The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee proposed bipartisan legislation Friday that would authorize infrastructure and studies addressing flood risk and other water challenges, but the package is slimmer on new projects than past versions.
The Water Resources Development Act of 2026 includes 10 project authorizations and 131 new studies to be conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers. Four of the projects in the bill are new, while the other six are alterations of projects previously approved by Congress.
The bill would also direct the agency to prioritize various issues and studies that have been sidelined by the Trump administration, with provisions seeking to promote nature-based and nonstructural flood solutions.
“WRDA 2026 helps build and maintain safe and reliable waterways, flood protection, and other water infrastructure throughout the United States,” Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said in a statement. “This bill streamlines Corps of Engineers’ processes, providing targeted and commonsense reforms to improve project delivery and empower local stakeholders.”
Enacted every two years since 2014, the Water Resources Development Act has historically received widespread bipartisan support, but it got a slow start this year.
The bill is a chance for Congress to express priorities on flooding, wetlands restoration, dam safety and navigation and for lawmakers to advance pet projects back home.
“In the Pacific Northwest and across the country, investments in ports, harbors and inland waterways support good-paying jobs and are key to long-term economic growth,” said Washington Rep. Rick Larsen, the top Democrat on the committee. “I look forward to marking up WRDA 2026 soon.”
The bill would direct the Army Corps to continue considering nature-based and nonstructural solutions to flooding, months after Army Corps leaders questioned whether nonstructural projects like home buyouts and elevations justified the costs.
It also calls on the agency to maintain “a professional workforce capable of addressing the varied statutory responsibilities,” while requiring a National Academy of Public Administration study on workforce needs. The agency has seen a wave of retirements and departures in the past year.
The package would direct the Army Corps to expedite a comprehensive study of the Lower Mississippi River basin, an area heavily engineered via an extensive system of levees and floodways. The Trump administration last year cut funding for the study, which seeks to assess and improve water management in the region.
And in a nod to water security issues facing the nation’s capital, the bill would have the agency begin a second phase of study to find a second drinking water source for Washington.
New projects include an ecosystem restoration project in Sheridan, Wyoming; a port deepening project in Long Beach, California; and a project to reduce flood risks around Beattyville, Kentucky, which experienced a historic flood last year.
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee spokesperson Justin Harclerode said more information was to come next week about when the committee will vote on the bill.
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is also working on a Water Resources Development Act. It’s not clear when the Senate version will be released, but committee leaders on both sides of the aisle have said it is a priority.
