II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4172 

To provide for water conservation, drought operations, and drought resilience 

at water resources development projects, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 18, 2024 

Mr. KELLY (for himself, Mr. PADILLA, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. HEINRICH, and Ms. 

ROSEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To provide for water conservation, drought operations, and 

drought resilience at water resources development 

projects, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Drought Resilient In5 frastructure Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY. 

7 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec8 retary of the Army. 


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1 SEC. 3. WATER CONSERVATION MEASURES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to 

3 carry out water conservation measures as part of water 

4 resources development projects for which water supply is 

5 an authorized project purpose. 

6 (b) INCLUSIONS.—Water conservation measures au7 thorized under subsection (a) may include— 

8 (1) operational measures to enhance stormwater 

9 retention or aquifer recharge, including the use of 

10 nonstructural, natural features or nature-based fea11 tures; 

12 (2) releases to augment water supply at another 

13 facility; 

14 (3) modifications to existing Corps of Engineers 

15 facilities (including the addition of new project fea16 tures and the use of nonstructural, natural features 

17 or nature-based features) to enhance stormwater re18 tention, water storage, or aquifer recharge; and 

19 (4) other actions designed to conserve limited 

20 water resources. 

21 (c) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary shall ensure that 

22 water conservation measures authorized under subsection 

23 (a) are carried out consistent with other authorized project 

24 purposes. 

25 (d) CONTRIBUTED FUNDS.—Notwithstanding any 

26 other provision of law, the Secretary may receive and exVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 03, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4172.IS S4172

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1 pend funds contributed by a non-Federal interest or a 

2 Federal agency to carry out measures authorized under 

3 subsection (a). 

4 (e) EFFECT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this section— 

6 (A) affects any other authority of the Sec7 retary to use amounts derived from revenues 

8 from a Bureau of Reclamation project; or 

9 (B) creates, impairs, alters, or supersedes 

10 a State water right. 

11 (2) APPLICABLE LAW.—In carrying out this 

12 section, the Secretary shall comply with all applica13 ble— 

14 (A) State water laws; 

15 (B) Federal laws and policies; and 

16 (C) interstate water compacts. 

17 SEC. 4. EMERGENCY DROUGHT OPERATIONS. 

18 (a) DEFINITION OF COVERED PROJECT.—In this sec19 tion, the term ‘‘covered project’’ means any of the fol20 lowing: 

21 (1) A project of the Corps of Engineers. 

22 (2) A project for which the Secretary develops 

23 a water control manual under section 7 of the Act 

24 of December 22, 1944 (commonly known as the 


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1 ‘‘Flood Control Act of 1944’’) (58 Stat. 890, chapter 

2 665; 33 U.S.C. 709). 

3 (b) EMERGENCY OPERATION DURING DROUGHT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Consistent with other au5 thorized project purposes, with respect to the oper6 ation of a covered project during a drought or long7 term drought conditions in the project area, the cov8 ered project shall be operated with water supply and 

9 water conservation as the primary project purposes. 

10 (2) COORDINATION.—The operation of a cov11 ered project in accordance with paragraph (1) shall 

12 be carried out in coordination with the applicable 

13 non-Federal interest or Federal agency, to the ex14 tent practicable. 

15 (c) UPDATES.—In carrying out this section, the Sec16 retary, in consultation with the applicable non-Federal in17 terest or Federal agency, to the extent practicable, shall 

18 update the water control manual for a covered project to 

19 include drought operations and contingency plans. 

20 (d) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out subsection (b), 

21 the Secretary shall ensure that— 

22 (1) operations described in that subsection— 

23 (A) are consistent with water management 

24 deviations and drought contingency plans in the 

25 water control manual for the covered project; 


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1 (B) impact only the flood pool managed by 

2 the Secretary; and 

3 (C) are not being carried out in the event 

4 of a forecast or anticipated flood or weather 

5 event that would require the flood risk manage6 ment mission to take precedence; 

7 (2) to the extent practicable, the Secretary uses 

8 forecast-informed reservoir operations; and 

9 (3) the covered project returns to operation 

10 with original authorized project purposes, at a time 

11 determined by the Secretary. 

