Water Resources Development Act of 2026

At Table Rock Lake in Missouri and Arkansas, some homes, sheds, decks, fences and septic tanks already sit on Corps land. Section 231 says the Corps must let each one stay. A tank must go only when a local government orders it replaced.

Section 132 adds sea level rise, tides, sinking land and stormwater to the 1936 flood control law. It also tells the Corps to adopt a broader local flood plan when it finds one workable.

FEMA grants help states fix or remove dams the state rates high hazard and finds unsafe. The $60 million a year runs out after 2026; the bill extends it to 2031.

The program could pay for more kinds of drought work, from saving water to refilling groundwater. But the most one project can get in federal money would fall from $65 million to $10 million.

Missouri River water could not be piped outside the ten basin states unless all ten governors sign off. The Army could not even study such a move.

The Corps could not be sued under Superfund for waste it stirs up while cleaning river or harbor mud. The EPA must sign off on the plan first. The engrossed text adds that polluters can still be sued, and so can anyone who does this work carelessly.

Thirty-three flood channels in Los Angeles County would lose their federal project status. Three stretches of the Los Angeles River are on the list. The county already runs them.

Today anyone altering a Corps levee, channel or dam must ask permission one job at a time. Section 105 tells the Corps to write blanket approvals for groups of similar jobs that cause only small harm. Draft rules would be open for public comment for at least 30 days.

Shippers pay a tax for harbor upkeep. Section 113 removes the wording that let the Army spend less than the full yearly amount. It adds a yearly report to Congress.

For each project the Corps would post online what habitat it must replace, where, when, and how much is left. The list must be kept current.

A Corps study is now supposed to end within 4 years and cost under $5 million. Those limits and the required warnings to Congress would go. A yearly public report replaces them.

Section 104 sets up an eleven-member Levee Owners Board. Members own and run federal levees. They would advise the Army and Congress on levee money and safety. The bill says they are not government employees for ethics rules. So the federal conflict-of-interest rules would not reach them.

Section 307 names 195 city and county water and sewer projects in 31 states and Puerto Rico. They add up to $3.7 billion. The smallest is $60,000; the biggest is $155 million.

The government would give up its easement rights on about 79.6 acres in Bay and Walton Counties, Florida, to The St. Joe Company. The company gives back 103.5 acres and pays the difference in value.

The House added Section 318 on the floor, after the committee print. Local districts building the Arkansas Valley Conduit would still owe 35 percent of its cost. But they could repay over up to 75 years, at half the Treasury interest rate, if they show hardship. The pipeline is meant to bring drinking water to Colorado towns that lack a reliable supply.