MORE WATER Act Making Our communities Resilient through Enhancing Water for Agriculture, Technology, the Environment, and Residences Act

II 119TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3738 To amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to reauthorize the large-scale water recycling and reuse program, to establish a Water Conveyance Improvement Program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 29, 2026 Mr. PADILLA introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to reauthorize the large-scale water recycling and reuse pro- gram, to establish a Water Conveyance Improvement Program, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Making Our commu-4 nities Resilient through Enhancing Water for Agriculture, 5 Technology, the Environment, and Residences Act’’ or the 6 ‘‘MORE WATER Act’’. 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 3738 IS SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF LARGE-SCALE WATER RECY-1 CLING AND REUSE PROGRAM. 2 Section 40905 of the Infrastructure Investment and 3 Jobs Act (43 U.S.C. 3205) is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (a)— 5 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 6 through (4) as paragraphs (2) through (5), re-7 spectively; and 8 (B) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as 9 so redesignated) the following: 10 ‘‘(1) C ONSTRUCTION.—The term ‘construction’ 11 has the meaning given the term in subsection (f) of 12 section 4011 of the Water Infrastructure Improve-13 ments for the Nation Act (Public Law 114–322; 130 14 Stat. 1881), except that any reference in paragraph 15 (2) of that subsection to ‘storage’ shall be deemed 16 to be a reference to ‘infrastructure’.’’; 17 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 18 following: 19 ‘‘(b) E STABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab-20 lish a program to provide grants to eligible entities on a 21 competitive basis for the development of feasibility studies, 22 planning, design, and construction of large-scale water re-23 cycling and reuse projects that provide substantial water 24 supply and other benefits to the Reclamation States in ac-25 cordance with this section.’’; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 3738 IS (3) in subsection (d)(4), by striking ‘‘30’’ and 1 inserting ‘‘60’’; 2 (4) in subsection (k)— 3 (A) by striking ‘‘The authority’’ and in-4 serting the following: 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL .—Except as provided in para-6 graph (2), the authority’’; 7 (B) in paragraph (1) (as so designated), by 8 striking ‘‘5’’ and inserting ‘‘10’’; and 9 (C) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(2) E XCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 11 apply to an eligible project that is under construc-12 tion as of the termination date described in that 13 paragraph.’’; and 14 (5) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 16 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to provide 17 grants for eligible projects and otherwise carry out this 18 section $450,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2028 19 through 2032.’’. 20 SEC. 3. WATER CONVEYANCE IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM. 21 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 22 (1) C ONVEYANCE PROJECT .—The term ‘‘con-23 veyance project’’ means a project for the under-24 taking of a new or improved water conveyance facil-25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 3738 IS ity, or the restoration of the capacity of an existing 1 water conveyance facility, that is located in a Rec-2 lamation State. 3 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY .—The term ‘‘eligible enti-4 ty’’ means— 5 (A) a State, Indian Tribe, municipality, ir-6 rigation district, water district, wastewater dis-7 trict, or any State or regional organization with 8 statutory water or power delivery authority; 9 (B) a State, regional, or local authority, 10 the members of which include 1 or more organi-11 zations that— 12 (i) have water or power delivery au-13 thority; or 14 (ii) are responsible for operating con-15 veyance facilities as a transferred works 16 under the reclamation laws and Bureau of 17 Reclamation policy; 18 (C) an agency established under State law 19 for the joint exercise of powers; and 20 (D) any combination of entities described 21 in subparagraphs (A) through (C). 22 (3) I NDIAN TRIBE .