12 (e) CONTRIBUTED FUNDS.—Notwithstanding any 

13 other provision of law, the Secretary may receive and ex14 pend funds contributed by a non-Federal interest or a 

15 Federal agency to carry out activities under this section. 

16 (f) COORDINATION.—The Secretary, to the maximum 

17 extent practicable, shall coordinate with State and local 

18 authorities and relevant Federal agencies in carrying out 

19 this section. 

20 (g) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.—Nothing in this section 

21 preempts or affects— 

22 (1) water rights and water supply agreements; 

23 (2) any State water law; 

24 (3) any interstate compact governing water; or 


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1 (4) any obligation to comply with the provisions 

2 of any Federal or State environmental law, includ3 ing— 

4 (A) the National Environmental Policy Act 

5 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

6 (B) the Federal Water Pollution Control 

7 Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.); and 

8 (C) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

9 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 

10 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

11 5(a) of the Act of August 18, 1941 (commonly known as 

12 the ‘‘Flood Control Act of 1941’’) (55 Stat. 650, chapter 

13 377; 33 U.S.C. 701n(a)), is amended by adding at the 

14 end the following: 

15 ‘‘(6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR

16 EMERGENCY DROUGHT OPERATIONS.—Of the 

17 amounts made available for each fiscal year to carry 

18 out this subsection, not less than $5,000,000 for 

19 each of fiscal years 2024 through 2034 shall be used 

20 to carry out section 4 of the Drought Resilient In21 frastructure Act of 2024.’’. 

22 SEC. 5. DROUGHT RESILIENCE. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may carry out a 

24 drought resilience project if the Secretary determines that 

25 the project— 


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1 (1) will provide for drought resilience, includ2 ing— 

3 (A) water conservation measures to miti4 gate and address drought conditions; 

5 (B) the management of sediment for in6 creased water in the system; 

7 (C) the mitigation and monitoring associ8 ated with aquatic or riparian non-native species 

9 that exacerbate drought conditions, such as salt 

10 cedar; 

11 (D) the planting of native plant species 

12 that will reduce the risk of recurrence and 

13 threat associated with non-native plant species; 

14 or 

15 (E) other actions that increase drought re16 silience, including the use of nonstructural, nat17 ural features or nature-based features; 

18 (2) is in the public interest; and 

19 (3) is cost effective. 

20 (b) COST SHARING.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The non-Federal interest 

22 shall provide 35 percent of the cost of construction 

23 of a project under this section. 

24 (2) ITEMS PROVIDED BY NON-FEDERAL INTER25 ESTS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The non-Federal inter2 est for a project under this section shall provide 

3 all land, easements, rights-of-way, and reloca4 tions necessary for the project. 

5 (B) CREDIT.—The value of the land, ease6 ments, rights of-way, and relocations referred to 

7 in subparagraph (A) shall be credited toward 

8 the non-Federal share of the cost of the project 

9 under paragraph (1). 

10 (c) AGREEMENTS.—Construction of a project under 

11 this section shall be initiated only after the Secretary and 

12 the non-Federal interest enter into an agreement under 

13 which the non-Federal interest agrees to pay— 

14 (1) the non-Federal share of the cost of con15 struction required under this section; and 

16 (2) 100 percent of any operation, maintenance, 

17 and replacement and rehabilitation costs with re18 spect to the project, in accordance with regulations 

19 prescribed by the Secretary. 

20 (d) COST LIMITATION.—Not more than $10,000,000 

21 in Federal funds may be allotted under this section for 

22 a project at any single locality. 

23 (e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—As part of carrying 

24 out a project under this section, the Secretary may provide 

25 technical assistance to non-Federal interests necessary to 


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1 support comprehensive, system-wide approaches and oper2 ations, maintenance, and replacement and rehabilitation 

3 that take into account changing conditions from extreme 

4 and prolonged weather events. 

