Western States Water Newsletter

HIGHLIGHTS

Army Corps/Western Water Cooperative Committee
The Army Corps of Engineers has scheduled two virtual meetings of the Western Water Cooperative Committee (WWCC), a recap for new members on October 1 and bylaws finalization on October 6. More details on the committee’s website. The WWCC gives the Corps and Western States a forum on the operation of Corps projects and state water rights and laws; see WSWC’s page on the committee for more.

EPA/Office of Water
EPA has withdrawn five Biden-era Office of Water guidance documents on climate change in TMDLs, environmental justice in Class VI well permitting, according to an August 11 memorandum made public September 16. Assistant Administrator Jessica Kramer cited misalignment with current administration priorities, reliance on rescinded executive orders, national confusion and missing public comment on the PFAS and emerging-pollutant guidance, and the groundwater framework’s expired draft status.

EPA/WOTUS Supplemental Proposal
On September 9, EPA and the Army published a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (91 FR 57284) that would limit Clean Water Act jurisdiction to perennial waters and connected wetlands while preserving it through a single routine dry period of up to 30 consecutive days or an extreme or exceptional drought lasting up to five years. The agencies expect fewer federally regulated waters, with the largest effects in the arid West and the CWA §404 permitting program, and comments are due October 9.

WRDA 2026
On September 16, the House passed the Water Resources Development Act of 2026 (H.R. 9497) by a 415–9 vote, sending it to the Senate, which has introduced its own companion bill (S. 4949). The bill authorizes 133 new feasibility studies and 14 construction-ready projects, creates a new Corps Office of Water Supply, Water Conservation, and Drought Resiliency and new Continuing Authority Programs for drought resiliency and flood risk management, and reauthorizes FEMA’s High Hazard Potential Dam program.

International Boundary and Water Commission/Colorado River
On September 2, the United States and Mexico signed Minute 334 of the International Boundary and Water Commission, which extends and replaces earlier Colorado River measures through December 31, 2028. It reduces Lower Basin allocations by 1.25 million acre-feet and deliveries to Mexico by 250,000 acre-feet in each of 2027 and 2028, and adds a salinity pilot program, a continued binational environmental work group, and provisions for Mexico’s Water Reserve.

Nebraska/Infrastructure Funding
On September 2, Governor Jim Pillen recognized the City of Plainview for finalizing state financial assistance for an $8M wellfield project to replace supply wells with elevated nitrate levels, funded through the State Revolving Fund with 42% loan forgiveness and a 2% interest rate. The announcement follows a similar August event in Ogallala, where $7.5M in SRF assistance for wastewater treatment upgrades includes over $1.625M in loan forgiveness.

Texas/Infrastructure Funding
On September 10, the Texas Water Development Board approved $69.5M in Water Supply Infrastructure Grants to co-fund canal lining and canal-to-pipeline conversion projects in the Rio Grande Valley, drawing on a $1.038B legislative appropriation and matching funds from NADBank’s Water Resiliency Program. TWDB is also updating its five-year State Water Plan, whose Phase I was adopted in July and whose Phase II is open for public comment in September.

People: Jon Kyl
Former U.S. Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) has died at age 84. Before his nearly three decades in Congress, he helped draft Arizona’s 1980 Groundwater Management Act, and he later authored the 2004 Arizona Water Settlements Act, which authorized one of the largest tribal water rights settlements in U.S. history for the Gila River Indian Community.

People: Kansas Water Office
Kansas Water Office Director Connie Owen has retired after leading the agency since January 2021 through the first update of the Kansas Water Plan since 2009 and the first full funding of the Water Plan Fund since 2008. Former State Senator Carolyn McGinn, the Governor’s Special Advisor on Water and a former chair of the Senate Natural Resources and Ways and Means Committees, will succeed her.

WSWC NEWS & ACTIONS

WSWC Fall Meetings/Las Cruces
The Western States Water Council (WSWC) will hold its 211th Fall Meetings on October 21–23, 2026, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Las Cruces, New Mexico (2550 Don Roser Drive, Las Cruces, NM 88011). Attendance is free, but advance registration and early hotel bookings are required.

Deadlines & Registration: The Hotel Block Cutoff ($135/night) is September 20, 2026.
The In-Person Registration Deadline is October 2, 2026.

Schedule of Meetings: 
Wednesday, Oct 21 – Field Trip (10:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m.) and Off-Site Reception at La Posta (5:30 p.m.–7:00 p.m.)
Thursday, Oct 22 – All-Day Meetings & Lunch (8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.)
Friday, Oct 23 – Executive Committee Breakfast (By Invitation Only) (8:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m.).

WEBINARS & WORKSHOPS

September 30 — WestFAST will host a webinar with the Desert Research Institute and the Bureau of Land Management, From Data to Decisions: Applying Climate and Remote Sensing Tools for Drought Monitoring and Resource Evaluations.

September 23 — The Department of Energy (DOE) continues its Industrial Water Savings Network webinar series with Mapping Your Path Toward Water Reuse, the second installment in its interactive series on industrial water reuse. The series covers foundational principles, project implementation, and financing strategies.

September 30 — EPA is launching a Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) webinar series to help community water systems serving more than 3,300 people meet their risk and resilience assessment and emergency response plan (ERP) requirements under SDWA section 1433. The first session, Using Local Mutual Aid Networks in Your Emergency Response Plan, covers how Water and Wastewater Agency Response Networks (WARNs) can be leveraged to build resilience. Later sessions on natural hazard technical assistance (October 14) and emergency drinking water supply planning (November 17) will follow.