DROUGHT Act of 2026
Summary
What This Bill Does
The DROUGHT Act allows qualifying Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act projects to receive federal assistance covering up to 90 percent of total project cost and directs the Army Corps of Engineers Secretary or EPA Administrator, as applicable, to prioritize their financing.
A project must be an eligible drought-prevention, water-supply, recycling, reuse, or related project under the referenced WIFIA categories and satisfy at least one additional pathway. It may be located in a state that experienced at least four weeks of severe drought or worse during the preceding five years, or in a county with a governor-declared drought emergency during that period.
Alternatively, it may serve an area with average household income at or below 200 percent of the Census poverty threshold or an area meeting state affordability criteria under the drinking-water or clean-water revolving-fund laws. A federal administrator may also designate a project as regionally or nationally significant when it increases water capacity or reliability, expands reuse or recycling, reduces regional water use, lowers ratepayer costs, or produces substantial health or environmental benefits.
The bill changes the financing share and priority within WIFIA. It does not automatically award assistance, erase underwriting requirements, or fully federalize project cost; a covered borrower remains responsible for at least 10 percent and any other applicable terms.
Who Benefits and How
Public water systems and project sponsors serving drought-affected or low-income areas can finance a much larger share federally. Drought-prone communities gain priority for projects improving supply and reliability. Low-income ratepayers may face less local financing pressure. Water-reuse, recycling, and conservation projects gain a preferred financing path. Construction and water-technology providers may gain project demand.
Who Bears the Burden and How
WIFIA administrators must apply new geographic, income, affordability, and significance tests and prioritize covered applications. Federal credit capacity is committed more heavily per selected project, potentially leaving less assistance for other WIFIA borrowers. Applicants must document drought history, service-area income, affordability, or regional benefits. Local sponsors retain the nonfederal share and repayment obligations. Projects outside the new definition may move behind covered projects in the financing queue.
Key Provisions
- Expands the federal-assistance ceiling to 90 percent of project cost.
- Requires financing priority for covered water projects.
- Extends eligibility to states experiencing at least four weeks of severe drought.
- Extends eligibility to counties subject to a gubernatorial drought emergency.
- Expands coverage to projects serving low-income or state-defined affordable areas.
- Provides for designation of regionally or nationally significant projects.
- Defines qualifying supply, reliability, reuse, savings, health, and environmental benefits.
- Preserves application, repayment, and remaining project-cost obligations.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Raises the maximum federal share of Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act assistance to 90 percent for eligible drought-affected, low-income, or regionally significant water projects and directs federal administrators to prioritize financing for those projects.
Key Policy Areas
Water Infrastructure Finance, Drought Resilience, Drinking Water Supply, Water Reuse and Recycling, Low-Income Community Infrastructure
Primary Purpose
Raises the maximum federal share of Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act assistance to 90 percent for eligible drought-affected, low-income, or regionally significant water projects and directs federal administrators to prioritize financing for those projects.
Policy Domains
Section 2 enhanced WIFIA assistance for covered projects
Identified Gains
- Drought-affected water project sponsors
- Low-income water systems seeking WIFIA loans
- Ratepayers receiving lower-cost project finance
- Communities needing reliable drinking water
- Water-reuse projects seeking federal priority
- Water-infrastructure construction contractors
- Regional projects producing public-health benefits
Identified Costs
- WIFIA credit-program administrators
- Applicants documenting drought eligibility
- Applicants documenting service-area affordability
- Federal water-credit capacity
- Noncovered WIFIA applicants losing priority
- Local sponsors funding the remaining share
- Federal analysts designating significant projects
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in …
Introduced in House
Mr. Peters (for himself, Ms. Barragán, Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Vargas, …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Applicants documenting drought eligibility, Applicants documenting service-area affordability, Drought-affected water project sponsors
Positive-direction: Drought-affected water project sponsors, Low-income water systems seeking WIFIA loans, Ratepayers receiving lower-cost project finance, Water-reuse projects seeking federal priority
Negative-direction: Noncovered WIFIA applicants losing priority
Federal analysts designating significant projects, Federal water-credit capacity, WIFIA credit-program administrators
Regional projects producing public-health benefits
Local sponsors funding the remaining share
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "borrower"
- → Sponsor of a covered water-infrastructure project
- "ratepayer"
- → Customer served by a covered water project
- "state_official"
- → Governor declaring a county drought emergency
- "epa_administrator"
- → Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
- "corps_administrator"
- → Secretary administering applicable WIFIA assistance
Note: {'scope_ids': ['drought_wifia_financing'], 'description': 'A 90 percent federal ceiling and financing priority do not guarantee an award, eliminate WIFIA underwriting or repayment, cover every water project, or relieve the borrower of the remaining project share.'}
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Location in a state designated D2 or worse on the United States Drought Monitor for at least four weeks during the preceding five years.
A referenced WIFIA water project meeting a recent drought, low-income or affordability, or regional-or-national-significance pathway.
Service to an area at or below 200 percent of the Census poverty threshold or meeting specified state affordability criteria.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology