Senate appropriations panel lays out preliminary water budget, proposes $100M carryover and $150M line of credit

The Senate Appropriations — Education and Environment Division laid out preliminary numbers for the state water budget and related project buckets during a committee meeting, proposing a $100 million use of carryover and a $150 million line of credit to cover near-term needs while revenues remain lower than earlier forecasts.

The committee’s chair, Chairman Zorwaug of the Appropriations — Education and Environment Division, opened the discussion by saying, "We're gonna go through the water budget today," and presented a spreadsheet the committee will use as a starting point. He and department staff emphasized the numbers are preliminary and subject to change.

Why it matters: the Resource Trust Fund balance available for water projects has dropped from the House’s January forecast, changing which projects can be funded this biennium and prompting proposed reductions and policy adjustments. The committee’s proposal preserves major regional commitments while reducing or postponing other line items and asking agencies to identify operating savings.

Key numbers and fiscal context

- Resource Trust Fund: committee staff reported a current available balance of $354,500,000. Chairman Zorwaug contrasted that with the House January forecast of $448,210,000, describing the difference as a $93,700,000 reduction.

- Causes of the reduction: committee materials noted about $22,790,000 (roughly 24 percent of the reduction) tied to price movements and the remainder largely attributable to lower revenue from stripper-well oil production; committee staff said roughly $71,000,000 of the reduction is due to stripper-well impacts.

- Other revenue items: the staff sheet showed $29,000,000 of additional funds (identified as $13,000,000 from Southwest repayments and $16,000,000 in investment income) that the committee expected to remain available.

- Turnbacks/Utilities: Chris Katamus, Director of Administration for the Department of Water Resources, confirmed that $15.06 million shown on the worksheet represents anticipated turnback dollars, largely from unspent professional services and utilities.

- Overall cash figure cited:…