Every mention of 'water' in Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill

The U.S. House passed President Donald Trump’s spending bill on July 3, 2025, that includes tax cuts and cuts to Medicaid and various other programs. The bill now goes to the President to be signed. Initial estimates suggest the bill would add roughly $3 trillion to the national debt.

Mentions of 'water' in the bill

Mentions of water within the bill, as it pertains to the industry, are few and far between. The bill includes funding for a source water protection program and a watershed protection program. Direct mentions of water include:

Grassroots Source Water Protection Program

This joint project will see $1,000,000 in funding beginning in FY2026 and will remain available until expended, according to the bill text. The program is designed to help prevent pollution of surface and groundwater used as the primary source of drinking water by rural residents.

Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act

According to the bill, this program was amended by striking “$50,000,000 for FY2026 and each year thereafter” and inserting “$150,000,000 for FY2026 and each year thereafter, to remain available until expended.” This act allows the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) to provide technical and financial assistance to local entities for watershed planning and implementation of projects aimed at flood prevention, watershed protection and related resource management.

Water conveyance and surface water storage enhancement

The bill allots $1 billion to remain available through September 30, 2034, for “construction and associated activities that restore or increase the capacity or use of existing conveyance facilities constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation or for construction and associated activities that increase the capacity of existing Bureau of Reclamation surface water storage facilities.”

Consequences of environmental rollbacks

The bill includes various cuts to green energy and environment programs as well as natural resource programs that could indirectly impact the water market. The bill boosts spending on oil and gas permitting and fossil fuel projects but doesn’t explicitly lay out any infrastructure funding for water utilities.

Reduced clean energy regulations could shift energy reliance onto more costly alternatives. Rising energy costs could potentially affect utilities energy consumption and cost.

According to a statement from the Water and Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers Association (WWEMA), State Revolving Funds were not included in the original budget proposal and will be set during later discussions on appropriation bills.