Selected Federal Water Activities: Agencies, Authorities, and Congressional Committees
Released: 2017-05-24T00:00:00

Introduction and Overview1

Congress addresses numerous water issues annually. Issues range from responding to natural disasters, such as droughts and floods, to improving the nation's water resource and water quality infrastructure, and protecting fish, wildlife, and other aquatic resources. Many congressional committees address these issues and are involved in legislating, funding, and overseeing the water-related activities of numerous federal agencies. More than two centuries of such involvement have resulted in a complex web of federal activities related to water. As a result, Congress often faces challenges related to overlap and gaps in federal water resource activities and in coordination and consistency among federal programs. Further, many federal authorities are discretionary or funded by discretionary appropriations. Consequently, there can be a significant difference between what federal agencies are authorized to do and what they are doing, and no one committee in Congress oversees this dichotomy.

The responsibility for development, management, protection, and allocation of the nation's water resources is spread among federal, state, local, tribal, and private interests. Despite multiple calls for the coordination of federal water-related activities, observers seldom focus on the origins of laws and policies authorizing myriad federal activities. The purpose of this report is to provide insight into the congressional involvement in establishing, overseeing, and funding federal water-related activities. Thus, the report focuses on the complexity of federal activities related to water. It aims to serve as a guide to federal water-related activities, including the administering agency (or agencies), the primary or overarching authorities for such activities, and House and Senate committee jurisdictions. In most cases, the primary authorities listed are authorizing statutes and accompanying U.S. Code citations; in some instances, constitutional or other authorities are provided.

This analysis does not cover every aspect of federal water policy. Instead, the authors have attempted to address the major federal activities authorized by Congress that affect water resource development, management, protection, and use in the United States. Similarly, this analysis does not cover every aspect of House and Senate committee jurisdiction affecting water issues. For definitive evaluation of committee jurisdictions related to water, the views of the House and Senate Parliamentarian Offices are official. Lastly, programs known to have expired and for which reauthorization legislation is pending may be noted; however, given the breadth of the report and constant executive and legislative branch activity, it is not possible to provide comprehensive status reports for all entries.

Selected Federal Water Activities: Agencies, Authorities, and Congressional Committee Jurisdictions

The federal government has been involved in water resources development since the earliest days of the nation's creation. Congress first directed water resource improvements to facilitate navigation, then to reduce flood damages and expand irrigation in the West. For much of the 20 th century, the federal government was called upon to assist and pay for a multitude of water resource development projects—large-scale dams such as Hoover and Grand Coulee, as well as navigation locks throughout the country's largest rivers. In recent decades, Congress has enacted legislation to regulate water quality; protect fish, wildlife, and threatened and endangered species; manage floodplain development; conduct research; and facilitate water supply augmentation via support for water reclamation and reuse facilities and desalination. Congress maintains an active role in overseeing implementation of this legislation, as well as enacting new laws and appropriating funding for water resources activities.

Specific federal water laws have been enacted for the diverse purposes noted above. Development and implementation of these laws have involved the action of numerous congressional committees and federal agencies. At the congressional level, this action has resulted in a set of diverse and sometimes overlapping committee jurisdictions dealing with various aspects of water policy and addressing the interests of differing constituencies. At the executive branch level, this has resulted in many agencies and organizations being involved in different and sometimes overlapping aspects of federal water policy. The activities identified in this report fall into the jurisdiction of numerous congressional standing committees (and generally exclude appropriations and other committees in the relevant chambers that deal with banking, taxes, and finance issues.) Similarly, the activities identified in this report are addressed in some form by many federal executive branch agencies.

Report Organization

The following tables describe federal water-related activities and programs in the United States and identify the primary administering federal agency(ies), primary authorities, and examples of congressional committees of jurisdiction for each agency activity or program. The tables are arranged under broad areas, subtopics, and topic terms.

The four areas covered by the report are as follows:

Water Resources Development, Management, and Use ; Water Quality, Protection, and Restoration ; Water Rights and Allocation ; and Research and Planning .

Each thematic area begins with a brief introduction and is followed by a table(s) of relevant agencies, activities and programs, and House and Senate committees of jurisdiction. Each table covers more focused areas of water issues—subtopics—based on agency function and the historical development of federal water programs. In organizing these tables, a series of topic terms was developed under which both members of the general public and those more familiar with water policy might categorize federal water-related activities. These topic terms were determined by the CRS analysts and legislative attorneys involved in developing the report.

The "Water Resources Development, Management, and Use" theme includes subtopics that relate to supply and reservoir development, drought and flood management, hydropower, and navigation. The "Water Quality, Protection, and Restoration" theme addresses issues relating to water quality and aquatic resources protection and management, including selected regional aquatic ecosystem restoration authorities. The "Water Rights and Allocation" theme addresses water allocation and interstate compacts, river basin commissions, federal reserved water rights, and tribal water rights. The "Research and Planning" theme includes subtopics related to research and data collection, such as water cycle and climate change research, water-related technologies, and watershed planning.

