Sitting congressman's water bill lets districts keep federal revenue, shifts costs to all taxpayers.
H.R. 9512 — Doug LaMalfa Sacramento River Basin Water Security and Reliability Act of 2026 · Filed by James Gallagher (R-CA) · Introduced Jun 29, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill reauthorizes and expands federal water storage and environmental restoration programs in California's Sacramento River Basin. It extends deadlines for water storage feasibility studies to 2041, authorizes the federal government to pay up to 50% of operation and maintenance costs for state-led water storage projects, allocates $500 million over 10 years for fish habitat restoration and dam safety, establishes a federal leadership committee to coordinate water management across agencies, and allows water districts to keep revenue from temporary water sales for drought resilience and dam safety instead of returning it to the federal reclamation fund.
Why we flagged it
While the bill funds legitimate environmental restoration and dam safety, its core mechanism—allowing water districts to retain federal revenue instead of repaying federal construction costs—functions as a subsidy to agricultural water contractors and irrigation districts in a single region, wrapped in environmental and public-safety language.
What the text implies
- Section 7 allows water districts to retain all revenue from temporary water sales, creating a permanent revenue stream that bypasses federal reclamation fund repayment obligations. This shifts the cost of federal water project construction from water users to all taxpayers.
- The 50% federal cost-share for operation and maintenance of state-led storage projects (Section 4) is nonreimbursable, meaning federal taxpayers permanently subsidize ongoing costs for projects that primarily benefit agricultural contractors and water districts.
The full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
Sacramento River water districts and irrigation districts; Agricultural water contractors (Miller and Lux, Central California Irrigation District, San Luis Can; State of California (receives federal cost-share for storage projects)