Conferees narrow differences on water budget; approve study language, seek carryover for Bowman radar

Conferees from the House and Senate met April 18 to reconcile differences in House Bill 1020’s water-related budget provisions, agreeing on study language and a request to carry over funds for a delayed Bowman County weather radar project.

The meeting focused on remaining differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill and on several water-program items that conferees said they could resolve with small wording changes. “Thanks, Alex, for doing that,” Chairman Swantek said of staff materials prepared for the meeting.

The discussion covered staffing, capital-asset funding, program-specific studies and carryover requests. Rees Haas, director of the Department of Water Resources (DWR), described the House proposal to allow the department flexibility within the biennium "up to $10,000,000 to shift those cash, to a project that would use it in the in the course of the biennium." Chris Katamus, DWR director of administration, told conferees that a Bowman County weather radar replacement—funded with a one-time appropriation of $1,800,000—will likely be delayed into the 2025–27 biennium and that DWR is asking for authority to carry the funding forward: “that project is most likely gonna be delayed for completion, which means it'll occur in the 20 five-twenty 7 biennium.”

Nut graf: The conferees discussed reconciling numerical differences and language across multiple sections of HB 1020 affecting state water programs. They did not take formal votes during the meeting but identified items they could accept subject to minor wording tweaks and flagged several items for follow-up, including line-item transfer authority, study deadlines, and whether to retain a small project-stabilization fund.

Key points from the meeting

- Staffing: The House had recommended six full-time equivalents (FTEs) for an unnamed program; the Senate recommended four FTEs, two of which the Senate described as federally funded if federal funds materialize. Conferees said they would accept the Senate’s four-FTE recommendation if the budget section can approve conversion should federal funding come through.

- Capital assets and Devil’s Lake outlet: Conferees discussed a $650,000 reduction tied to capital-asset funding for the Devil’s Lake outlet. Senator Sobock (as recorded) confirmed the department could use a line-item transfer between capital-asset and discretionary lines to cover that amount.

- Sovereign lands funding: The Senate had proposed removing a $2,500,000 appropriation for sovereign lands; House conferees said they were comfortable with removing that item.

- Water Project Stabilization Fund: Conferees discussed moving about $42.5 million from a stabilization fund into a spending line. One conferee explained the change would place the $42.5 million into section 1 as spending rather than leaving it in the stabilization account.

- Studies and deadlines: The conferees agreed in principle to several study provisions in the Senate draft: - A Legislative Management study of legislatively designated appropriations for water projects (Senate section 18). Conferees supported specifying timing so interim committees can review draft reports earlier in the process. - A Missouri River intake-site study (Senate section 19). Conferees kept study language but agreed that, if needed, the department could use discretionary funds rather than the previously proposed direct appropriation (the transcript records $600,000 having been in an earlier version). - State Water Commission studies on regional water systems governance/finance and cost-share, with the Senate draft proposing a draft report by March 30, 2026.

- Line-item transfer authority: The House language would allow the DWR director to transfer up to $10,000,000 between operating and capital-asset line items during the biennium; the Senate had limited transfers previously to a percentage and to operating/capital-asset moves. Conferees said they were open to further discussion of the dollar limit and intent.

- Bowman radar carryover request: DWR asked for a technical amendment and carryover authority for Bowman radar replacement funds after the contractor informed the agency the project will not complete in the current biennium. DWR said the tower work exceeded the public-improvement threshold, required additional engineering and delayed the project. The requested carryover concerns one-time funding of $1,800,000 earmarked for the replacement.

- Project stabilization account (section 7): Conferees debated whether to reauthorize a small project stabilization account seeded by oil revenue. One conferee said the balance was too small to serve its intended purpose and recommended removing the section; conferees agreed to remove or reconsider section 7 as extraneous for now.

- Local project discussions: Members reported a morning meeting with Bismarck officials on a proposed stormwater (flood mitigation) program; conferees said they would follow up on technical details and funding options.

Discussion vs. decision: The meeting produced no formal roll-call votes on bill text. Instead, conferees identified items they would accept with wording changes, asked staff for technical amendments, and directed follow-up on bonding, line-of-credit projects and local flood-mitigation requests.

Ending: Conferees recessed the conference ready to incorporate the agreed wording changes and technical amendments into the draft, with several items—line-item transfer limits, stabilization account disposition and certain project funding mechanics—to be finalized in subsequent meetings.

Quotes used in this article are drawn from meeting testimony and conferee remarks recorded on April 18.