Watershed Results Act

The Watershed Results Act authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to establish up to five watershed outcomes projects in Reclamation States, aiming to achieve meaningful, measurable watershed-scale improvements. These projects will utilize advance watershed analytics to identify cost-effective conservation activities and employ pay-for-performance contracts to purchase verified outcomes from eligible entities, known as "watershed partners." The Secretary will solicit proposals from these partners, including States, Tribes, and nongovernmental organizations, to design and implement these initiatives through partnership agreements lasting up to five years, with options for renewal. Watershed partners will be responsible for completing analytics, developing funding and implementation strategies, recruiting and verifying qualifying activities, and providing outcome and financial accounting. Concurrently, the Secretary's duties include ensuring widespread local support, verifying advance watershed analytics, making outcome price tables and performance standards publicly available, and providing financial assistance for verified outcomes. Qualifying activities must produce measurable benefits such as increased surface or groundwater, improved aquatic habitat quality, or enhanced water quality, including reductions in salinity or nutrient runoff. The federal share of project costs is capped at 75 percent, with provisions for leveraging additional funding and accepting non-Federal contributions. The bill limits the program to five projects, ensures that data collected for advance watershed analytics is confidential and used solely for project purposes, and clarifies that it does not affect existing water rights. It mandates annual briefings and a comprehensive 5-year report to Congress, and authorizes $17,000,000 for each fiscal year from 2026 through 2031 to fund these initiatives.