Significant overlaps occur both within and among the different categories. This analysis generally excludes marine or ocean issues and international and boundary water issues, except for jointly managed dams at the U.S.-Mexican border and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) programs along the U.S.-Mexican border. Additionally, Congress has established various economic development programs that include water supply and/or treatment projects among the categories of purposes eligible for federal assistance; however, this report does not include programs for which water-related activities are not the major focus. Also excluded are broad environmental remediation or waste management statutes, such as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Water activities affecting Indian tribes are also not uniformly addressed in the accompanying tables but instead are covered where they are known to interact with broader federal agency water-related programs and activities, such as water supply development and water quality infrastructure. Because federal environmental laws, such as the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, apply to all federal agencies, federal agency activities under those laws are not identified in this report.

Appendix A discusses considerations in determining House and Senate committee jurisdictions and provides an example of the complexity in water topics and jurisdictional coverage. Appendix B and Appendix C present the official language from House Rule X and Senate Rule XXV, respectively, as indicators of congressional jurisdiction over water resources. Both the House and the Senate tables also address subcommittee jurisdiction, and the Senate table provides information on executive branch nominations handled by Senate committees. Appendix D provides a glossary of abbreviations for federal agencies and House and Senate committees. Program abbreviations generally are spelled out where they first occur in each table.

In sum, the nine tables that make up the body of the report define water based on the topic terms determined by CRS. These tables underscore the intricacy of the federal programs affecting water resource development, management, protection, and use in the United States. As apparent throughout the tables, numerous standing committees in the House and Senate have jurisdiction over various components of federal water policy; moreover, committees listed here generally exclude the extensive responsibilities of the appropriations committees in both chambers, as well as the direct and indirect activities of other committees in the relevant chambers that deal with banking, taxes, and finance issues.

Water Resources Development, Management, and Use

Historically, the federal government played a large role in development of the nation's water resources—in particular constructing large water resource infrastructure projects (e.g., canals, locks, levees, and dams)—for navigation, flood damage reduction, and irrigation water supply in the West. The largest federal dams typically serve multiple purposes, including those noted above, as well as producing hydropower and providing water supplies for municipal and industrial uses. More recently, Congress has authorized activities and programs to augment water supplies via water conservation programs, including groundwater recharge (aquifer storage and recovery), and water reclamation and reuse programs, including desalination.

This section focuses on federal activities related to water resource development, management, and use and includes three tables:

Table 1 lists activities related to water supply and reservoir development and includes topic areas such as dams and dam safety; general water supply development; groundwater supply; irrigation assistance; rural water supply; water conservation; and water reclamation, reuse and desalination.

Table 2 lists activities related to drought and flood management and includes topic areas such as drought planning, mitigation, and response; emergency flood response; flood damage reduction; and flood mitigation.

Table 3 lists activities related to hydropower and navigation and includes topic areas such as federal hydropower development; nonfederal hydropower development; and navigation.

Water Quality, Protection, and Restoration

Federal efforts to protect and improve water quality and water resources range from technical and financial assistance programs to help communities build sewage treatment and drinking water treatment works, to regulatory programs for preventing or controlling water pollution. Most federal programs focus on surface water quality, while states have a dominant role in matters related to groundwater protection. One exception is where Congress has authorized EPA to regulate the underground injection of fluids to protect underground sources of drinking water.

In addition to protecting and improving water quality, Congress has enacted numerous bills to manage, protect, and restore aquatic ecosystems—including estuaries, and wetlands. Over the last 30 years, the United States has provided billions of dollars toward restoring some specific large aquatic ecosystems such as the Chesapeake Bay, the California Bay-Delta, the Everglades, and the Great Lakes. These ecosystems cover large areas and affect millions of people. Ecosystem restoration in a policy context has gone beyond just restoring the natural environment, and now encompasses other objectives such as improving water supply and conveyance, improving navigation, managing natural resources, and implementing watershed management plans. Ecosystem restoration legislation can be intricate and involve several agencies, and therefore involve multiple committees. Fisheries management and oversight of aquaculture also involve many committees.

Generally, Congress has acted where interstate issues arose (e.g., pollution of rivers), where significant gaps in protection existed among the states (drinking water quality), where funding needs were related to federal mandates (various water infrastructure funding programs), or where other national interests were perceived (e.g., conservation of agricultural lands and fisheries, and preservation of wild and scenic rivers).

