Order Code RS20569
Updated January 31, 2007
Water Resource Issues in the 110th Congress
Betsy A. Cody
Specialist in Natural Resources Policy
Resources, Science, and Industry Division
H. Steven Hughes
Analyst in Environmental and Natural Resources Policy
Resources, Science, and Industry Division
Summary
Water resources management often involves trade-offs among user groups,
environmental interests, and local, regional, and national interests. Water resources
development is particularly controversial because of budgetary constraints, conflicting
policy objectives, environmental impacts, and demands for local control. Hurricane
Katrina brought to the forefront long-simmering policy disputes involving local control,
federal financing, environmental and social tradeoffs, and multi-level accountability and
responsibility for water infrastructure projects, such as levees. Construction,
improvement, and management of other federal water resource projects (e.g., locks,
dams, and diversion facilities) face similar challenges.
The 110th Congress faces numerous issues and trade-offs as it considers water
resource development, technology, water supply, and climate change legislation. These
issues are likely to arise as Congress debates authorizations and appropriations for
Bureau of Reclamation and Army Corps of Engineers projects, and agency policy and
program changes (e.g., water reuse, federal project operations, and oversight of
ecosystem restoration programs such as CALFED and Everglades). Oversight issues
related to Hurricane Katrina and the federal role in hurricane and flood protection, and
levee construction and management, also are ongoing.
Introduction
The federal government has a long history of involvement in water resource
development and management to facilitate water-borne transportation, expand irrigated
agriculture, reduce flood losses, and, more recently, restore aquatic ecosystems.
Increasing pressures on the quality and quantity of available water supplies — due to
growing population, environmental regulation, in-stream species and ecosystem needs,
water source contamination, agricultural water demand, climate variability, and changing

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public interests — have resulted in heightened water use conflicts throughout the country,
particularly in the West.
Federal water resource construction waned during the last decades of the 20th century
in response to fiscal constraints, interest in more local control of water and land resources,
and requirements to assess environmental impacts of federal actions and to protect fish
and wildlife. This marked the end of expansionist federal policies of the early 20th century
that had led to widespread federal investment in dams, navigation locks, irrigation
diversions, and levees and basin-wide planning and development efforts.
The 110th Congress is faced with numerous water resource issues regarding the
federal role in the planning, construction, maintenance, inspection, and financing of water
resources projects and federal investment in water resources research and data collection.
Congress makes these decisions within the context of multiple and often conflicting
objectives, competing legal decisions, and entrenched institutional mechanisms (e.g.,
century-old water rights, contractual obligations, etc.). Although most water resource
legislation typically addresses site-specific needs, certain themes and issues appear in
many local and regional water resources conflicts. For example, demand for new project
services (e.g., improved navigation, new water supply, improved or new flood control
facilities), protection of threatened and endangered species, and water quality concerns
are common to many conflicts.
Even so, most water resource legislation deals with specific sites. The 110th
Congress may consider site-specific restoration legislation for coastal Louisiana, the
Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway System, the Great Lakes, the San Joaquin
River, and possibly the Lower Colorado River basin. However, the more typical site-
specific measures, on a smaller scale, are the hundreds of individual water resources
projects authorized through Water Resources Development Acts (WRDAs) and stand-
alone bills addressing new water supply technologies and augmentation of existing water
supplies, rural water supply development, and Indian water rights settlements. Oversight
of existing laws and projects (e.g., Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA),
flood protection in New Orleans and Sacramento) and project operations is also expected,
especially where court decisions, agency actions, or other circumstances (such as drought)
may affect project operations (e.g., Colorado, Columbia, Klamath, Missouri, Rio Grande,
and San Joaquin rivers). Latent legislative topics that the 110th Congress may choose to
address include proposals for national water supply and drought assessments, national
water policy coordination and planning, and the effect of climate change on water
resources. Financing instruments to address water infrastructure needs such as
rehabilitating aging water supply, navigation, and flood control works, and assisting local
water entities to comply with federal regulations, also may be considered.
Background
In the West, naturally scarce water supplies and increasing urban populations have
spawned new debates over water allocation — particularly over water for threatened or
endangered species — and have increased federal-state tensions, since the federal
government has generally deferred to state primacy in intrastate water allocation.
Observed changes in the timing of snowmelt and runoff and the potential for further
climate variability due to climate change has increased concerns about the reliability of
developed water supplies and the flexibility of existing management mechanisms.

