Congress extends Delaware River water program, adds Maryland to five-state basin initiative
H.R. 1304 — Delaware River Basin Restoration Program Reauthorization Act of 2025 · Filed by Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) · 19 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 13, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill extends a federal water conservation program for the Delaware River Basin by adding Maryland as a participating state and pushing the program's expiration date from 2023 to 2032. It also allows the Secretary to prioritize funding for projects serving small, rural, or disadvantaged communities.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is to extend and expand an existing federal water conservation program. It is a straightforward reauthorization with modest scope expansion (adding Maryland) and a sunset extension.
What the text implies
- Adding Maryland to the program may shift funding allocation dynamics among the five states, potentially affecting per-state grant availability depending on appropriations.
- The nine-year extension (2023→2032) locks in program structure through 2032 unless Congress acts again, creating a long-term commitment to the basin region.
- Priority language for disadvantaged communities is discretionary ('may give priority'), not mandatory, so actual funding distribution depends on Secretary implementation.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill extends federal funding for water infrastructure and conservation in the Delaware River Basin, benefiting residents through continued investment in water quality, flood management, and ecosystem restoration. The addition of Maryland and the priority for disadvantaged communities broadens the program's reach and ensures resources flow to underserved areas.
Who stands to gain
- water infrastructure contractors and engineering firms operating in the Delaware River Basin region
- state and local water authorities in Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland
Named in the bill
Delaware River Basin, Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN Act), Public Law 114–322, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, U.S. Secretary (water/infrastructure authority)
Where it stands
19 cosponsors: 15 Democrats, 4 Republicans.
- Feb 13, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Feb 13, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and House Committee on Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $130,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 20 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.
Brian Fitzpatrick, the sponsor, reported $2,362,211 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Trout Unlimited — $120,000 on 1 filing
- Delaware River Basin Commission — $10,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,216 characters) on Aug 24, 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.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Congress extends Delaware River water program, adds Maryland to five-state basin initiative” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr1304 Report an error
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