This section focuses on federal activities related to water quality in general, and regional aquatic resource protection and restoration efforts. The section includes two tables:

Table 4 lists activities related to surface water quality, drinking water quality, groundwater quality, source water protection, nonpoint source pollution, and wastewater and drinking water quality infrastructure.

Table 5 lists activities related to aquaculture, aquatic ecosystem protection and restoration, coastal zones and estuaries, fisheries, invasive species, wetlands, and wild and scenic rivers.

Water Rights and Allocation

Although water rights and allocation traditionally are issues that are regulated by states, the federal government retains significant authority related to federal water resources management and federal water rights. Congress has broad authority under the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution to regulate interstate waterways and promote navigation throughout the nation's waterways. Accordingly, though rarely exercised, Congress may allocate interstate waters directly. Alternatively, Congress may defer to states to reach an agreement (i.e., interstate compact) on the allocation of water in an interstate dispute, but Congress generally must provide its consent to such a compact before it may take effect. Congress also has provided for the establishment of river basin commissions, which typically include representatives from basin states and any relevant federal agencies.

In 1908, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized the creation of federal reserved water rights. The Court explained that when Congress creates an Indian reservation, it also implicitly reserves the water necessary to fulfill the purposes for which the reservation was established. These rights, sometimes referred to as tribal water rights, are often senior to other water users' rights but typically are not quantified, which may lead to extensive litigation between tribes and other water users or settlement agreements that must be approved by Congress. The Court later held that the principle of reserved rights extended not only to reservations for tribal land but also to reservations for other federal purposes, including national forests, wildlife refuges, national parks, wild and scenic rivers, etc. Thus, congressional proposals to make additions to these systems implicate federal authority related to water resources.

Many federal laws also indirectly affect water allocation and use. For example, the development of dam and diversion facilities over time has favored certain purposes or uses over others. Such development has sometimes resulted in unintended consequences, including in some cases, over allocation of water supplies. Implementation of laws aimed at addressing water quality and threatened and endangered species (e.g., the federal Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act ) may indirectly or directly affect water allocation. However, because such laws—like many other federal laws—are primarily related to federal project operations, they are not included in this section.

Table 6 lists activities related to water allocation and includes such topic areas as water allocation generally and river basin commissions.

Table 7 lists activities related to water rights and includes such topic areas as federal reserved water rights and tribal water rights.

Research and Planning

Federal water research and planning authorities are spread across numerous federal agencies, and the congressional committees with oversight roles and responsibilities are also numerous. This division derives in part from the distinct roles that water plays in relation to each of these agencies' missions and the committees' jurisdictions. The evolution of federal water research authorities and planning activities generally mirrors the development of the water-related agencies and authorities discussed in earlier sections of this report.

Federal water research and planning began largely to support the development of navigation, flood control, and storage of water for irrigation. The 1960s saw federal research and planning expand to include reducing pollution problems. Efforts to coordinate water research and planning in the 1960s and 1970s were undertaken as part of broader efforts to coordinate federal water activities. Administrations of the 1980's and 1990's asserted a more limited federal role in water research and planning. Federal water planning was scaled back primarily to support federal projects and activities. Federal research funds were focused on topics closely connected to helping federal agencies meet their missions and to address problems beyond the scope of the states and private sector. One result has been that federal research in recent decades has principally supported regulatory activities (e.g., water quality research and monitoring of aquatic ecosystem and species), while federal research promoting economic growth through water development has decreased. In the last two decades, new technologies and data (e.g., water-related satellite and radar data) and concerns (e.g., climate trends, species decline, ecosystem health) have prompted both the involvement of new agencies and programs in federal water research and the expansion of authorities and topics covered by traditional water agencies.

This section focuses on federal authorities related to water research and planning and includes two tables:

Table 8 lists authorities related to general water research; research on use, supply augmentation, efficiency, and engineering works; monitoring, data, and mapping; water resource assessments; water cycle, drought, and climate change; and water quality and treatment.

Table 9 lists authorities related to planning for water development projects, watersheds, and water quality.

While these two tables are not exhaustive, they represent the cross-section of federal research and planning authorities.

