Western States Water Newsletter

EPA/Tribal Water Quality Rule
EPA is moving to rescind the 2024 Tribal Reserved Rights Rule, which required states to account for tribal fishing, hunting, and gathering rights when setting Clean Water Act standards, following a multi-state lawsuit and a court-ordered litigation stay. EPA held tribal consultations this spring on alternative mechanisms to replace the rule’s protections once it’s formally withdrawn.

Farm Bill/Committee Markup
The Senate Agriculture Committee failed to advance the 2026 farm bill on a 10-11 vote after Democrats rejected Boozman’s SNAP cost-sharing compromise, though a $4B wildfire/watershed restoration amendment and two water-related measures (the FLOOD Act and a CREP expansion) advanced. Negotiations are expected to continue through the August recess, with Klobuchar and Boozman both signaling openness to a bipartisan deal.

Cyber Security Legislation
Sens. Schiff and Klobuchar introduced the Water Cyber Shield Act following a wave of cyberattacks on water utilities and an FBI advisory warning of targeted control-system intrusions, while a smaller bipartisan bill (FLOWS Act) would fund rural utility cybersecurity upgrades. An industry-backed alternative from Rep. Crawford would instead let a sector-led organization set standards, reflecting a divide between mandatory federal authority and voluntary industry-led approaches.

Local Government Advisory Committee/Data Centers
EPA named 22 new and returning members to its Local Government Advisory Committee, which will take up data center siting and environmental review at its September meeting. Several western officials are among the new appointees, and EPA’s administrator framed the move as part of the agency’s broader push to expand U.S. AI infrastructure.

Texas/Data Center Pause
Gov. Abbott ordered a comprehensive audit of all data centers seeking to connect to the Texas grid, pausing new interconnection approvals for several months while regulators review water use, tax incentives, and community impacts. The audit follows a wave of local ordinances across Texas, many explicitly citing water and power strain as the rationale for restricting data center development.

CRS/Data Centers and Water Report
A new Congressional Research Service primer finds no data centers with direct water agreements with Reclamation or the Army Corps, though many connect indirectly through municipal systems drawing on federal water infrastructure. The report also catalogs pending Congressional legislation touching data centers and water, ranging from a bill opening Reclamation’s Drought Response Program to data centers to several water-use transparency and reuse-incentive proposals.

Colorado River Authority of Utah/New Board Members
The Colorado River Authority of Utah appointed four new board members spanning water rights, tribal governance, regional water management, and river recreation expertise, including a new seat created specifically for southeastern Utah. The appointments are intended to broaden the board’s representation as Utah works to defend its Colorado River allocation.

EPA/USGS Water Quality Portal Modernization
EPA and USGS are undertaking a multi-year modernization of the Water Quality Portal, migrating the 15-year-old system to new cloud infrastructure this summer before rolling out broader performance and feature upgrades through 2028. The agencies are encouraging more data holders to submit through the Water Quality Exchange to unify the portal as a single national enterprise system.

WESTFAST HIGHLIGHTS

FEMA
FEMA opened its FY2026 High Hazard Potential Dams grant program, making $11.4M available to states, territories, and nonprofits for dam rehabilitation, repair, or removal. Applications are due August 31 through the FEMA GO system.

USBR
Reclamation increased 2026 Central Valley Project water allocations for south-of-Delta contractors, citing improved supply conditions and tying the move to Executive Order 14181’s water reliability directives. Irrigation contractors move from 25% to 28% of contract totals, while municipal and industrial contractors rise from 75% to 78%.

New Federal Resources
Three new drought-related resources were released this summer: a National Academies consensus study on incorporating shifting drought conditions into assessment frameworks, Montana’s new open-source Drought Data Dashboard (D3), and two NIDIS regional media briefings covering current drought and wildfire conditions across the West. All three are aimed at improving how drought data and assessment inform water management decisions.

WEBINARS & WORKSHOPS

NAWI/WSWC
The WSWC will partner with the National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI) to host a virtual webinar and feedback session for state water managers on Thursday, September 17, from 10 AM to 11:30 AM MT. The session gives members an opportunity to shape future federal research priorities, policy tools, and funding structures for non-traditional water supplies, building on NAWI’s Regional Water Systems Request for Information (RFI: NAWI-5-2026), led by DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Most of the 90-minute session will be devoted to facilitated discussion. Written comments may also be submitted to NAWI’s portal before September 9. Details will be added to our Upcoming Events page as they become available.

Also coming up:

• August 25, 1:00 PM ET—Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) launches its four-part Data Centers & Conservation Science Forum with Part 1, “How ‘Thirsty’ Are Data Centers? Understanding Data Center Water Use and Ways to Reduce It,” presented by Dr. Eric Masanet. Three more installments follow monthly through November. Register here.
• August 26 1:00 PM ET—DOE’s Better Plants program kicks off its Industrial Water Savings Network webinar series with “Seven Guidelines for Industrial Water Reuse,” the first of three monthly sessions in Section 1 on assessing and reducing industrial water use. Register here.
• September 10–11—NOAA’s (NIDIS) and the Natural Hazards Center at CU Boulder host A Workshop to Advance Drought Early Warning Communication for the Nation in Boulder, CO, bringing together experts to improve how drought risk is communicated to the public. More information here.
• September 14–16—NIDIS partners with the Northern Great Plains Regional Incubator for Drought Resiliency, and others to host the Missouri River Basin DEWS Partners Meeting in Bismarck, ND. This meeting is in person only. More information here.

MEETINGS

The Western States Water Council Fall (211th) Meetings will be held on October 21-23, 2026 in Las Cruces, New Mexico at the Hilton Garden Inn, which is located at 2550 Don Roser Drive, Las Cruces, NM 88011. Further details will be posted to the event page once they become available. New details to come over the next week.