—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 23 has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 3738 IS section 102 of the Federally Recognized Indian 1 Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5130). 2 (4) LOW-INCOME COMMUNITY .—The term ‘‘low- 3 income community’’ has the meaning given the term 4 in section 45D(e) of the Internal Code of 1986 (in-5 cluding any regulations issued under that section), 6 including Tribal communities. 7 (5) M ULTI-BENEFIT PROJECT .—The term 8 ‘‘multi-benefit project’’ means a conveyance project 9 that provides in the region of the conveyance project 10 benefits that include not fewer than 1 of the fol-11 lowing quantified, significant benefits: 12 (A) Safe drinking water benefits for low- 13 income communities. 14 (B) Environmental benefits. 15 (6) P ROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 16 the Water Conveyance Improvement Program estab-17 lished under subsection (b). 18 (7) P ROJECT PROPONENT .—The term ‘‘project 19 proponent’’ means an eligible entity that— 20 (A) plans and develops a non-Federal con-21 veyance project; or 22 (B) operates an existing Reclamation 23 project that is a transferred works. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 3738 IS (8) P ROJECT SPONSOR .—The term ‘‘project 1 sponsor’’ means an eligible entity that contributes to 2 the non-Federal share of a conveyance project. 3 (9) R ECLAMATION PROJECT .—The term ‘‘Rec-4 lamation project’’ means a Bureau of Reclamation 5 project that is owned by the United States. 6 (10) R ECLAMATION STATE .—The term ‘‘Rec-7 lamation State’’ means a State or territory described 8 in the first section of the Act of June 17, 1902 (43 9 U.S.C. 391; 32 Stat. 388, chapter 1093). 10 (11) S AFE DRINKING WATER .—The term ‘‘safe 11 drinking water’’ means water that meets all applica-12 ble Federal and State primary and secondary drink-13 ing water standards. 14 (12) S ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 15 means the Secretary of the Interior (acting through 16 the Commissioner of Reclamation). 17 (13) S TAKEHOLDER.—The term ‘‘stakeholder’’ 18 means— 19 (A) with respect to safe drinking water 20 benefits for low-income communities— 21 (i)(I) an elected executive official with 22 applicable authority or legislative body rep-23 resenting a low-income community (or a 24 delegate); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 3738 IS (II) any agency exercising primary en-1 forcement responsibility for public water 2 systems in the State in which the applica-3 ble project is located; 4 (ii) an Indian Tribe receiving safe 5 drinking water benefits; or 6 (iii) a nonprofit organization described 7 in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Rev-8 enue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax-9 ation under section 501(a) of that Code 10 with— 11 (I) a demonstrated track record 12 of supporting improved access to safe 13 drinking water for low-income commu-14 nities in the region of the applicable 15 project; and 16 (II) no financial conflict of inter-17 est with the project proponent or any 18 project sponsor, except that other in-19 stances of partnership on similar 20 projects shall not be considered a fi-21 nancial conflict of interest for pur-22 poses of this subclause; and 23 (B) with respect to environmental bene-24 fits— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 3738 IS (i) a nonprofit organization described 1 in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Rev-2 enue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax-3 ation under section 501(a) of that Code 4 with— 5 (I) a demonstrated track record 6 of supporting environmental restora-7 tion in the region of the applicable 8 project, including species or species 9 habitat; and 10 (II) no financial conflict of inter-11 est with the project proponent or any 12 project sponsor, except that other in-13 stances of partnership on similar 14 projects shall not be considered a fi-15 nancial conflict of interest for pur-16 poses of this subclause; or 17 (ii) an Indian Tribe, if the project is 18 within the current or former reservation or 19 aboriginal territory of the Indian Tribe. 20 (14) W ATER SUPPLY BENEFIT .—The term 21 ‘‘water supply benefit’’ means— 22 (A) an irrigation benefit; 23 (B) a general drinking water benefit; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 3738 IS (C) operational flexibility that allows the 1 Bureau of Reclamation to provide multiple ben-2 efits, including any of the benefits described in 3 subparagraphs (A) and (B). 