Water Resources Development Act of 2016

Water Resources Development Act of 2016 This bill revises or authorizes various U.S. Army Corps of Engineers water resources development projects, feasibility studies, and relationships with nonfederal project sponsors. It sets forth a process to deauthorize projects with an aggregate estimated federal cost to complete of at least $5 billion. For harbor operation and maintenance, the bill requires: utilization of priority funding for emerging harbors, an increase in funding for commercial navigation costs beginning in FY2027, and expansion of eligibility for donor port funding. The bill reauthorizes estuary habitat restoration projects through FY2021. To assist states, the bill allows: water conservation measures for drought emergencies; assistance to regional districts for flood damage reduction projects; and combined funding for drainage basins, watersheds, or ecosystems in groups of states. For flood management, the bill: allows credits or reimbursements for discrete segments of a project before final completion, authorizes the Corps of Engineers to accept nonfederal funds to revise reservoir operations and storage allocations for flood-risk and navigation, and extends the period for nonfederal interests to receive a credit in lieu of a reimbursement for the estimated federal share of a flood damage reduction project under repealed provisions the Water Resources Development Act of 1996. The bill establishes conditions to release nonfederal interests from obligations to operate and maintain the nonstructural and nonmechanical components of projects for environmental protection and restoration or aquatic ecosystem restoration. The Corps of Engineers' authority to accept funds to expedite permits is: expanded to railroad carriers, and made permanent for public utilities or natural gas companies. The Corps must designate a principal approving official to coordinate development of unmanned aircraft systems to support civil works and emergency response missions. The bill authorizes various navigation, flood risk management, hurricane and storm damage, ecosystem restoration, recreation, or river shoreline projects in Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.