§2357 Managed Aquifer Recharge Study and Working Group

Summary

The Secretary must carry out a national study, with input from local partners, on using managed aquifer recharge at authorized water projects to help with drought, water resilience, and low aquifers. The study must find ways to help non‑Federal groups, including Tribes, and look at local underground water conditions. The Secretary should work with other federal and state agencies, local governments, experts, and Tribes. At the request of a non‑Federal group, the Secretary may do up to 10 feasibility studies in places with long droughts, aquifer depletion, or water shortages. The federal share of each feasibility study is 90 percent. The Secretary must, as much as reasonably possible, use the national study’s findings when choosing those feasibility studies. Not later than 180 days after December 23, 2022, the Secretary must set up a working group of Corps experts and non‑Federal stakeholders with experience in water storage, groundwater protection and recharge, wells and dams, groundwater science, combined surface‑and‑groundwater systems, and farm irrigation. The group will advise on the study and studies, help raise awareness, and help prepare a report. Not later than 2 years after December 23, 2022, the Secretary must send a report to specified congressional committees with the study and study results, a status update on a 2020 Corps report, and an evaluation of creating or changing a planning center of expertise. Nothing here changes the non‑Federal share of construction costs under existing law. Definitions: managed aquifer recharge means intentionally storing and treating water in aquifers for later use; a managed aquifer recharge project adds such recharge features to a water project.