4 (b) E STABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 5 shall establish within the Bureau of Reclamation a Water 6 Conveyance Improvement Program to provide authority to 7 participate in, and provide grants to, conveyance projects. 8 (c) RECLAMATION-LED CONVEYANCE PROJECTS.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL .—On the request of any State, 10 department, agency, or subdivision of a State, or 11 any public agency organized pursuant to State law, 12 the Secretary may provide a grant to, and enter into 13 an agreement on behalf of the United States for the 14 design, study, and construction of, a conveyance 15 project as part of a new Reclamation project, a new 16 division of a Reclamation project, a new supple-17 mental works on a Reclamation project, or the res-18 toration or improvement of the capacity of an exist-19 ing Reclamation project, in accordance with this 20 subsection. 21 (2) P ROJECT COMMENCEMENT .—The construc-22 tion of a conveyance project that is the subject of an 23 agreement under this subsection shall not commence 24 until the date on which the Secretary— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 3738 IS (A) determines that the conveyance project 1 is feasible in accordance with the reclamation 2 laws; and 3 (B) secures an agreement providing the 4 funding necessary to pay the non-Federal share 5 of the costs of the conveyance project in accord-6 ance with subsection (e). 7 (3) F EASIBILITY DETERMINATION .—In deter-8 mining feasibility under paragraph (2)(A), the Sec-9 retary shall review and approve a feasibility analysis 10 provided by a project sponsor if the Secretary deter-11 mines that the analysis meets Bureau of Reclama-12 tion policy relating to the preparation of a feasibility 13 study. 14 (d) NON-FEDERAL CONVEYANCE PROJECTS.— 15 (1) PROPOSAL.— 16 (A) I N GENERAL .—A project proponent 17 may submit to the Secretary a proposal for the 18 design, study, and construction of a conveyance 19 project to be provided a grant under this sec-20 tion. 21 (B) F ORM.—The project proponent may 22 submit a proposal under subparagraph (A) in 23 the form of a completed feasibility study or any 24 other means that provide information to sup-25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 3738 IS port a determination that the conveyance 1 project is eligible for a grant in accordance with 2 paragraph (2). 3 (2) R EQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary may pro-4 vide to the project proponent a grant for a convey-5 ance project and enter into an agreement on behalf 6 of the United States with the project proponent for 7 the administration of the grant if— 8 (A) the project proponent determines, and 9 the Secretary concurs, through the preparation 10 of a feasibility study that is streamlined to the 11 maximum extent practicable, that the convey-12 ance project— 13 (i) is technically and financially fea-14 sible; and 15 (ii) is consistent with applicable Fed-16 eral and State law; 17 (B) the project proponent has sufficient 18 non-Federal funding available to complete the 19 conveyance project, as determined by the Sec-20 retary; 21 (C) the project proponent is financially sol-22 vent, as determined by the Secretary; and 23 (D) not later than 60 days after the date 24 on which the Secretary concurs with the deter-25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 3738 IS mination under subparagraph (A) with respect 1 to the conveyance project, the Secretary sub-2 mits to Congress written notice of the deter-3 mination. 4 (e) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.— 5 (1) I N GENERAL .—The Federal share of a con-6 veyance project funded under this section shall not 7 exceed 50 percent of the total cost of studies, plan-8 ning, design, and construction of the conveyance 9 project. 10 (2) P ROJECTS THAT ARE NOT MULTI -BEN-11 EFIT.—The Federal share of a conveyance project 12 other than a multi-benefit project funded under this 13 section may be used— 14 (A) solely for water supply benefits; or 15 (B) on the approval by the Secretary and, 16 in the case of a non-Federal conveyance project 17 or an existing Reclamation project that is a 18 transferred works, at the request of the project 19 proponent, for a combination of— 20 (i) water supply benefits; 21 (ii) safe drinking water benefits for 22 low-income communities; 23 (iii) environmental benefits; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 13 •S 3738 IS (iv) other benefits in accordance with 1 the reclamation laws. 2 (3) MULTI-BENEFIT PROJECTS .