Sam Graves
07/15/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/15/2026 12:14
Transportation Committee Unanimously Approves Graves' Water Resources Bill
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July 15, 2026
WASHINGTON, DC - The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee today unanimously approved H.R. 9497, the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2026, which was introduced by Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (MO-06). The bipartisan bill addresses improvements for the nation's ports and harbors, inland waterway navigation system, flood and storm risk management, environment, and other aspects of our water resources infrastructure.
Communities nationwide and the U.S. economy rely on WRDA-authorized investments in water resources infrastructure and projects of the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). Since 2014, Congress has enacted a WRDA every two years to help improve water resources infrastructure. WRDA-authorized projects of the Corps are locally-driven projects that deliver regional and national benefits.
"Not only does WRDA 2026 help build and maintain safe and reliable waterways, flood protection, and other water infrastructure for our country, it streamlines Army Corps of Engineers' processes, provides reforms to improve project delivery, and empowers local stakeholders," said Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO). "For North Missouri in particular, WRDA 2026 advances a comprehensive flood control plan on the Missouri River, ensuring that people and property are the main priority when managing the river. It also expands the ways our levee owners can work with the Corps to build flood risk management infrastructure and provides necessary, streamlined assistance to levee districts facing maintenance challenges. It also strengthens my state's representation in Missouri River basin management. I want to thank the other chief sponsors of this bill - T&I Ranking Member Rick Larsen, Subcommittee Chairman Mike Collins, and Subcommittee Ranking Member Frederica Wilson - for their work on this bill, and I look forward to moving it through the House of Representatives."
As approved by the Committee today, WRDA 2026 authorizes 133 new feasibility studies for locally proposed water resources infrastructure projects and 14 projects that have been vetted by the Corps and are ready for construction authorization by Congress.
In addition, WRDA 2026 includes various policy changes to improve infrastructure project delivery. These include strengthening and reauthorizing alternative project delivery programs, emphasizing non-federal interests' input for feasibility studies, and helping ensure non-federal interests can find the right Corps resources to get projects off the ground.
The bill improves the partnership between the Corps and non-federal interests by establishing offices with expertise on inland navigation, alternative delivery, water supply, and technical assistance. Policies in this bill will improve non-federal interests' ability to obtain valuable technical assistance and to fund construction more quickly, as well as to encourage the Corps to increase use of multi-year contracts.
WRDA 2026 provisions will better support the Corps' navigation mission, improve the Corps' accountability to Congress, strengthen flood and coastal storm risk management, and address dam safety through the reauthorization of the High Hazard Potential Dam program under the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA's) National Dam Safety Program.
Wins for North Missouri:
- Streamlines the Corps of Engineers' process so local partners can more easily make needed improvements to federal water projects.
- Protects the Missouri River by ensuring its waters cannot be diverted out of the basin to Western states without the Governor's approval.
- Directs the Corps to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to slow the buildup of sediment in the largest reservoir system in the country, the Missouri River Reservoir System, preserving the storage capacity necessary to protect communities from flooding and support navigation.
- Implements a comprehensive flood protection plan on the Lower Missouri River that puts local levee districts and communities in the drivers seat to move new flood control projects forward with help from the Corps.
- Ensures members of the Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee (MRRIC) elect their own chair, giving navigators, levee districts, communities, and other stakeholders a stronger voice in the committee.
- Ensures Mississippi River communities and levee districts aren't hit with devastating new bureaucratic requirements until the Corps comes up with a workable plan to protect communities from flooding.
- Authorizes a nationwide review of the inland waterways to identify ways to modernize and strengthen them for the future.
- Encourages the Corps to clearly communicate what land rights local interests actually need to maintain flood protection projects.
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