Western Water Security Act of 2019
Latest action. Committee on Energy and Natural Resources subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Water and Power. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 116-375.
Western Water Security Act of 2019
This bill addresses water management infrastructure and improvement, groundwater management, and water conservation and environmental restoration in certain western states.
Specifically, the bill increases the authorization of appropriations to fund research agreements between the Bureau of Reclamation and eligible entities for water management improvement. The bill expands eligibility for such agreements to include nonprofit conservation organizations.
The bill also reauthorizes through FY2024 a program through which Interior is authorized to assist eligible desalination projects. The bill lowers cost-sharing requirements under the program for rural desalination projects.
Further, the bill allows certain financial assistance made available under an existing drought relief program to be used to assist state and tribal governments in addressing drought-related impacts to water supplies or any other immediate water-related crises. The bill reauthorizes the program through FY2030.
Additionally, the bill increases the maximum federal share of costs for certain infrastructure improvements and activities for groundwater management that provide benefits to consumptive water users (i.e., users of water that is not returned to a stream, river, or water treatment plant) and nonconsumptive ecological or recreational values.
The bill also requires Reclamation to carry out a water acquisition program in specified river basins. Further, Interior must analyze the extent to which changes in water supply will affect native biodiversity and must produce strategies for sustaining native biodiversity during periods of drought.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on October 28, 2019. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on July 22, 2020: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 116-375.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
TOM UDALL (D-NM) introduced it on October 28, 2019, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Democrat.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on October 28, 2019, 2509 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2241 days ago, on July 22, 2020.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers