Water Agency and Transparency Enhancement Review (WATER) Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 6639 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 6639 To codify certain sections of Executive Order 14181 relating to emergency measures to provide water resources in California and improve disaster response in certain areas. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES December 11, 2025 Mr. Gray (for himself and Mr. Costa) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To codify certain sections of Executive Order 14181 relating to emergency measures to provide water resources in California and improve disaster response in certain areas. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Water Agency and Transparency Enhancement Review (WATER) Act''. SEC. 2. PLANS TO ADDRESS REGULATORY HURDLES FOR MAJOR WATER-SUPPLY AND STORAGE PROJECTS. (a) Identification of Major Water-Supply and Storage Projects.--The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce shall identify all ongoing or potential major water-supply and storage projects (including surface and ground water storage projects, aquifer recharge projects, and State conveyance projects) within the State of California for which they have joint responsibility under section 7(a) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536(a)) or individual responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). (b) Plans.-- (1) Designation of compliance officials.--With respect to the projects identified under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce shall each designate one Federal official to coordinate each agency's respective compliance resp