No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section revises the definitions and operations of the Cooperative Watershed Management Program, which provides two-phase grants to watershed groups—self-sustaining entities representing diverse stakeholders including agriculture, industry, environmental interests, and governments—for developing watershed assessments and plans (first-phase grants) and implementing projects to improve water quality, quantity, conservation, resiliency, and conflict reduction (second-phase grants). Specifically, in the definitions (16 U.S.C. 1015), it (1) adds a definition of "Indian tribe" referencing 25 U.S.C. 5304 and (2) expands watershed group eligibility to include any Indian tribe with ancestral lands in the watershed (in addition to those owning land or holding trust land there). In the program provisions (16 U.S.C. 1015a), it (1) adds grant selection priorities for proposals demonstrating significant need due to drought, wildfire, or other natural disaster and explicitly includes Indian tribes among eligible interests; (2) increases first-phase grant amounts to $150,000 each year for at least three years (from $100,000), subject to applications and appropriations, strikes a prior grant clause, and authorizes discretionary continuations for up to two additional years at up to $150,000 each year upon satisfactory performance; (3) expands second-phase capacity-building assistance to explicitly include grant writing, project management, and technical assistance (e.g., feasibility studies, design, preliminary environmental reviews, and engineering); (4) requires continuous enrollment by offering funding opportunities regularly and accepting applications multiple times per year; (5) requires the Secretary to make annual reports available to the public (in addition to Congress); and (6) authorizes $40 million for each of FY2027 through FY2031.