—In the case of 3 a multi-benefit project funded under this section— 4 (A) the Federal share of not more than 30 5 percent of the costs of studies, planning, design, 6 and construction of the multi-benefit project 7 may be used for any of the benefits described 8 in paragraph (2); and 9 (B) an additional Federal share of not 10 more than 20 percent of the costs of studies, 11 planning, design, and construction of the multi- 12 benefit project may be used for— 13 (i) quantified, significant safe drink-14 ing water benefits for low-income commu-15 nities in accordance with subsection 16 (f)(2)(A); 17 (ii) quantified, significant environ-18 mental benefits described in subsection 19 (f)(3); or 20 (iii) a combination of the benefits de-21 scribed in clauses (i) and (ii). 22 (4) A GREEMENT.—The project proponent or 23 the Secretary, in the case of any Reclamation-led 24 conveyance project that is a new project or involves 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 14 •S 3738 IS a reserved works, shall enter into an agreement with 1 1 or more applicable stakeholders representing 2 multi-benefit interests that describes the benefits au-3 thorized under paragraph (3)(B) proposed for the 4 conveyance project. 5 (5) FORM OF NON -FEDERAL SHARE .—The non- 6 Federal share of the cost of a conveyance project 7 funded under this section may be in the form of— 8 (A) cash; 9 (B) in-kind contributions; 10 (C) reimbursable funding allocated pursu-11 ant to any statutory authority, if the eligible en-12 tity has entered into a repayment contract for 13 the funding; 14 (D) a loan under the Water Infrastructure 15 Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 (33 U.S.C. 16 3901 et seq.) or any other Federal loan pro-17 gram; 18 (E) amounts made available from a State 19 revolving fund pursuant to the rules of the ap-20 plicable State; or 21 (F) other non-Federal sources of funding, 22 including State funding. 23 (f) S PECIAL PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO MULTI- 24 BENEFIT PROJECTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 15 •S 3738 IS (1) REQUIREMENT.— 1 (A) I N GENERAL .—A conveyance project 2 with a total cost of not less than $800,000,000 3 that is funded under this section shall be a 4 multi-benefit project. 5 (B) L ESS THAN $800 ,000,000.—The Sec-6 retary shall ensure that not less than 50 per-7 cent of conveyance projects with a total cost of 8 less than $800,000,000 that are funded under 9 this section shall be multi-benefit projects. 10 (2) D ESCRIPTION OF SAFE DRINKING WATER 11 BENEFITS FOR LOW -INCOME COMMUNITIES .— 12 (A) I N GENERAL .—The Federal funding 13 for quantified, significant safe drinking water 14 benefits for low-income communities referred to 15 in subsection (e)(3)(B)(i) may be provided— 16 (i) directly, by paying for a sufficient 17 proportion of the capacity of the convey-18 ance project (or, in the case of a convey-19 ance project restoring the original capacity 20 of a conveyance facility, paying for suffi-21 cient water from the conveyance project) 22 and any additional infrastructure necessary 23 to deliver safe drinking water to a low-in-24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 16 •S 3738 IS come community or other resource or facil-1 ity accessible to the community; 2 (ii) indirectly, by— 3 (I) supporting a low-income rate-4 payer assistance program for a project 5 sponsor, a member agency of a project 6 sponsor, or a drinking water district 7 in the region of the conveyance 8 project; or 9 (II) contributing to a Federal or 10 State program that assists in deliv-11 ering safe drinking water to low-in-12 come communities; 13 (iii) indirectly, by paying for a suffi-14 cient proportion of the project capacity 15 during high-flow periods to provide a spe-16 cific quantity of water (or, in the case of 17 a conveyance project restoring the original 18 capacity of a conveyance facility, paying 19 for sufficient water from the conveyance 20 project), with 1 of the project sponsors in 21 return delivering the same quantity of 22 water to the community through an ex-23 change, banking water in a groundwater 24 basin during times of excess for subse-25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 17 •S 3738 IS quent delivery to the low-income commu-1 nity; 2 (iv) indirectly, by paying for enhance-3 ment, repair, or upgrades to a Bureau of 4 Indian Affairs conveyance facility in the 5 region of the project; 6 (v) by any other direct or indirect 7 means to provide safe drinking water to a 8 low-income community; or 9 (vi) through a combination of the 10 methods authorized under clauses (i) 11 through (v). 