Bill sets up a special money account for a river program.

What it does

The bill creates a special Treasury account. States put money into it for the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program. This program handles water and protects wildlife on the Colorado River. Money in the account will earn extra cash. The program can spend that extra cash without asking Congress.

Who it affects

States that put money into the program get more stable funding. People in western states get more reliable money for wildlife and water work.

One thing to notice

The program can now use extra earnings without asking Congress each time. States are protected from losing money on investments.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

5 cosponsors: 4 Democrats, 1 Republicans.

• Jan 31, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jan 31, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
• Jul 15, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Jul 15, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Unanimous Consent”
• Mar 16, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H2527)”
• Mar 16, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Wittman moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

4 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 7 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $580,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 9 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 72% of bills with any report.

Ken Calvert, who sponsored the bill, received $1,345,350 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• Metropolitan Water District of Southern California — $380,000 in 2 reports
• Central Arizona Water Conservation District (cawcd) — $140,000 in 2 reports
• Colorado River Commission of Nevada — $40,000 in 2 reports
• Coachella Valley Water District — $20,000 in 1 report

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program — A 2005 agreement between states to handle water and protect wildlife on the Colorado River.
• Treasury account — A special government bank account that holds and manages money.
• extra cash — Money earned when money sits in a bank account or investment.
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
• sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.