5 (f) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be appro6 priated to carry out this section $35,000,000 for each fis7 cal year. 

8 (g) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.—Nothing in this section 

9 preempts or affects— 

10 (1) water rights and water supply agreements; 

11 (2) any State water law; or 

12 (3) any interstate compact governing water. 

13 (h) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

14 (1) Section 1030(a)(1) of the Water Resources 

15 Reform and Development Act of 2014 (33 U.S.C. 

16 400(1)) is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(L) Section 5 of the Drought Resilient 

19 Infrastructure Act of 2024.’’. 

20 (2) Section 7001(c)(1)(D)(iii) of the Water Re21 sources Reform and Development Act of 2014 (33 

22 U.S.C. 2282d(c)(1)(D)(iii)) is amended— 

23 (A) in subclause (VIII), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

24 at the end; 


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1 (B) in subclause (IX), by striking the pe2 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(X) section 5 of the Drought 

5 Resilient Infrastructure Act of 

6 2024.’’. 

7 SEC. 6. LEVERAGING FEDERAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR IN8 CREASED WATER SUPPLY. 

9 Section 1118(i)(2) of the Water Resources Develop10 ment Act of 2016 (43 U.S.C. 390b–2(i)(2)) is amended— 

11 (1) by inserting ‘‘or a Federal agency’’ after 

12 ‘‘non-Federal interest’’; and 

13 (2) by inserting ‘‘and to carry out any infra14 structure modifications required to implement the 

15 revised operational documents’’ after ‘‘documents’’. 

16 SEC. 7. WATER SUPPLY PURPOSE, COLORADO RIVER BASIN 

17 STATES. 

18 (a) DEFINITION OF COLORADO RIVER BASIN

19 STATE.—In this section, the term ‘‘Colorado River Basin 

20 State’’ means any of the following States: 

21 (1) Arizona. 

22 (2) California. 

23 (3) Colorado. 

24 (4) Nevada. 

25 (5) New Mexico. 


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1 (6) Utah. 

2 (7) Wyoming. 

3 (b) MODIFICATIONS.—Each project of the Corps of 

4 Engineers in a Colorado River Basin State shall be modi5 fied to include water supply as a project purpose if a re6 quest for such a modification is made to the Secretary 

7 by— 

8 (1) the non-Federal sponsor of the project; or 

9 (2) in the case of a project for which there is 

10 no non-Federal sponsor, the Governor of the applica11 ble Colorado River Basin State. 

12 (c) COORDINATION.—The Secretary, to the maximum 

13 extent practicable, shall coordinate with State and local 

14 authorities in carrying out this section. 

15 SEC. 8. FORECAST-INFORMED RESERVOIR OPERATIONS 

16 PILOT PROGRAM. 

17 Section 1222 of the America’s Water Infrastructure 

18 Act of 2018 (132 Stat. 3811; 134 Stat. 2661) is amended 

19 by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(d) FORECAST-INFORMED RESERVOIR OPERATIONS

21 PILOT PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall carry out a pilot 

22 program for the use of forecast-informed reservoir oper23 ations in the South Pacific Division of the Corps of Engi24 neers— 


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1 ‘‘(1) with the goal of providing for drought re2 silience; and 

3 ‘‘(2) for further development and application of 

4 the forecast-informed reservoir operations screening 

5 process developed by the Corps of Engineers to as6 sess the suitability of performing a full forecast-in7 formed reservoir operations (commonly known as 

8 ‘FIRO’) viability assessment and prioritizing water 

9 conservation as a project purpose at projects located 

10 in a Colorado River Basin State (as defined in sec11 tion 7(a) of the Drought Resilient Infrastructure Act 

12 of 2024).’’. 

