This bill would change the Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief Act to let the Secretary provide technical and financial planning help for voluntary water-sharing projects and voluntary planting of water-thrifty crops. The goal in the bill text is to help prepare for and respond to drought while keeping agricultural land in production and supporting rural income and jobs.
The bill defines "innovative approaches" as new or not well tested methods. Examples listed include voluntary water-sharing or financial agreements between agricultural and municipal or industrial users, hydroponics, agrovoltaics, agroforestry, gravity-powered drip and other advanced irrigation, root-zone irrigation management, regenerative farming that lowers net water use, and concentrating production on less irrigated land if income is equal or higher. The bill says projects should not mainly rely on fallowing land or on crops that are already widely used and well understood.
Qualified applicants include partnerships of 1 or more agricultural entities (including irrigation districts) and 1 or more municipal, state, industrial (including data centers), nonprofit conservation organizations, or other state entities. Tribal entities may participate without limits. The Secretary may also award planning funds to a single State, State agency, Indian Tribe, or agricultural entity in certain cases, especially where groundwater or freshwater inflows are declining. Applications must be brief and not require heavy supporting reports. The Secretary will prioritize projects that dedicate saved water to local users, look especially innovative, reduce consumptive water use while keeping land in production, support local income and jobs, are likely to succeed, propose at least 10-year voluntary agreements, and can continue without more federal funding after demonstration.
Cost sharing is required: the federal share may not exceed 75 percent, with a waiver allowed for Tribal entities. For funding, the Secretary may use up to 10 percent of certain existing funds under section 9504(e) of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, and the bill authorizes $5,000,000 per year to be appropriated for each fiscal year 2028 through 2034.
The bill was introduced by Senator Alex Padilla on January 29, 2026 and referred to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Status information provided: referred to Subcommittee on Water and Power and hearings were held.
No publicly available information.
No publicly available information.