GREEN MONEY FOR WESTERN WATERS: NEW ENVIRONMENTAL GRANTS AND FEDERAL WATER POLICY.

Congress in the 2020s has authorized three new environmentally focused grant programs relating to western waters and appropriated $450 million in multi-year funding. The Bureau of Reclamation is responsible for creating and implementing these programs, giving it a new tool and resources for addressing stubborn environmental problems—some caused by the Bureau’s many dams. These programs are part of a larger trend of Congress authorizing and funding new grant programs across the government, and while competitive grant programs can incentivize and fund good works, they also raise policy concerns. This Article examines the statutes authorizing these new environmental grants, the funding provided, and the Bureau’s early actions to implement them. It then examines policy choices made by Congress and the Bureau in establishing the environmental grant programs, and concludes by assessing what the programs might mean for the western water environment, for the Bureau itself, and for federal water policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]