The Water Resources Development Act of 2026 (WRDA 2026) is moving through the U.S. Congress with bipartisan support in both the House of Representatives and Senate. This year's bill once again includes strong water supply and drought resiliency provisions, which are pillars of NGWA’s legislative agenda.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee advanced its version, H.R. 9497, by a 66-0 vote on July 14. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee released its own text on July 13 and held its committee markup on July 15 with quick passage. The consolidation process of the House and Senate WRDA bills is typically fast with strong bi-partisan support.
Key WRDA provisions NGWA is tracking:
- New Corps water supply and drought office (House) establishes a dedicated office within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to work with state, regional, and local governments on drought resiliency, contingency planning, and alternative water sources
- New drought and flood assistance program (House) gives smaller communities a faster path to Corps assistance on drought and flood projects without requiring full federal project authorization
- State Revolving Fund reauthorization (Senate) renews funding for the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, which support local water infrastructure projects
- PFAS (Senate) establishes additional funding mechanisms and programs to address PFAS in state revolving funds
- Aquifer exemption provision (Senate) directs the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to consider exempting certain aquifers not currently used for drinking water from permitting requirements tied to underground CO2 storage wells, a provision NGWA is watching closely due to groundwater protection concerns.
“The 2026 WRDA continues a positive trend of Congress focusing more on water supply and drought resiliency,” said Ben Frech, NGWA government affairs director. “We're excited to see these provisions included, but our work isn't done. We're going to keep advocating to make sure these things stay in the bill as it moves through conference and gets finalized.“
NGWA will continue monitoring both bills as they move toward a final, reconciled version, and will keep members updated as the process develops.