§701b–17 Corps of Engineers Western Water Cooperative Committee

Summary

Within 90 days after December 23, 2022, the Secretary must set up a Western Water Cooperative Committee. Its job is to help make sure Corps of Engineers flood-control projects follow congressional directions and to find ways to avoid or reduce conflicts with Western States’ water rights and water laws. The committee must include the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works (or a designee), the Chief of Engineers (or a designee), one governor-appointed representative from each Western State (they may sit on the Western States Water Council), one law-experienced representative from each Western State chosen by the state attorney general, and one employee from each affected Bureau of Indian Affairs regional office. The committee must meet at least once a year in a Western State, hold public meetings, and give advance notice in the Federal Register. The committee must prepare recommendations that only apply to Western States and that do not harm water resources in Missouri. Each year the Secretary must send a written report to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure that summarizes meetings, lists any state legislative proposals shown to the committee, and describes the committee’s recommendations and the Secretary’s responses. After each meeting, members get 45 days to comment, and those comments go into the report. Members are unpaid but get travel and per diem. Records must be kept for at least 3 years. The committee has no power to change federal or state water laws or interstate compacts, and it does not reduce any state’s water rights or authority. "Western States" means: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.