S3635-119

What This Bill Does

S.3635, the Fort Peck Water System Reauthorization Act, changes2026 to2028 in section9(a)(1) and9(b) of the underlying2000 Act. It extends the authorization window for planning, design and construction of the Assiniboine and Sioux Rural Water System on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation and the interconnected Dry Prairie Rural Water System serving parts of Roosevelt, Sheridan, Daniels and Valley Counties outside the reservation. These are fiscal-year dates, not a guaranteed construction-completion deadline or a direction to shut off water after2026.

The Senate committee ordered the bill reported without amendment on July29,2026; the available bill text is the introduced version. Its House companion H.R.7250 contains the same date changes and was presented to the President on September17,2026. The current action record does not establish enactment. The two bills are alternative vehicles for the same extension, not additive funding awards.

Who Benefits and How

The Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board and reservation water users benefit from two more fiscal years of authorized federal construction support. Dry Prairie Rural Water Association Incorporated and its water users receive the same continuity for their linked infrastructure. Contractors providing water-system construction services could gain work if available funding and project decisions support it, but neither a contract nor a new connection is guaranteed.

The existing indexed project authorizations are $124million for the reservation system and $51million for Dry Prairie. S.3635 changes only their end dates; it does not create a fresh $175million grant, make those amounts annual, reset prior spending, or expand the service territory. Completion and service improvements remain contingent on execution and funding.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The Bureau of Reclamation must continue administering construction assistance if the extended authority is used, including the existing cooperative-agreement and project-review requirements. Federal spending remains dependent on appropriations. Existing construction cost shares remain100% federal for the reservation system and no more than76% federal for Dry Prairie. The Dry Prairie association retains its nonfederal construction share and operation, maintenance and replacement costs. These are continuing conditions of supported work, not newly increased percentages imposed by this bill.

The separate Bureau of Indian Affairs authorization for reservation-system operation and maintenance is not amended. Existing environmental-review requirements, conservation planning and water-rights protections remain in place. No new household fee, private compliance mandate or guaranteed contractor payment is created.

Key Provisions

• Extends the section9(a)(1) reservation-system construction authorization through FY2028.
• Extends the separate section9(b) Dry Prairie construction authorization through FY2028.
• Uses the existing funding amounts, cost indexing and cost-sharing framework without adding an appropriation or changing the separate operation-and-maintenance authority.