This Act requires the Secretary of the Army to create an Office of Water Supply, Water Conservation, and Drought Resiliency inside the Directorate of Civil Works of the Corps of Engineers within 180 days of enactment. The Secretary must name a Program Manager who reports to the Deputy Commanding General for Civil Works and Emergency Operations, staff the office with personnel who may work in any Corps district or division, and provide administrative, technical, and budgetary support.
The office must carry out tasks including: identifying and evaluating opportunities using Corps authorities to support water supply, conservation, and drought resiliency; advising on Corps policies and guidance (including implementation of a subtitle of the Water Resources Development Act of 2024 and interpretations of several existing water supply and flood control statutes); helping States and non-Federal interests access Corps programs and assistance; coordinating and completing water supply reallocation studies and reports; acting as a liaison for studies, projects, and agreements (including storage reallocation and surplus water contracts); adjusting project operations for water supply benefits and other conservation measures; conducting outreach and workshops; reviewing budget requests for needed resources; cooperating with regional and local authorities on contingency planning and alternative water sources; and other related tasks the Secretary assigns.
The Secretary must submit a report to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure within 2 years describing progress establishing the office (including staffing), and listing status, start dates, estimated completion dates, and significant impediments for each Corps water supply study or project underway at the time of the report.
The Act requires the Secretary to provide sufficient administrative, technical, and budgetary support for the office and to evaluate budget requests. No publicly available information on estimated costs or specific funding amounts is included in the text provided.
According to the text, the office is intended to identify and evaluate Corps authorities and project actions to support water supply, water conservation, and drought resiliency; provide policy and guidance recommendations; clear backlogs of reallocation studies; assist States and non-Federal interests in accessing Corps programs; coordinate projects and agreements for water supply purposes; and conduct outreach and planning support.
No publicly available information.