12 (B) D ELIVERY OF WATER FOR DRINK -13 ING.—Delivery of water for drinking purposes 14 shall be considered to be safe drinking water 15 benefits for low-income communities for pur-16 poses of this section if— 17 (i) facilities exist to treat the water 18 that is to become safe drinking water; or 19 (ii) the stakeholders representing the 20 applicable low-income communities agree 21 that there are viable plans and funding 22 sources (including Federal or State fund-23 ing) to treat the delivered water or ex-24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 18 •S 3738 IS changed water that is to become safe 1 drinking water. 2 (C) INCLUSION.—Any benefits described in 3 subparagraph (A) that are safe drinking water 4 benefits for low-income ratepayers shall be con-5 sidered to meet the requirements for safe drink-6 ing water benefits for low-income communities 7 under this section. 8 (D) E FFECT.—Nothing in this section re-9 quires a project proponent or project sponsor to 10 pay for treatment of water delivered to low-in-11 come communities, other than low-income com-12 munities with which the project proponent or 13 the project sponsor has an existing contractual 14 relationship to deliver treated water. 15 (3) D ESCRIPTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL BENE -16 FITS.—The quantified, significant environmental 17 benefits referred to in subsection (e)(3)(B)(ii) in-18 clude— 19 (A) benefits to a species listed as threat-20 ened or endangered under the Endangered Spe-21 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) or 22 other species of concern affected by operation of 23 Reclamation projects or State or local water 24 projects; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 19 •S 3738 IS (B) additional flows to an inland water 1 body, including the Great Salt Lake, either di-2 rectly or indirectly through an exchange; 3 (C) benefits that improve aquatic or terres-4 trial habitats in the region of the proposed con-5 veyance project; 6 (D) contributions to a Federal or State 7 program that provides environmental benefits in 8 the region of the project; 9 (E) delivery of additional water to wildlife 10 refuges, either directly or indirectly through an 11 exchange; or 12 (F) strategically designed actions that si-13 multaneously achieve environmental and other 14 benefits, such as habitat restoration or efforts 15 to recover species that— 16 (i) improve the operation of the con-17 veyance project; or 18 (ii) have water supply or flood protec-19 tion benefits. 20 (4) T YPES OF PROJECTS .—Of the multi-benefit 21 projects funded under this section, the Secretary 22 shall ensure that, to the maximum extent prac-23 ticable— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 20 •S 3738 IS (A) 50 percent provide at least some envi-1 ronmental benefits (or a combination of envi-2 ronmental benefits and safe drinking water ben-3 efits for low-income communities); and 4 (B) 50 percent provide at least some safe 5 drinking water benefits for low-income commu-6 nities (or a combination of safe drinking water 7 benefits for low-income communities and envi-8 ronmental benefits). 9 (5) P HASED FUNDING OF MULTI -BENEFIT 10 PROJECTS.— 11 (A) I N GENERAL .—During the first 2 12 years in which a multi-benefit project is being 13 constructed, the applicable project sponsor may 14 apply for and receive Federal funds for con-15 struction costs authorized under subsection 16 (e)(3)(A), subject to subparagraph (C). 17 (B) D ESIGN.—Subject to the provisions of 18 this paragraph, to the maximum extent prac-19 ticable, the project proponent shall seek to inte-20 grate environmental benefits and safe drinking 21 water benefits for low-income communities into 22 the design of the applicable multi-benefit 23 project. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 21 •S 3738 IS (C) R EQUIREMENT.—To be eligible for 1 Federal funds under subparagraph (A), the ap-2 plicable project proponent shall— 3 (i) commit to include safe drinking 4 water benefits for low-income communities 5 or environmental benefits in the multi-ben-6 efit project on the date on which Federal 7 funds are provided under that subpara-8 graph; 9 (ii) demonstrate that the project spon-10 sor is in negotiations to add multi-benefit 11 project elements with stakeholders rep-12 resenting the environment or safe drinking 13 water for low-income communities; and 14 (iii) not later than 2 years after the 15 date on which the project sponsor first re-16 ceives construction funding for the project 17 under subsection (e)(3)(A), submit a pro-18 posal for additional funding under sub-19 section (e)(3)(B) that is consistent with 20 the applicable agreement entered into 21 under subsection (e)(4). 