Federal agencies must map and publish waterway access rules online
S. 2637 — MAPWaters Act of 2025 · Filed by John Barrasso (R-WY) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jul 31, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires five federal agencies (Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Reclamation) to standardize, digitize, and publish online maps and data about public access to federal waterways—including boat ramps, fishing restrictions, seasonal closures, speed limits, and what types of watercraft are allowed. Citizens and outdoor recreationists benefit by getting clear, consistent, up-to-date information about where they can legally fish, boat, and recreate on federal waters.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a mandate to standardize and publish data about federal waterway access and restrictions. It is a transparency and information-access measure, not a regulatory change, appropriation, or carve-out.
What the text implies
- Standardized data may reveal inconsistencies or gaps in how different agencies manage the same waterways, potentially triggering pressure for policy harmonization.
- Real-time updates to fishing restrictions (subsection (e)) create a dynamic information system that could accelerate public awareness of conservation measures or closures.
- The bill explicitly excludes irrigation canals and flowage easements (subsection (f)), preserving agency discretion over those water bodies and potentially limiting transparency in agricultural water management.
- Coordination with private technology and geospatial companies (section 5(a)) may create dependencies on third-party platforms for public access to federal data, with implications for long-term data stewardship and public control.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill creates a public good—transparent, standardized, accessible information about federal waterway access and restrictions. Citizens and outdoor recreationists gain clarity about where they can legally fish, boat, and recreate, reducing confusion and enabling informed planning. No restrictions on citizen rights or remedies are imposed.
Who stands to gain
- geospatial data companies (contracted to digitize and standardize data)
- technology companies (potential platform providers for data publication)
Named in the bill
Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of the Interior, Federal Geographic Data Committee, United States Geological Survey, State natural resource agencies, Tribal natural resource agencies
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Independents.
- Jul 31, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jul 31, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (text: CR S5001)”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (8,217 characters) on Sep 26, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 15,166 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 2026-09-26.
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