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Western water legislation during the 110th Congress may center on project
management and program issues, such as San Joaquin River settlement legislation and the
Bureau of Reclamation’s Title 16 water reclamation and recycling program. Oversight of
the Bureau’s Central Valley Project (CVPIA, Trinity River, and CALFED and other San
Francisco Bay-San Joaquin/Sacramento Rivers Delta (Bay-Delta) management issues),
Klamath project, and Colorado River operations also may continue.
Nationally, congressional attention during the 110th Congress may focus on the
federal role in levee construction, maintenance, and evaluation, and water resources
management generally. Hurricane Katrina oversight issues — such as how to better
coordinate federal activities and how to respond or rebuild in the wake of catastrophic
damages — may be of particular focus, as might the examination of other areas of the
country that may also be vulnerable. Also of concern nationwide is the status of
threatened and endangered species and the health of the nation’s rivers and riparian areas.
Federal obligations to protect threatened and endangered species and other environmental
quality requirements have resulted in increased attention to river and watershed
restoration efforts. The federal government is involved in several significant restoration
initiatives ranging from the Florida Everglades to the California Bay-Delta (CALFED).1
At the same time, the demand for traditional or new water supply projects,
navigational improvements, flood control projects, and beach and shoreline protection
continues. In fact, both the Everglades and Bay-Delta restoration efforts include
significant water supply components. Controversy over how much water should be
divided among recovering (threatened and endangered) species, protecting water quality,
and supplying farms, cities, and other uses has been ongoing. Further, widespread
drought throughout different parts of the country over the past several years has spurred
new requests for developing and ensuring dwindling water supplies, and new security
threats to water infrastructure have placed added pressures on budgetary resources. The
109th Congress left pending several national water policy proposals ranging from new
water study commissions and assessments, to global sanitation and drinking water aid;
similar proposals may be introduced in the 110th Congress.
Congress may address water resource issues during consideration of individual
project authorizations, as well as during debate on WRDA legislation and on FY2008
appropriations for the Bureau and the Corps. Specific issues that are being or may be
discussed during the 110th Congress are treated below. Other general issues that may arise
include federal reserved water rights in relation to federal lands, transfer of water across
federal lands and through federal facilities, Indian water rights settlements, licensing of
nonfederal hydropower facilities (i.e., private dams regulated by the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC)), and whether to establish a national water commission
to address federal water policy and coordination.
1 For more information on federal involvement in Everglades restoration, see CRS Report
RS20702, South Florida Ecosystem Restoration and the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration
Plan, by Pervaze A. Sheikh and Nicole T. Carter. For information on Bay-Delta issues, see CRS
Report RL33565, Western Water Resource Issues, by Pervaze A. Sheikh and Betsy A. Cody.

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Water Resource Projects
Most of the large dams and water diversion structures in the United States were built
by, or with the assistance of, the Bureau of Reclamation in the Department of the Interior
(Bureau) or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Department of Defense (Corps).
Traditionally, Bureau projects were designed principally to provide reliable supplies of
water for irrigation and some municipal and industrial uses; Corps projects were designed
principally for flood control, navigation, and power generation. The Bureau currently
manages hundreds of storage reservoirs and diversion dams in 17 western states,2
providing water to approximately 9 million acres of farmland and 31 million people. The
Corps’ operations are much more widespread and diverse, and include several thousand
flood control and navigation projects throughout the country, including 25,000 miles of
waterways (with 238 navigation locks), nearly 1,000 harbors, and 400 dam and reservoir
projects (with 75 hydroelectric plants).
Bureau of Reclamation. Since the early 1900s, the Bureau has constructed and
operated many large, multi-purpose water projects. Water supplies from these projects
have been primarily for irrigation. Construction authorizations slowed during the 1970s
and 1980s due to several factors. In 1987, the Bureau announced a new mission:
environmentally sensitive water resources management. In the following decade,
increased population, prolonged drought, fiscal constraints, and increased water demands
for fish and wildlife, recreation, and scenic enjoyment resulted in increased pressure to
alter operation of many Bureau projects. Such changes have been controversial, however,
as water rights, contractual obligations, and the potential economic effects of altering
project operations complicate any change in water allocation or project operations.
In contrast to the Corps, there is no tradition of a regularly scheduled authorization
vehicle for Bureau projects. Instead, Bureau projects are generally considered
individually.3 Bureau-related water project and management issues that may be
considered during the 110th Congress include:
! San Joaquin River restoration settlement legislation;
! examination of the Bureau’s Title 16 (recycling and reuse) program;
! oversight of CVPIA;
! oversight of, and appropriations for, CALFED (and other Bay-Delta
issues);
! authorization of individual water recycling and desalination projects;
! response to drought, and effects of climate variability on federal
reservoirs; and
! Colorado River water management issues.
A broader issue that often receives attention from Congress is oversight of the
Bureau’s mission and its future role in western water supply and water resource
2 Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North
Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
3 However, Congress occasionally passes omnibus bills addressing key Bureau policy changes,
as well as new or revised project and program authorizations, the latest being the Reclamation
Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 (P.L. 102-575).