22 (D) REQUIRED RATIO .— 23 (i) I N GENERAL .—Subject to clauses 24 (ii) and (iii), on submission of a proposal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 22 •S 3738 IS for additional funding under subparagraph 1 (C)(iii), for any subsequent 5-year period 2 for which Federal funds are made available 3 for the applicable multi-benefit project 4 under this section— 5 (I) 60 percent shall be made 6 available for costs relating to the ben-7 efits referred to in subsection 8 (e)(3)(A); and 9 (II) 40 percent shall be made 10 available for costs relating to environ-11 mental benefits or safe drinking water 12 benefits for low-income communities 13 in accordance with this subsection. 14 (ii) M ODIFICATION.—Notwithstanding 15 clause (i), the project proponent or the 16 Secretary, in the case of any Reclamation- 17 led conveyance project that is a new 18 project or involves a reserved works, and 19 any stakeholders representing multi-benefit 20 interests subject to an agreement referred 21 to in subsection (e)(4) may by mutual 22 agreement modify the ratio of funding for 23 different components of the conveyance 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 23 •S 3738 IS project established under clause (i) for 1 funding over the specified 5-year period. 2 (iii) A LLOCATION OF TOTAL FUND -3 ING.—The Secretary shall ensure that the 4 total allocation of funding for a multi-ben-5 efit project shall reflect the ratio of fund-6 ing established under clause (i). 7 (g) C RITERIA FOR SELECTING CONVEYANCE 8 PROJECTS.—In determining whether to select a convey-9 ance project for a grant under this section, the Secretary 10 shall consider— 11 (1) the Federal benefits of the conveyance 12 project; 13 (2) whether the conveyance project, in the judg-14 ment of the Secretary, is well-designed to achieve 15 the benefits of the conveyance project at a reason-16 able cost; 17 (3) whether the conveyance project meets a crit-18 ical need at the national, State, regional, or local 19 level; 20 (4) whether the conveyance project assists the 21 Federal Government in honoring contracts of the 22 Federal Government; 23 (5) diversity in the geography and size of con-24 veyance projects; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 24 •S 3738 IS (6) such other factors as the Secretary deter-1 mines appropriate. 2 (h) T OTAL DOLLAR CAP.—The Secretary shall not 3 impose a total dollar cap on Federal funds under this sec-4 tion for any individual conveyance project funded under 5 the Program. 6 (i) NEW CONVEYANCE FACILITY.—No Federal funds 7 are authorized under this section for any new conveyance 8 facility that costs more than $5,000,000,000. 9 (j) R EIMBURSABILITY OF FUNDS.—Any Federal 10 funds provided by the Secretary under the Program shall 11 be nonreimbursable to the United States, including— 12 (1) funding of Reclamation-led conveyance 13 projects under subsection (c); and 14 (2) grants to eligible entities for non-Federal 15 conveyance projects under subsection (d). 16 (k) F UNDING ELIGIBILITY.—A conveyance project 17 shall not be considered ineligible for funding under the 18 Program on the basis of the conveyance project receiving 19 assistance under any other Federal funding program or 20 Federal joint use agreement. 21 (l) APPLICABLE LAW.—A conveyance project funded 22 under the Program shall be consistent with applicable 23 Federal, State, and Tribal law. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 25 •S 3738 IS (m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 1 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 2 out this section $500,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 3 2028 through 2032. 4 SEC. 4. REAUTHORIZATION OF RECYCLING PROGRAM AND 5 ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION PROGRAM. 6 (a) A UTHORIZATION OF NEW WATER RECYCLING 7 AND REUSE PROJECTS.—Section 1602(g) of the Reclama-8 tion Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities 9 Act (43 U.S.C. 390h(g)) is amended by striking para-10 graph (1) and inserting the following: 11 ‘‘(1) There is authorized to be appropriated to 12 the Secretary of the Interior to carry out this section 13 $550,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2028 14 through 2032.’’