Water groups can store water in ground without new federal approval.
S. 1254 — A bill to amend the Aquifer Recharge Flexibility Act to clarify a provision relating to conveyances for aquifer recharge purposes. · Filed by James Risch (R-ID) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Apr 2, 2025 · Reported out
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What it does
This bill changes the Aquifer Recharge Flexibility Act. It lets water rights holders use old pipelines and permits to store water in the ground. They must tell the Bureau of Land Management 30 days before they start. Public groups and non-profits do not pay extra rent to the federal government.
Who it affects
Public water groups and non-profit groups that store water in the ground pay less. States and water districts that manage water in the ground also benefit.
One thing to notice
The bill says storing water in the ground does not have to follow three laws. These are the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Apr 2, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Apr 2, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources”
- Sep 30, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- aquifer recharge — Storing water in rock layers deep in the ground.
- Bureau of Land Management — The federal group that manages public land and things in it.
- Clean Water Act — Federal law that keeps water in rivers, lakes, and streams clean.
- Endangered Species Act — Federal law that keeps animals and plants from dying out.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (3,808 characters) on Oct 1, 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.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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