WASHINGTON, D.C.—At the request of Rep. James Gallagher (CA-01), the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee today approved an authorization of $155 million for the Sacramento River Basin through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Environmental Infrastructure program, to support water and wastewater infrastructure, environmental restoration, and surface water protection across the Sacramento River Basin.
The authorization, which allows funds to be separately appropriated by Congress and expended by the Corps, covers nine counties in the heart of California’s water system: Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Sacramento, Shasta, Sutter, Tehama, Yolo and Yuba.
The $155 million authorization will help accelerate investments in surface water reliability and environmental restoration that improve drought resilience, salmon recovery, and support migratory birds along the Pacific Flyway, all without increasing flood risk. The investments reflect priorities long championed by the late Rep. Doug LaMalfa, a steadfast advocate for water supply reliability in the Sacramento River Basin and throughout the State of California.
“The Sacramento River Basin is the foundation of California’s water supply, and the families, farms, and communities of the North State have waited too long for a federal partner willing to invest at the scale this region demands,” said Rep. Gallagher, who was recently appointed to serve as a member of the powerful House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. “This $155 million gives the Army Corps the tools to work alongside our local water agencies, landowners, and conservation partners to improve water reliability, restore habitat, and strengthen our defenses against drought and flood. I am proud to carry this fight forward.”
The stakes are significant: the 2022 drought alone fallowed 370,000 acres in the region and cost local communities hundreds of millions of dollars and roughly 1,500 jobs.
Rep. LaMalfa, a former member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, spent decades strengthening North State water, agriculture, and the environment and helped lay the foundation for this bill. “Doug LaMalfa devoted his career to the water users, farmers, and rural communities of Northern California,” said Rep. Gallagher. “It is an honor to continue his work, and I can think of no better way to carry his legacy forward than by delivering real investment to the region he fought for his entire life.”
The Sacramento River Basin is California’s largest watershed serving important water uses in the region and the primary source of water exported through the Central Valley Project and State Water Project, supporting roughly 30 million Californians and 4 million acres of farmland across the state. It is also the most important waterfowl wintering area in the Pacific Flyway and produces the majority of salmon caught off the California coast. In October 2024, more than a dozen federal and state agencies, including the Army Corps of Engineers, signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding to advance floodplain reactivation across the Basin, a collaborative, science-based approach that supports salmon recovery and water supply reliability without requiring the reallocation of existing water supplies. The new authorization positions the Corps to be an effective partner in that effort.
The funding has been welcomed by the broad coalition of water users, agricultural interests, and conservation organizations working across the region.
“This investment reflects exactly the kind of multi-benefit, locally driven approach that has made the Sacramento River Basin special,” said David Guy, President of the Northern California Water Association. “We are grateful to Rep. Gallagher and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for recognizing the importance of this work, and we look forward to partnering with the Army Corps to put these resources to work for fish, farms, and communities throughout the Basin.”
With the bill now reported out of committee, it advances to the full House for consideration and must ultimately be reconciled with the Senate before being signed into law. Rep. Gallagher said he will continue working with his colleagues to ensure the Sacramento River Basin provision is preserved in the final legislation.
Rep. Gallagher also plans to introduce comprehensive legislation, the Doug LaMalfa Sacramento River Basin Water Security and Reliability Act of 2026, to strengthen water supply reliability, accelerate ecosystem restoration, support critical water infrastructure investments, and improve federal coordination throughout California’s Sacramento River Basin.
Congressman James Gallagher represents California’s First Congressional District, including Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Shasta, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama and Yuba Counties.
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