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management generally. As public demands and concerns have changed, so has legislation
affecting the Bureau. Further, many in Congress have questioned the Bureau’s shift in
focus from a water resources development agency to a water resource management
agency. Some have also questioned the increasing number of proposals to fund new rural
water supply projects with high federal cost-share ratios and grants for reclaiming and
reusing water. Critical questions Congress may address include: What should be the
future federal role in water resources development and management? What do western
water managers need from the Bureau and how can the Bureau help with western water
management? Should (or to what extent should) the federal government develop or
augment new supply systems designed primarily to serve communities/municipalities, or
is this a local/regional responsibility? Who should pay, and how much? Should the
Bureau be involved in environmental mitigation or is this best handled through new
institutional arrangements (e.g., CALFED) or other existing agencies (e.g., Fish and
Wildlife Service and/or the Environmental Protection Agency)? Should existing projects
be revamped or “re-operated” to accommodate changing demands, and, if so, do new
policies and institutions (state-federal roles) need to be addressed, and again, who should
pay? Relatedly, the issue of whether there should be a National Water Commission or
periodic water resource assessments received some attention in the 109th Congress, and
may also be considered in the 110th.
Corps of Engineers. Congress authorizes Corps water resources activities and
makes changes to the agency’s policies generally in a Water Resources Development Act
(WRDA), and at times in the annual Energy and Water Development Appropriations acts.
Contents of a WRDA are cumulative and new acts do not supersede or replace previous
acts. From the late 1980s until 2002, WRDAs followed a loosely biennial cycle; the last
WRDA was enacted in 2000. WRDA bills were introduced in 2002, 2003, 2004, and
2005, but were not enacted. Their enactment was complicated by differences over
whether to authorize controversial projects, and whether to reform or change the way the
Corps plans and evaluates projects.
Consideration of the WRDA bills in the first session of the previous Congress
included debates in committee on changes to state and local roles in projects, potential
changes in Corps policies and practices (such as changes to Corps permitting and
regulatory practices), and authorization of high-profile projects. Prior to Hurricane
Katrina, the project authorizations receiving the most attention were coastal Louisiana
wetlands restoration, lock expansion and ecosystem restoration for the Upper Mississippi
River-Illinois Waterway, and Everglades-related projects. The 2005 hurricane season
added other possible authorizations to the mix, including authorizations for near-term and
long-term hurricane protection measures for Louisiana and other Gulf Coast states and
flood control activities in other areas of the nation vulnerable to flooding. Hurricane
Katrina increased interest in flood control and Louisiana projects in the bill, while also
increasing interest in streamlining federal spending, which has some observers concerned
about authorizing more Corps projects. Pressure to authorize new priority projects,
especially those related to areas affected during the 2005 hurricane season, and to increase
funding for or modify existing projects, may result in outstanding issues being addressed
or resolved differently by the 110th Congress — particularly given the absence of
Administration support for the recent omnibus WRDA bills. For more information on
current WRDA issues, see CRS Report RL33504, Water Resources Development Act
(WRDA): Corps of Engineers Authorization Issues, coordinated by Nicole T. Carter.

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The 110th Congress continues to address issues related to the Administration’s
adoption of a performance-based budgeting approach for the agency, as well as safety and
security of Corps facilities and implementation of Florida Everglades ecosystem
restoration. Recent Congresses have expressed dissatisfaction with the Corps’ financial
management, particularly the reprogramming of funds across projects and the use of
multiyear continuing contracts for projects. Corps flood control and hurricane protection
projects, in particular, are receiving congressional and public scrutiny following Hurricane
Katrina. This scrutiny is added to the attention already on the Corps’ river and reservoir
management; in many cases, Corps facilities and their operation are central to debates
over multi-purpose river management. For example, water resources management by the
Corps, particularly on the Mississippi, Missouri, and Columbia and Snake Rivers system,
remains controversial and is frequently challenged in the courts. The Corps’ projects and
role in emergency response also may be the subject of congressional oversight, legislative
direction, authorizing legislation, and appropriations.
Concluding Remarks
Water resources debates in the 110th Congress likely will be dominated by different
opinions of the desirability and need for changing the water resource agencies’ policies,
practices, and accountability, and for authorizing multi-billion dollar investments in
ecosystem restoration, navigation, and flood and storm damage reduction measures. A
broad water resource issue significant to the water resources agencies and the nation is the
changing federal role in water resources planning, development, and management.
Hurricane Katrina raised questions about this role; in particular, the disaster brought
attention to the trade-offs in benefits, costs, and risks of the current division of
responsibilities among local, state, and federal entities for flood mitigation, preparedness,
response, and recovery. The question of the federal role also is raised by the increasing
competition over water supplies, not only in the West but also for urban centers in the
East (e.g., Atlanta), which has resulted in a growing number of communities seeking
financial and other federal assistance, actions, and permits related to water supply
development (e.g., desalination and water reuse projects, reservoir expansions and
reoperations). Congress rarely chooses to pursue broad legislation on federal water
resources policies for many reasons, including the challenge of enacting changes that
affect such a wide breadth of constituencies. Another practical challenge is the fractured
nature of congressional committee jurisdictions over water resources and water quality
issues and activities. Consequently, Congress traditionally has pursued incremental
changes through WRDA bills for the Corps and project-specific legislation for the
Bureau, and this pattern seems likely to continue.

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