Federal money now helps small towns fix old dams.
H.R. 10635 — Saving Rural Reservoirs Act · Filed by Josh Riley (D-NY) · Introduced Sep 28, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill lets the federal government pay to fix two new types of dams. The first type is high-hazard dams that could cause serious harm. The second type is small earthen dams in rural towns. These towns must have fewer than 5,000 people. Before this bill, the federal dam-repair program did not cover these dams.
Who it affects
Rural towns with aging earthen dams can now get federal money to fix them. These towns no longer have to pay for all repairs alone. Construction and engineering companies hired to do the repairs also benefit.
One thing to notice
If a dam gets federal money and then breaks, the federal government might face claims. The claims could say the government did not repair or watch the dam well.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Sep 28, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Sep 28, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Agriculture · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- earthen dams — Dams made mostly of compacted earth, not concrete or stone.
- high-hazard dams — Dams that could cause serious harm or death if they fail.
- federal dam-repair program — A government program that pays to fix certain water-management structures.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (786 characters) on Oct 3, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 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 2026-10-20.
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