Appendix A. Committee Jurisdiction

Determining Committee Jurisdiction

Committee jurisdiction is determined by a variety of factors. Paramount are House Rule X and Senate Rule XXV, which designate the subject matter within the purview of each standing committee. House Rule X and Senate Rule XXV, however, are both broadly written and the product of an era in which governmental activity was not as extensive, and relations among policies not as common or intertwined as now. Due to topic omissions and a lack of clarity, as well as overlaps among committees in areas of jurisdiction, the formal provision of the rules is supplemented by an intricate series of precedents and informal agreements governing the referral of legislation. In general, once a measure has been referred to a given committee, it remains the responsibility of that committee; if the measure is enacted into law, amendments to the law are presumed to be within the originating committee's responsibility. Relatedly, bills which are more comprehensive than the measure they amend or supersede are presumed to be within the jurisdiction of the committee reporting the more comprehensive measure. The resultant accretions of subject responsibility greatly broaden the range or shift the scope of jurisdictional subjects assigned to each committee. Several other factors also should be considered in determining committee jurisdiction, although these are not formal or even acknowledged in rules or precedents. These factors may include the expertise of a measure's sponsor, the timing of a bill, or the appropriations subcommittee that considers appropriations requests for the program authorized. Subcommittees are not officially authorized in either the rules of the House or the Senate. Subcommittees are creatures of the full committee that established them. Accordingly, determining official subcommittee jurisdictions is imprecise. Therefore, although some information regarding subcommittee jurisdiction is included in Appendix B and Appendix C , information on subcommittee jurisdiction is not uniformly provided in this report. The subcommittees listed in Appendix B and Appendix C reflect the framework established for the 115 th Congress.

House Referral

In 1974, with the adoption of the Committee Reform Amendments, the House authorized the Speaker to refer measures to more than one committee, in a joint, split, or sequential manner. In 1995, with the rules changes adopted in the 104 th Congress, the Speaker could no longer refer measures jointly; he was authorized instead to designate a primary committee. Split and sequential referrals were still allowed. Further, the Speaker could impose time limitations on any committee receiving a referral. In 2003, with the rules changes adopted in the 108 th Congress, the Speaker was authorized to refer measures to more than one committee without designation of a primary committee under "exceptional circumstances."

Senate Referral

A measure introduced in the Senate, or passed by the House and sent to the Senate, will likely be referred to a Senate committee. Measures are referred to Senate committees in accordance with their official jurisdictions in Senate Rule XXV, and precedents established by prior referrals. A series of formal agreements among committees over time also can supplement Rule XXV, and generally are regarded as setting precedent for future referrals. Ad hoc agreements may be made to govern the consideration of particular measures, but these are not binding on future referrals.

Referral of measures is formally the responsibility of the presiding officer of the Senate, but in practice the Senate parliamentarian advises on bill referrals. Under Senate Rule XVII, in general each measure is referred to a single committee based on "the subject matter which predominates" in the legislation. Predominance usually is determined by the extent to which a measure deals with a subject. However, there appear to be exceptions; most notably, a measure containing revenue provisions is likely to be referred to the Committee on Finance, even where the subject does not appear to predominate.

Individual Jurisdictional Issues

This section briefly discusses an example of water issues that are either within the jurisdiction of more than one committee or contested among committees. If the issue is clearly within the purview of one panel, it is not addressed in this section.

Jurisdiction over Dams and Land Necessary for their Development

House Rule X identifies several committees to which bills authorizing federal dam construction might be referred. The Natural Resources Committee has jurisdiction over "irrigation and reclamation, including water supply for reclamation projects, and easements of public lands for irrigation projects, and acquisition of private lands when necessary to complete irrigation projects." As such, it has jurisdiction over most activities of the Bureau of Reclamation (Department of the Interior). The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is responsible for "flood control and improvement of rivers and harbors ... public works for the benefit of navigation, including bridges and dams (other than international bridges and dams) ... water power." Consequently, most activities of the Army Corps of Engineers fall under the jurisdiction of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The Committee on Agriculture has jurisdiction over "water conservation related to activities of the Department of Agriculture."

Senate Rule XXV also identifies several committees for which bills authorizing federal dam construction might be referred. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee has jurisdiction over "hydroelectric power, irrigation, and reclamation projects," and, hence, most activities of the Bureau of Reclamation; whereas, the Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) has jurisdiction over "public works, bridges, and dams" and "flood control." Consequently, EPW has jurisdiction over most activities of the Army Corps of Engineers. Additionally, the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee has jurisdiction over "soil conservation ... food from fresh waters ... rural development, rural electrification, and watersheds."

As is shown in Table 1 , multiple committees in each chamber are principally involved in jurisdiction over dams, which is not readily apparent from perusal of the rules language alone. Private dams must be licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is under the jurisdiction of the House Energy and Commerce and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committees. Further, several different executive branch departments and agencies are responsible for implementing the laws under the jurisdiction of these committees. This arrangement complicates management of river systems and resources comprising large watershed areas where multiple federal dams are present, such as the Columbia and Colorado River Basins, and the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers' delta confluence with San Francisco Bay, and even smaller systems, especially where anadromous fisheries (fish that live in both freshwater and marine environments) are found.

Appendix B. House Rule X Language

Table B-1 includes official excerpts from House Rule X.

Appendix C. Senate Rule XXV Language

Table C-1 includes official excerpts from Senate Rule XXV.

Appendix D. Glossary of Abbreviations