§3207 Multi-benefit Projects to Improve Watershed Health

Summary

The Secretary must establish a competitive grant program not later than 1 year after November 15, 2021, to give grants for designing, carrying out, and checking habitat restoration projects that improve watershed health in river basins harmed by a Bureau of Reclamation water project. Eligible applicants include States; Tribal or local governments; organizations that deliver water or have power authority; regional authorities; and nonprofit conservation groups. Projects must achieve one or more benefits such as ecosystem and native species restoration, climate resilience for fish and wildlife, invasive species protection, restoring natural river functions, or better fishing and river recreation. The Secretary must favor projects that deliver more than one benefit. Grants cannot pay for projects that only meet existing legal mitigation or compliance duties. Projects must follow all federal and state laws. The federal share of project costs is normally up to 50 percent. If at least 75 percent of a project’s cost is for nonconsumptive water conservation or habitat restoration (as the Secretary decides), the federal share may be up to 75 percent.