Western Water Lobby Ramps Up Spending as Budget Fights and WOTUS Battles Heat Up
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Why It Matters
Western water agencies face a convergence of pressures: a proposed 32 percent cut to Bureau of Reclamation funding, an ongoing regulatory fight over the definition of "waters of the United States," and a permitting system that water managers say delays critical infrastructure projects by years. For National Water Resources Association (NWRA) members — irrigation districts, reclamation districts, and water utilities across the 17 western states — federal policy decisions on these fronts translate directly into operational and financial risk. The legislative path forward runs through Congress, where NWRA is pushing a suite of bills covering water storage, hydropower, drought resilience, and tax treatment of conservation rebates, while simultaneously working to protect Bureau of Reclamation accounts from deep proposed cuts.
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By the Numbers: NWRA Lobbying Disclosure Spending Spikes
The NWRA disclosed $850,000 in lobbying expenditures for the first quarter of 2026 — more than seven times its typical quarterly rate — as the organization pressed Congress on a broad front of western water priorities, from Bureau of Reclamation funding cuts to a contested WOTUS rulemaking. The NWRA lobbying disclosure, filed through Water Strategies LLC, reflects a significant escalation in activity at a moment when federal water policy is in flux on multiple fronts simultaneously.
The $850,000 reported in this filing stands in sharp contrast to the consistent $120,000 per quarter NWRA reported across all four quarters of 2025 and through 2024. That prior pattern — eight consecutive quarters at $120,000 — puts the first quarter 2026 figure as a clear outlier in congressional lobbying records for this organization.
Water Strategies LLC has represented NWRA without interruption since at least early 2024. The firm's lobbying team on this account has been stable, with the same five lobbyists appearing across every quarterly filing:
- Kris Polly — the firm's principal, present since the earliest filings in the dataset
- Dillon Kuehn — previously a Legislative Correspondent in the office of Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE-3), a Ways and Means Committee member, making him relevant to the tax provisions NWRA is pursuing
- Drake Wood — previously staffed Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO-4)
- Lane Simpson — joined the NWRA account in the First Quarter of 2025
- Greg Morrison — joined in the last quarter of 2024; serves as NWRA's Executive Vice President
The team expanded incrementally over the past two years. Morrison and Simpson were not on the account during 2024's first three quarters, suggesting a deliberate scaling of the lobbying operation ahead of the current push.
This is one of multiple filings Water Strategies LLC submitted for the first quarter of 2026. The firm represents more than 20 clients in the western water space, including the Washington State Water Resources Association, the Desert Water Agency, the Kennewick Irrigation District, and a range of Nebraska reclamation and natural resources districts. NWRA is by far the firm's largest disclosed client.
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The Agenda
Water and Hydropower Bills
The disclosure states NWRA prepared written testimony and advocacy materials in support of eight water and hydropower-related bills in the 119th Congress: S. 1242, S. 2437/H.R. 3857, S. 2753, S. 3500, S. 3693, S. 3732, S. 3737, and S. 3792. The bills cover a range of priorities: pay-for-performance watershed restoration, snow water supply forecasting, urban canal repair, hydropower licensing transparency, water recycling, drought resilience grants, agricultural water-sharing, and technical assistance for water project development.
Two of the bills have advanced further than the others. H.R. 3857, which would reauthorize the Bureau of Reclamation's Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program, has been reported to the full House. The Senate companion, S. 2437, remains at the introduction stage.
Federal Permitting
NWRA also prepared support materials for H.R. 4776, the SPEED Act, which limits the scope of NEPA environmental review and restricts judicial challenges to permitting decisions. The bill has been reported to the House. Water infrastructure projects are among the categories explicitly cited by bill supporters as beneficiaries of the permitting changes.
Tax Parity for Water Conservation
The Water Conservation Rebate Tax Parity Act — introduced as both H.R. 1871 and S. 857 in the current Congress — would exclude utility rebates for water-saving upgrades from taxable income. NWRA coordinated with coalition partners and conducted Congressional outreach on the bill during the quarter.
Bureau of Reclamation Appropriations
The filing states NWRA tracked FY2026 funding and emerging FY2027 budget issues for Bureau of Reclamation accounts, including WaterSMART grants, Title XVI water recycling, extraordinary maintenance, and dam safety programs.
WOTUS and Clean Water Act
NWRA prepared comments, letters, and member memos on the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rulemaking and related Clean Water Act jurisdictional questions affecting western water agencies. This issue area first appeared in NWRA's disclosures in the final quarter of 2025 and continued into this filing.
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Broader Context
The lobbying activity is unfolding against a backdrop of significant federal policy movement on every front NWRA is engaged on.
The Trump administration's FY2026 budget proposed cutting Bureau of Reclamation funding to $1.27 billion — a reduction of roughly $587 million, or 32 percent, from the FY2025 enacted level. A Congressional Research Service analysis noted the proposal would eliminate funding for activities the administration considers outside Reclamation's core mission. Congress ultimately passed an FY2026 Energy and Water Development bill, though at levels below FY2025. Earlier in 2025, a congressional hearing examined administration funding freezes that had halted construction on key water infrastructure projects.
On permitting, H.R. 4776 passed the House in December 2025. Multiple members cited water infrastructure as a direct beneficiary, with one statement noting that the existing NEPA process *"averages 4.5 years of review, generates thousands of pages of analysis, and costs taxpayers an estimated $3.7 trillion through endless lawsuits."*
The WOTUS rulemaking moved quickly during the quarter. EPA proposed a new rule in November 2025, held a national listening session in December, and drew competing congressional responses in January 2026 — with Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Republicans urging finalization of a Sackett-compliant definition while 16 Senate Democrats opposed the proposal.
A Senate Energy and Natural Resources subcommittee held a hearing on several of the water bills NWRA was supporting, including S. 1242, S. 2437, and S. 2753. A separate hearing on H.R. 3857 took place in June 2025.
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Competitive Landscape
NWRA is not alone in this space. Several organizations are lobbying on the same or closely related legislation.
On the Water Conservation Rebate Tax Parity Act, the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District and the Las Virgenes-Triunfo Joint Powers Authority have both filed disclosures naming the bill directly. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has lobbied on predecessor versions going back to the 115th Congress.
On H.R. 4776, NWRA's advocacy puts it alongside a cross-sector coalition that includes Williams Companies (natural gas pipelines), the National Ocean Industries Association, Advanced Energy United, Jindalee Lithium, and even Anthropic PBC. The Environmental Law and Policy Center has also filed on the bill, suggesting it is working to modify or oppose certain provisions.
On the Snow Water Supply Forecasting bills, Airborne Snow Observatories Inc. — the company whose technology the program funds — has filed disclosures in each of the past three quarters. The Turlock and Modesto Irrigation Districts in California have also been active on the same legislation.
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The Bottom Line
The National Water Resources Association is running an active, multi-front lobbying operation through Water Strategies LLC at a moment when the federal policy landscape for western water is moving on several tracks at once — appropriations, permitting, tax law, and Clean Water Act jurisdiction. The spike in reported spending this quarter, whatever its precise accounting basis, reflects an organization pressing its case across a wide legislative agenda with a stable, experienced team that has been building toward this push for at least two years. Water policy lobbying in 2024 and into 2025 laid the groundwork; the current quarter represents the most intensive phase of that effort on the congressional lobbying record to date.
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