. 15 (b) C EILING ON FEDERAL SHARE.—Section 16 1631(d)(1) of the Reclamation Wastewater and Ground-17 water Study and Facilities Act (43 U.S.C. 390h–13(d)(1)) 18 is amended by striking ‘‘$20,000,000 (October 1996 19 prices)’’ and inserting ‘‘$50,000,000 (in December 2025 20 prices, as automatically adjusted each January based on 21 the percentage increase in the consumer price index for 22 all urban consumers (United States city average) over the 23 previous year, as published by the Bureau of Labor Statis-24 tics)’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 26 •S 3738 IS (c) A CTIONS FOR BENEFIT OF ENDANGERED SPE-1 CIES, I MPORTANT HABITAT, AND WATER BODIES.—Sec-2 tion 4010(b) of the Water Infrastructure Improvements 3 for the Nation Act (Public Law 114–322; 130 Stat. 1872) 4 is amended by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 5 following: 6 ‘‘(2) A CTIONS FOR BENEFIT OF ENDANGERED 7 SPECIES, IMPORTANT HABITAT , AND WATER BOD -8 IES.—There is authorized to be appropriated to the 9 Secretary of the Interior (acting through the Com-10 missioner of Reclamation) $250,000,000 for the pe-11 riod of fiscal years 2028 through 2032— 12 ‘‘(A) for the restoration of habitat or im-13 provement of conditions at the Great Salt Lake 14 and other saline inland lakes affected by the op-15 eration of the Central Utah Project or Bureau 16 of Reclamation water projects or deliveries; 17 ‘‘(B) for— 18 ‘‘(i) gravel and rearing area additions, 19 fish passage improvements, barrier re-20 moval, and habitat restoration to the Sac-21 ramento River, its tributaries, or other riv-22 ers or river basins affected by the oper-23 ation of Bureau of Reclamation facilities to 24 benefit species listed as threatened or en-25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 27 •S 3738 IS dangered under the Endangered Species 1 Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), in-2 cluding Chinook salmon and steelhead 3 trout; 4 ‘‘(ii) scientifically improved and in-5 creased real-time monitoring to inform 6 real-time operations of Bureau of Reclama-7 tion facilities, and alternative methods, 8 models, and equipment to improve tem-9 perature modeling, science, and monitoring 10 to support flow benefits for fish species, 11 and related forecasted information for pur-12 poses of predicting impacts to salmon, 13 salmon habitat, species listed as threatened 14 or endangered under the Endangered Spe-15 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), 16 or other species of concern as a result of 17 water management at Bureau of Reclama-18 tion facilities; 19 ‘‘(iii) aquatic habitat restoration ac-20 tivities, including floodplain reconnection 21 and reactivation projects (such as off-chan-22 nel and managed floodplain inundation 23 projects that enhance biological produc-24 tivity and food web support for fish) that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 28 •S 3738 IS enhance the ability of the Bureau of Rec-1 lamation to meet contractual obligations 2 for water deliveries; 3 ‘‘(iv) fish hatchery modernization and 4 construction projects; and 5 ‘‘(v) structural or operational im-6 provements, including temperature control 7 and associated facilities, necessary to im-8 plement activities described in clauses (i) 9 through (iv); and 10 ‘‘(C) for planning, design, scientific stud-11 ies, resource and biological monitoring, environ-12 mental reviews, permitting, construction, imple-13 mentation, and adaptive management associ-14 ated with any of the activities described in sub-15 paragraphs (A) and (B).’’. 16 SEC. 5. OFFSET FROM EXTENSION OF CERTAIN PROVI-17 SIONS. 18 Section 4013 of the Water Infrastructure Improve-19 ments for the Nation Act (43 U.S.C. 390b note; Public 20 Law 114–322) is amended— 21 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 22 end; 23 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘in’’ and in-24 serting ‘‘under’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 29 •S 3738 IS (3) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para-1 graph (3); and 2 (4) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol-3 lowing: 4 ‘‘(2) section 4009(c), section 4010(b)(2), and 5 subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), and (f) of section 4011, 6 which shall expire 15 years after that date of enact-7 ment; and’’. 8 SEC. 6. DEAUTHORIZATION OF INACTIVE PROJECTS OFF-9 SET. 10 (a) P URPOSES.—The purposes of this section are— 11 (1) to establish an efficient and transparent 12 process for deauthorizing Reclamation projects that 13 have failed to receive a minimum level of investment 14 to ensure active Reclamation projects can move for-15 ward while reducing the backlog of authorized Rec-16 lamation projects; and 17 (2) to allow for exceptions for the deauthoriza-18 tion of Reclamation projects under paragraph (1) 19 based on— 20 (A) action by Congress; 21 (B) funding to completion by the non-Fed-22 eral project sponsor; or 23 (C) a finding by the Secretary that certain 24 Reclamation projects should continue to be au-25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 30 •S 3738 IS thorized to meet vitally important needs of a 1 State or the United States. 2 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 3 (1) R ECLAMATION PROJECT .—The term ‘‘Rec-4 lamation project’’ means a project that is— 5 (A) owned by the United States; and 6 (B) constructed and operated under the di-7 rection of the Bureau of Reclamation. 8 (2) S ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 9 the Secretary of the Interior (acting through the 10 Commissioner of Reclamation). 11 (c) I NTERIM DEAUTHORIZATION LIST.—Not later 12 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 13 Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and 14 Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on 15 Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and 16 make available on a publicly accessible internet website in 17 a manner that is downloadable, searchable, and sortable— 18 (1) an interim deauthorization list of Reclama-19 tion projects— 20 (A) that are authorized; and 21 (B) for which funding was not obligated 22 during the fiscal year in which this Act is en-23 acted or any of the preceding 7 fiscal years; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 31 •S 3738 IS (2) for each Reclamation project listed under 1 paragraph (1)— 2 (A) the date of authorization of the Rec-3 lamation project, including any subsequent 4 modifications to the original authorization; 5 (B) a brief description of the Reclamation 6 project; 7 (C) the estimated cost of completion of the 8 Reclamation project; and 9 (D) any remaining amounts authorized, 10 but not appropriated, for the Reclamation 11 project. 12 (d) FINAL DEAUTHORIZATION LIST.— 13 (1) I N GENERAL .—Not later than 1 year after 14 the date on which the interim deauthorization list is 15 submitted under subsection (c), the Secretary shall 16 submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural 17 Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Nat-18 ural Resources of the House of Representatives and 19 make available on a publicly accessible internet 20 website in a manner that is downloadable, search-21 able, and sortable, a final deauthorization list of all 22 Reclamation projects identified in the interim de-23 authorization list, other than any Reclamation 24 project— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 32 •S 3738 IS (A) for which funding has been provided 1 by an Act of Congress after the date of submis-2 sion of the interim deauthorization list; or 3 (B) that the Secretary excludes under 4 paragraph (2). 5 (2) E XCLUSIONS.—The Secretary may exclude 6 from the final deauthorization list under paragraph 7 (1) a Reclamation project that the Secretary deter-8 mines is vitally important for the interests of the 9 United States or a particular State, based on consid-10 eration of the effects of the Reclamation project 11 on— 12 (A) public health and safety; 13 (B) the economy; or 14 (C) the environment. 15 (e) DEAUTHORIZATION; CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW.— 16 Effective beginning on the date that is 1 year after the 17 date of submission of the final deauthorization list under 18 subsection (d), a Reclamation project included on the final 19 deauthorization list under that subsection is deauthorized, 20 unless, prior to that date— 21 (1) a joint resolution disapproving the final de-22 authorization report is enacted into law; 23 (2) funding for the Reclamation project has 24 been provided by an Act of Congress; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 33 •S 3738 IS (3) the non-Federal sponsor of the Reclamation 1 project provides sufficient funds to complete the 2 Reclamation project. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jan 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00033 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3738.IS S3738kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB