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Ranking Member Larson presses for full implementation of the 2024 Water Resources Development Act
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Summary
In an opening statement to the House Transportation and Infrastructure committee, Ranking Member Mr. Larson criticized slow implementation of the Water Resources Development Act of 2024 — saying only three provisions have been implemented — and outlined priorities for WRDA 2026, including affordability for small and rural communities and climate resilience.
Mr. Larson, the ranking member of the full committee, used his allotted five minutes at the start of the hearing to push the administration to implement the Water Resources Development Act of 2024 and to lay out the committee's priorities for the next WRDA.
"Since 2014, this committee has honored its commitment to meet local water resource needs across the country through bipartisan and biannual enactment of the Water Resources Development Act," he said, framing regular enactment as a source of construction jobs and policy reforms that improve the Corps' ability to respond to local challenges.
Mr. Larson sharply criticized the pace of implementation. "As of yesterday, this administration has formally implemented only 3 provisions from the Water Resource Development Act of 2024 enacted in January 2025," he said, adding that delayed implementation "denies critical economic, environmental, and societal benefits to communities across the country." He listed consequences including stalled navigation upgrades, delayed flood-risk reduction and storm-protection projects, and deferred ecological restoration work tied to 21 chiefs' reports authorized by the 2024 law.
He told the witnesses — identified in the hearing as Assistant Secretary Tell and Lieutenant General Graham — that Congress is an "essential partner in directing and scoping how the Corps implements its missions" and said he expects the administration to work diligently to make sure every enacted provision is implemented in a timely fashion and that the committee receive periodic progress updates.
Turning to planning for the next WRDA cycle, Mr. Larson noted the committee's member portal "contains roughly 2,400 project, policy, and environmental infrastructure requests for the upcoming WRDA '26." He said his top priorities for that bill will include authorizing the next generation of local water-resource projects and studies, ensuring affordability for small and rural communities partnering with the Corps, and designing Corps projects to address climate change and increase community resilience.
He closed by emphasizing bipartisan work on legislation and yielded back his time. "I gotta yield back."
