Bureau of Reclamation: FY2025 Budget and Appropriations

https://crsreports.congress.gov

Updated January 8, 2025

Bureau of Reclamation: FY2025 Budget and Appropriations

The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), part of the Department of the Interior, is primarily responsible for the construction and operation of hundreds of large dams and water diversion structures in the 17 western Reclamation States, as designated in statute (43 U.S.C. §391). Reclamation is the largest wholesale supplier of water in these 17 states and the second-largest hydroelectric power producer in the nation. Reclamation’s mission areas and geographic scope are narrower than those of the other principal federal water resource agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Reclamation’s Water and Related Resources account funds most agency activities, including construction, operations and maintenance, dam safety, and Indian water rights settlements, as well as the agency’s programmatic and grant authorities (including those for water reuse and recycling, desalination, conservation and efficiency, and aquatic ecosystem restoration, among other purposes). Reclamation typically also receives funding for three smaller accounts: California Bay-Delta Restoration, the Central Valley Project Restoration Fund (which is offset by customer receipts), and Policy and Administration.

FY2025 Budget and Appropriations

The Administration usually requests a lower amount for Reclamation than the final enacted total of annual appropriations. For FY2025, the President requested $1.599 billion in current budget authority (i.e., appropriations before offsets) for Reclamation, or $301 million less than the $1.900 billion provided by Congress in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, FY2024 (P.L. 118-42). The majority of Reclamation’s funding is for the Water and Related Resources Account. As shown in Figure 1, in FY2025 appropriations action, the House Appropriations Committee recommended $1.929 billion for Reclamation in H.R. 8997, while the Senate Appropriations Committee recommended $2.020 billion in S. 4927.

In addition to regular annual appropriations, Congress has provided Reclamation with supplemental appropriations, which will augment discretionary funding by approximately $2.500 billion in FY2025. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58) included $8.300 billion in supplemental appropriations for various infrastructure- focused Reclamation expenditures. This funding is to be made available in equal installments from FY2022 to FY2026 (i.e., $1.660 billion per year) and is no year funding, meaning it remains available until expended. P.L. 117-169 (popularly known as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, or IRA) provided an additional $4.590 billion for Reclamation, including $4.000 billion for western drought mitigation, with priority given to actions in the Colorado River Basin. IRA funding is to remain available until

FY2026 or FY2031, depending on the provision. Reclamation has been allocating these funds on a rolling basis.

Figure 1. Reclamation Annual Appropriations, FY2015-FY2025 Figure is interactive in the HTML version of this In Focus.

Source: CRS, based on FY2015-FY2025 appropriations and FY2025 budget request. Inflation adjustment to FY2023 dollars based on Office of Management and Budget (OMB) FY2025 Budget, Historical Table 10.1. Note: Amounts do not reflect supplemental funding or offsetting receipts.

Additional Funding and “Earmarks” Reclamation’s Water and Related Resources account consists largely of individual project funding lines. During the 112th-116th Congresses, Reclamation appropriations were subject to general earmark moratoriums that restricted Congress from funding geographically specific project line items not requested by the Administration. Instead, Congress included Additional Funding amounts for selected categories of Reclamation projects, typically in five categories: Rural Water, Water Conservation and Delivery, Environmental Restoration and Compliance, Fish Passage/Fish Screens, and Facilities Maintenance and Rehabilitation. The Administration allocated these funds for specific projects in spend plans made available several months after enactment of the appropriations bills.

In the 117th and 118th Congresses, appropriations recommendations have included earmarks (now categorized as community project funding [CPF] or congressionally directed spending [CDS] in the House and Senate, respectively). Congress has recommended funding CPF/CDS items in Reclamation’s Water and Related Resources account, in addition to amounts designated as Additional Funding. For FY2025 appropriations, H.R.

Bureau of Reclamation: FY2025 Budget and Appropriations

https://crsreports.congress.gov

8997 recommended $279 million for Additional Funding and $9 million in CPF, while S. 4927 recommended $287 million in Additional Funding and $63 million for CDS (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Congressionally Added Funding in Reclamation Annual Appropriations, FY2015-FY2025 Figure is interactive in the HTML version of this In Focus.

Source: CRS, based on FY2015-FY2024 appropriations. Inflation adjustment to FY2023 dollars based on OMB FY2025 Budget Historical Table 10.1. Note: CPF/CDS = community project funding/congressionally directed spending.

Reclamation Appropriations Issues

WIIN Act Section 4007 Funding Section 4007 of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN Act; P.L. 114-322) authorized a process for Reclamation to study and construct federal and nonfederal water storage projects. For projects to receive funding under Section 4007, first Congress appropriates funds under this authority. Then, the Administration recommends specific projects to fund using those appropriations. Congress then decides whether to approve these recommendations in enacted appropriations legislation.

From FY2017 through FY2024, Congress provided approximately $988 million in regular appropriations for these projects. Congress has approved Administration recommendations for 13 projects in California, Washington, and Idaho totaling $609 million. In FY2025 appropriations, the House proposed $134 million for these projects, while the Senate did not specify funding levels.

WaterSMART Program Reclamation combines funding for six subprograms that promote water conservation into one program—the WaterSMART program. The largest subprograms are WaterSMART Grants and Title XVI projects (i.e., water recycling and reuse projects). In P.L. 118-42, Congress provided $141 million for the Reclamation WaterSMART program in FY2024. For FY2025, the President’s budget requested $66 million for the WaterSMART program, a

decrease of $75 million from the FY2024 enacted level. For FY2025 appropriations, H.R. 8997 recommended $94 million for WaterSMART, while S. 4927 recommended $112 million for the program (Figure 3).

Figure 3. WaterSMART Program: Annual Appropriations, FY2015-FY2025 Figure is interactive in the HTML version of this In Focus.

Source: CRS, based on FY2015-FY2024 appropriations and FY2025 budget request. Inflation adjustment to FY2023 dollars based on OMB FY2025 Budget, Historical Table 10.1.

Supplemental Funding

In November 2024, the Biden Administration requested emergency supplemental funding for Reclamation to repair the St. Mary Canal siphon near Babb, Montana (the siphon failed in the summer of 2024). Some congressionally proposed funding extensions for FY2025 have included emergency supplemental funding for this project as well as for Reclamation to respond to consequences of other natural disasters.

Additional Reading

• CRS Report R47032, Bureau of Reclamation Provisions

in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117- 58), by Charles V. Stern and Anna E. Normand

• CRS In Focus IF12437, Bureau of Reclamation Funding

in the Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169), by Charles V. Stern and Anna E. Normand

• CRS In Focus IF12414, Bureau of Reclamation

WaterSMART Program, by Charles V. Stern and Anna E. Normand

• CRS Report R47987, Bureau of Reclamation Support

for Water Storage Projects, by Charles V. Stern

• CRS Report R44148, Indian Water Rights Settlements,

by Charles V. Stern and Mariel J. Murray

Charles V. Stern, Specialist in Natural Resources Policy

Bureau of Reclamation: FY2025 Budget and Appropriations

https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF12661 · VERSION 3 · UPDATED

IF12661

Disclaimer

This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include copyrighted images or material from a third party, you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.