NWC NEWS ALERT AND MEMBER UPDATE

April 30, 2026

Following last week’s Legislative Summit and Data Summit, NWC wanted to send a quick note of thanks and share several timely updates while these conversations are still fresh. We appreciated the strong member participation throughout both events and are already using your feedback to help shape upcoming programming, advocacy resources, and future meetings.

This alert includes updates on today’s postponed U.S. Army Corps of Engineers call, Legislative Summit materials now available in the app, ongoing Data Center meeting follow-up, NWC Fact Sheets, Capitol Hill activity including WRDA 2026, and a member request for examples of Corps-approved non-standard estate language.

NWC SPOTLIGHT

USACE meeting scheduled for Mr. Bush today is canceled and will be rescheduled.  NWC’s meeting scheduled for today (April 30) with Mr. Eric Bush, Chief of Planning and Policy for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has been canceled and will be rescheduled. As members may know, the Department of War has implemented new internal approval requirements for Senior Executive Service-level personnel related to external speaking engagements and meetings. Unfortunately, the necessary Department of War approval was not received in time for today’s session. We are actively working with Mr. Bush to identify a new date in July and are also exploring potential process adjustments to help avoid similar disruptions moving forward.

LEGISLATIVE SUMMIT FOLLOW-UP

Thank you to everyone who participated in NWC’s Legislative Summit. We appreciate the strong turnout and member engagement throughout the event.

A few quick reminders and follow-up items:

  • Updated attendee lists are now available on the conference app for members wishing to reconnect with fellow attendees.
  • Event photos have also been posted on the app – take a look and see if your face made the gallery.
  • If you have additional photos from the Summit, please feel free to upload and share them on the app as well.
  • If you have not yet completed the Legislative Summit survey, we encourage you to do so. Your feedback is extremely valuable as we begin planning both future Legislative Summits and Annual Meetings.

Member input continues to directly shape NWC programming, meeting structure, and advocacy support materials, so we appreciate your taking a few minutes to respond.

DATA CENTER MEETING FOLLOW-UP AND CONTINUING CONVERSATION

Thank you as well to all members who joined us for the Data Center meeting at NWC’s Legislative Summit. The discussion highlighted both the growing importance of data in water resources advocacy and the need for continued member collaboration on this issue.

  • The Data Center survey remains open for those who have not yet submitted comments (thanks to those of you who were able to respond!).
  • We intend for this to be an ongoing conversation and plan to conduct periodic follow-up discussions and information exchanges in the months ahead.

If you are interested in serving on an informal member listening group/data exchange group to continue sharing ideas, examples, and needs in this space, please let Julie Ufner (julie@waterways.org) know and we will add you to the list.

MEMBER FACT SHEETS AVAILABLE

Several NWC members requested additional member-facing background materials and advocacy resources during recent meetings.

As part of the Legislative Summit app materials, NWC included a number of fact sheets on topics of interest to members. These resources are intended to support member education and outreach and are available for download.

These fact sheets include:

CAPITOL HILL SPOTLIGHT

Overview. Capitol Hill is beginning to shift in earnest from oversight season into fiscal year 2027 appropriations work, with House appropriators now moving from agency budget hearings into the first round of subcommittee markups. Of particular relevance to NWC members, the House Appropriations Committee has already held recent budget hearings on both the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of the Interior, with formal markups of the FY27 Energy and Water Development bill scheduled to begin in mid-May, followed closely by Interior and Environment.

In practical terms, this means Congress is now entering the period when annual policy riders, account-level funding adjustments, and report language begin to take shape – often well before most authorizing legislation receives floor attention. Members should expect appropriations to increasingly dominate the water policy conversation over the next six to eight weeks.

At the same time, House floor management remains constrained by unresolved continuing resolution pressures. While Congress completed full-year FY26 appropriations for Energy and Water, Interior, and most other federal accounts earlier this year, temporary funding extensions and related fiscal negotiations have continued to consume valuable floor time that would otherwise be available for standalone authorizing bills. As of the time of this alert, the House just voted on the Senate’s bill to end the FY2026 DHS shutdown, and President Trump is expected to sign in.

That increasingly compressed floor schedule is important for NWC members to keep in mind: the House and Senate has a limited number of legislative days remaining on its public working calendar before adjournment pressures begin to dominate the fall session, meaning bipartisan bills can still be delayed if appropriations, reconciliation activity, or leadership disputes take precedence.

This dynamic directly affected H.R. 1897, a bill on Endangered Species Act amendments, which NWC had previously advised members was expected to receive House consideration during the Legislative Summit timeframe. Unfortunately, the bill was pulled from the schedule and now appears delayed for at least the near future as House leadership continues to sort through challenges.

WRDA 2026 Begins to Take Shape. Members should also be on the lookout for the Water Resources Development Act of 2026 (WRDA 26), which is expected to begin moving later this spring.

WRDA is the primary authorization bill for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers civil works studies, projects, and policy changes. While appropriations bills provide annual funding, WRDA authorizes the Corps to move studies and projects through the federal process so they may later be eligible for funding.

During the NWC Legislative Summit, congressional authorizers indicated that the Summit would be one of their final stakeholder events before they begin drafting the bill. Current expectations are that WRDA 2026 could be released in late spring, with committee and floor action anticipated soon after in both chambers. The goal is for both chambers to move toward conference over August and have a compromise bill available for a fall vote.

WRDA has traditionally been a bipartisan bill built around both Republican and Democratic member priorities. This year, however, members should expect fewer new Chief’s Reports to be ready for inclusion. New Corps requirements for feasibility studies, including advancement to 35 percent design, have slowed the completion of some studies and will likely limit the number of new project authorizations available when WRDA is ready to move. NWC will continue to track the WRDA process closely and keep members informed as the bill develops.

NWC MEMBER ASSISTANCE REQUEST

Request for Corps-Approved Non-Standard Estate Language. NWC has been contacted by a Texas-based NWC member seeking examples of previously approved U.S. Army Corps of Engineers non-standard estate language for cost-shared civil works projects where state or local law prohibited fee simple conveyance.

This particular inquiry involves public parkland and dedicated public lands, but examples from any project involving similar legal restrictions would be extremely helpful.

Specifically, the member is seeking:

  • Examples where the Corps approved a non-standard estate in lieu of fee simple conveyance;
  • Any approved estate language/templates previously accepted by the Corps;
  • Background regarding how approval was handled, including district review, HQUSACE or ASA(CW) involvement, timing, and any conditions imposed.

Any members willing to share precedent language, partial templates, or lessons learned from a similar approval process are encouraged to contact NWC.

Please send any materials or points of contact to Julie Ufner at julie@waterways.org so we may assist in compiling resources.