Federal government funds water studies in four Midwest states.
H.R. 9785 — South Dakota Water Feasibility Studies Act · Filed by Dusty Johnson (R-SD) · Introduced Jul 20, 2026 · Reported out
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What it does
The bill tells the Secretary of the Interior to study three water projects. The projects are in South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska. The federal government will pay up to 50% of study costs. Each study is capped at $10 million. Local groups must pay at least 25% of any future building costs.
Who it affects
Rural people and towns in the Missouri River basin may get better water access. Local water groups will have to pay part of the costs.
One thing to notice
The bill spends $30 million to study projects. It does not promise any project will be built.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Jul 20, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 20, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
- Sep 15, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Sep 15, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by Unanimous Consent”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- Secretary of the Interior — The federal official who manages water and land resources.
- Missouri River basin — The area of land where water drains into the Missouri River.
- capped — Set a maximum limit that cannot be exceeded.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (6,970 characters) on Aug 12, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,358 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 2026-09-19.
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