Senate bill would reauthorize watershed grants with larger awards and year-round applications

The bill would authorize $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031 to carry out the Cooperative Watershed Management Program. It covers the grant program created in section 6002 of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. An authorization lets Congress provide the money but does not itself provide it. This covers fiscal years 2027 through 2031.

The bill would raise a dollar figure in the first-phase grant section from $100,000 to $150,000 and let the Secretary continue a first-phase grant for up to 2 more years. A continued grant could be up to $150,000 each year, as the Secretary decides is appropriate. The Secretary may continue a grant only at the Secretary's discretion. The grant recipient must have shown satisfactory performance carrying out its proposal, as the Secretary decides.

The bill would add Indian tribes and disaster need to the ways a group can qualify for program grants. It names Indian tribes among the interests a group represents, and adds significant need due to drought, wildfire, or another natural disaster as an option. It also adds 'has ancestral lands within the watershed' as a third option in a definition, but the text does not show which definition.

The bill would list grant writing, project management, technical assistance, and post-construction monitoring among the costs grants may cover. Technical help includes design, environmental studies or surveys, and engineering. Monitoring checks results of a water management project, such as river or stream improvements.

The Secretary would have to offer funding opportunities regularly and accept and review grant applications several times a year. The program's reports to Congress would also have to be made public. The application schedule applies subject to the availability of funds.