13 SEC. 9. INVASIVE SPECIES THAT EXACERBATE DROUGHT. 

14 (a) AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION.—Section 

15 206(a) of the Water Resources Development Act of 1996 

16 (33 U.S.C. 2330(a)) is amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (1)(A)— 

18 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

19 end; 

20 (B) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

21 end and inserting ‘‘or’’; and 

22 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(iii) will provide for drought resilience; 

24 and’’; and 

25 (2) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(4) REMOVAL AND MITIGATION OF INVASIVE

2 SPECIES.—A project under this section may include 

3 measures to remove and mitigate invasive aquatic or 

4 riparian species that exacerbate drought conditions 

5 and risk of fire, including the replacement of 

6 invasive species with non-invasive native species that 

7 reduce the risk of regrowth of invasive species.’’. 

8 (b) PROJECT MODIFICATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT OF

9 ENVIRONMENT.—Section 1135 of the Water Resources 

10 Development Act of 1986 (33 U.S.C. 2309a) is amend11 ed— 

12 (1) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(3) CONTROL OF AQUATIC OR RIPARIAN

15 INVASIVE SPECIES THAT EXACERBATE DROUGHT

16 CONDITIONS AND THE RISK OF FIRE.—The Sec17 retary may use the authority under this section for 

18 the mitigation of salt cedar and replacement with 

19 native species plantings.’’; and 

20 (2) in subsection (e)— 

21 (A) by striking ‘‘(e) The Secretary’’ and 

22 inserting the following: 

23 ‘‘(e) COORDINATION AND ASSISTANCE.— 

24 ‘‘(1) COORDINATION.—The Secretary’’; and 

25 (B) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

2 may provide technical assistance to a non-Federal 

3 interest managing land adjacent to the water re4 sources project being modified under this section if 

5 the Secretary determines the assistance to be nec6 essary in order to extend the benefit or enable suc7 cess of the modification.’’. 

8 SEC. 10. SILVER JACKETS PROGRAM. 

9 Section 206 of the Flood Control Act of 1960 (33 

10 U.S.C. 709a) is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(f) SILVER JACKETS PROGRAM.—There is author13 ized to be appropriated $25,000,000 for each fiscal year 

14 to carry out the Silver Jackets program of the Secretary 

15 established pursuant to this section and section 204 of the 

16 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist17 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5134).’’. 

18 SEC. 11. TRIBAL PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM. 

19 (a) REMOVAL OF RESTRICTION.—Section 203 of the 

20 Water Resources Development Act of 2000 (33 U.S.C. 

21 2269) is amended by striking subsection (e). 

22 (b) COST-SHARE.—Section 203(d) of the Water Re23 sources Development Act of 2000 (33 U.S.C. 2269(d)) is 

24 amended— 

25 (1) in paragraph (4)— 


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1 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘50 

2 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘10 percent’’; and 

3 (B) by striking subparagraph (B) and in4 serting the following: 

5 ‘‘(B) OTHER COSTS.—The costs of design 

6 and construction of a project described in sub7 paragraph (A) shall be assigned to the appro8 priate project purposes and shared as described 

9 in sections 101 and 103 of the Water Resources 

10 Development Act of 1986 (33 U.S.C. 2211, 

11 2213) except that— 

12 ‘‘(i) the non-Federal share shall be 10 

13 percent; 

14 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a navigation 

15 project— 

16 ‘‘(I) section 101(a)(2) of that Act 

17 (33 U.S.C. 2211(a)(2)) shall not 

18 apply; and 

19 ‘‘(II) the value of land, ease20 ments, rights-of-way, and relocations 

21 under subsection (a)(3) of section 101 

22 of that Act (33 U.S.C. 2211) and the 

23 costs of relocations under subsection 

24 (a)(4) of that section shall be included 

25 in the total project costs and credited 


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1 toward the non-Federal share under 

2 clause (i); and 

3 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a flood risk man4 agement project, section 103(a)(1)(A) of 

5 that Act (33 U.S.C. 2213(a)(1)(A)) shall 

6 not apply.’’; and 

7 (2) in paragraph (5)(A), by striking ‘‘25 per8 cent’’ and inserting ‘‘10 percent’’. 

Æ 


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