) for watershed-scale natural storage grants.
Many projects will still face insufficient federal funding: the authorized $20M/year and $15M/year programs are modest relative to multi‑million/ -billion dollar storage projects, so grants alone are unlikely to cover full costs.
Nonreimbursable grants and expanded eligibility increase federal outlays and could raise pressure on taxpayers if additional appropriations are required.
Requirements to spread funding across multiple Reclamation States can dilute resources, reducing funds available for high‑need watersheds or high‑priority local projects in a single state and potentially slowing delivery.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes Reclamation grants and construction funding for expanded water storage, groundwater recharge, and natural retention projects, with new size limits and multi-state distribution and authorizes annual funding through FY2033.
Authorizes the Department of the Interior (Bureau of Reclamation) to expand financial support for water storage, groundwater recharge, and natural water retention projects across Reclamation States, raises eligible project size limits for certain groundwater recharge projects, and creates new competitive grant programs with multi-year funding authorizations. It requires the Interior to distribute funding across multiple states, allows grants to cover a large share of project costs (up to 90%), and includes annual authorizations for construction, competitive storage grants, and natural water retention grants for FY2027–FY2033. The law also clarifies that these programs do not override existing State and Federal water law, interstate compacts, treaties, or property-based water rights, and it sets program eligibility, cost thresholds, and approval rules for larger projects that claim storage benefits in varied hydrologic years.
Official title: Amend the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act to authorize assistance under the storage program, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 29, 2026 by Ruben Gallego · Last progress January 29, 2026