HR6641-119

What This Bill Does

The Central Valley Water Solution Act directs the Secretary of the Interior to provide financial and technical assistance for a long list of California water projects and authorizes specific dollar amounts for each. The list includes Westlands Water District recharge basins, Westlands reverse-osmosis treatment plants and shallow aquifer wells, the East San Joaquin Valley Groundwater Banking and Storage Program, Lindsay-Strathmore, Pixley, and Shafter-Wasco groundwater banks, Arvin Edison in-lieu pipeline projects, Arvin Edison recovery wells and groundwater treatment, Tulare Irrigation District Seaborn Reservoir, City of Tracy recycled water and aquifer storage projects, Exchange Contractors planning work, Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir, Upper and Lower Delta-Mendota Canal reverse-flow pumpback projects, Delta-Mendota Canal subsidence correction, San Luis Canal and California Aqueduct subsidence correction, Friant-Kern Canal Phase II capacity correction, and Turlock Irrigation Intertie. The Secretary must coordinate with affected Indian Tribes, California, state subdivisions and departments, and public agencies, including irrigation entities. Most assistance is nonreimbursable and generally not subject to matching or cost sharing, while environmental-law compliance is preserved.

Who Benefits and How

Central Valley water districts benefit from project-specific federal assistance for recharge, storage, treatment, conveyance, and canal-capacity work. Agricultural water users benefit if groundwater banking, in-lieu recharge, recycled water, and subsidence correction improve supply reliability. Cities such as Tracy and Patterson benefit from recycled water, aquifer storage, reservoir, and flood-protection projects. Disadvantaged communities may benefit from drought resistance and public safety improvements. Indian Tribes, California agencies, and irrigation entities benefit from coordination requirements for project implementation.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Interior Department and Bureau of Reclamation staff must administer project assistance, enter agreements, coordinate with Tribes and public agencies, and oversee environmental compliance. Federal taxpayers bear the cost of the authorized assistance, much of it nonreimbursable and without matching requirements. Project sponsors must manage engineering, construction, land acquisition, permitting, and reporting. Environmental-review agencies must still apply applicable law. Some water users or ecosystems may face tradeoffs from project operations even if the bill preserves environmental compliance.

Key Provisions

• Authorizes Interior assistance for named Central Valley water recharge, storage, treatment, conveyance, subsidence, reservoir, recycled-water, and intertie projects.
• Provides specified authorizations such as $360 million for East San Joaquin Valley groundwater banking and $830 million for Delta-Mendota Canal subsidence correction.
• Requires Interior to coordinate with affected Indian Tribes, California agencies, public agencies, and irrigation entities.
• Makes most funding nonreimbursable and generally not subject to matching or cost-sharing requirements.
• Preserves applicable environmental-law compliance while directing project-specific federal support.