Congress approves $19 billion for Colorado River water projects and faster permits.
H.R. 10420 — Colorado River Basin Water Security and Infrastructure Act · Filed by Andy Biggs (R-AZ) · Introduced Sep 16, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill gives $19 billion to build water projects in the Colorado River Basin. It speeds up permits to 180 days. The federal government pays two dollars for every one dollar a state pays. It restores the Yuma Desalting Plant. It explores salt-water desalting in Mexico.
Who it affects
People in the Colorado River Basin states get more water. They get new pipes and dams. Water utilities, builders, and salt-water companies may get work. People lose the chance to review how projects harm nature.
One thing to notice
The bill skips nature reviews for some projects. The public cannot comment on harm before work starts. The bill lets the state use studies from private firms to pick projects for federal money.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Sep 16, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Sep 16, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Foreign Affairs and House Committee on Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- Colorado River Basin — Seven states that share water from the Colorado River: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.
- desalting — A process that removes salt from seawater to make it safe to drink.
- Yuma Desalting Plant — A facility in Arizona that removes salt from water in the Colorado River.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (24,287 characters) on Sep 23, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,785 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-24.
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