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1 [1] (February 2, 2026)

handle is hein.crs/govetmv0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research S Informing the Iegisl¶ive debate since 19 Updated February 2, 2026 Bureau of Reclamation: FY2026 Budget and Appropriations The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), part of the Department of the Interior, is responsible for the construction and operation of hundreds of large dams and water diversion structures in the 17 western Reclamation States, as designated in statute (43 U.S.C. §391). Reclamation is the largest wholesale supplier of water in these 17 states and the second-largest hydroelectric power producer in the nation. Reclamation's Water and Related Resources account funds most agency activities, as well as the agency's programmatic and grant authorities (e.g., water reuse and recycling, desalination, and conservation/efficiency, among other purposes). Reclamation also receives funding for three smaller accounts: California Bay-Delta Restoration, the Central Valley Project Restoration Fund (which is offset by customer receipts), and Policy and Administration. FY2026 Budget and Appropriations Administrations typically have requested a lower amount for Reclamation than the final enacted total of annual appropriations. The FY2026 budget proposed $1.273 billion in current budget authority for Reclamation, or $587 million (32%) less than the $1.860 billion Congress approved for FY2025 in the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (P.L. 119-4; the full-year continuing resolution [CR]). FY2026 Energy and Water Development appropriations bill proposals all provided more funding than the Administration's budget request for Reclamation, including $1.627 billion in the final enacted bill (P.L. 119-74; see Figure 1). Figure I. Bureau of Reclamation Annual Appropriations, FY20 I 8-FY2026 All Other bWater & Related Inflation-Adjusted Accounts RsourcFY2 s6 Au t Total $ in millions 4553ce (FY26 Hse, S. 3 2 1-F62Sen), aP..e1974 Inflation adjustment based on FY2026 budget request, Historical Table 10. 1. Note: Amounts do not reflect supplemental funding or offsetting receipts. Additional Funding Available for FY2026 Congress has approved supplemental appropriations for Reclamation in three separate bills since 2020: the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58; IIJA) included $8.3 billion total, made available in equal installments from FY2022 to FY2026 (i.e., $1.660 billion per year); P.L. 117-169 (also known as the Inflation Reduction Act) provided Reclamation with $4.590 billion in funding (available through FY2026 or FY2031), $4.0 billion of which was for western drought mitigation; and P.L. 119-21 included $1.000 billion to Reclamation for FY2025 (available through FY2034) for projects that increase the capacity of Reclamation surface water storage projects. Additional Funding and Earmarks Reclamation's Water and Related Resources account consists largely of individual project funding lines. During the 112th-116th Congresses, Reclamation appropriations were subject to general earmark moratoriums that restricted Congress from funding geographically specific project line items not requested by the Administration. Instead, Congress included additionalfunding amounts for specified categories of Reclamation projects, such as Rural Water, Water Conservation and Delivery, Environmental Restoration and Compliance, Fish Passage/Fish Screens, and Facilities Maintenance and Rehabilitation. The Administration allocated these funds for specific projects in spend plans made available several months after enactment of the appropriations bills. In the 117th and 118th Congresses, Congress recommended earmarks (now categorized as community projectfunding [CPF] or congressionally directed spending [CDS] in the House and Senate, respectively), in addition to amounts designated as additional funding (i.e., funding to be allocated in subsequent work plans). For FY2025, the enacted CR approved no new CPF/CDS projects. In P.L. 119-74, Congress once again included these projects. Recent CPF/CDS and additional funding levels are shown in Figure 2.