Federal water system lifts rural Montana and North Dakota counties
H.R. 8745 — Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authorization Act · Filed by Troy Downing (R-MT) · Introduced May 12, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill authorizes the federal government to help build a regional water system serving rural counties in Montana and North Dakota. The Department of Interior will partner with the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority (a nonprofit public entity) to plan, design, and construct water infrastructure—pipelines, treatment plants, pumping stations—with the federal government covering up to 75% of costs (up to $602 million over 2027–2037). The Western Area Power Administration will supply power to operate the system at wholesale rates. The Authority retains ownership and operates the system on a nonprofit basis.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a federal cost-share partnership with a nonprofit public water authority to build and operate a regional water system. This is straightforward infrastructure authorization, not a tax provision, deregulation, or private carve-out.
What the text implies
- Power supply from Pick-Sloan Program (federal hydropower) is tied to this water system, potentially affecting future allocation of that power resource among competing uses.
- The bill requires the Authority to fund all transmission/distribution upgrades to the Integrated System (including non-federal utility infrastructure), which may impose substantial costs on the Authority beyond the $602M authorization.
- Livestock watering is explicitly permitted on a non-incidental commercial basis, which may increase water demand and operational costs beyond rural municipal/industrial projections.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Rural citizens in underserved counties gain access to safe, adequate water supply for municipal, agricultural, and industrial use—a foundational public good. The nonprofit structure and federal cost-share ensure affordability; no private utility is capturing monopoly rents. The bill imposes no new restrictions on citizens' rights or remedies.
Who stands to gain
- Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority (nonprofit public entity receiving federal funds and power sub
- Construction contractors and engineering firms (design and build contracts)
- Western Area Power Administration (power sales revenue)
Named in the bill
Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority, Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Western Area Power Administration, Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Heartland Energy, Dawson County, Montana, Garfield County, Montana, McCone County, Montana, Prairie County, Montana, Richland County, Montana, McKenzie County, North Dakota — and 1 more
Where it stands
- May 12, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- May 12, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $20,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 2 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 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Troy Downing, the sponsor, reported $790,100 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Dry-redwater Regional Water Authority — $20,000 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 (8,265 characters) on Oct 31, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,778 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 2026-10-31.
“Federal water system lifts rural Montana and North Dakota counties” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr8745 Report an error
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