Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Chair of the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water and Wildlife, announced that he secured several top water infrastructure priorities for California through the unanimous Senate passage of the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2024. The legislation includes provisions Padilla fought for to address the Tijuana River transboundary sewage crisis, to invest in salmon recovery and habitat restoration around the Sacramento River Basin, and to provide the Army Corps of Civil Engineers with enhanced drought and flood control authorities.

The Senate and House of Representatives have each passed their respective versions of WRDA, which will now be conferenced to produce final legislation.

“California communities are bearing the brunt of climate catastrophes, from toxic sewage jeopardizing public health, to the plummeting Chinook salmon populations threatening fishery livelihoods, to devastating atmospheric river storms coming on the heels of extreme drought,” said Senator Padilla. “The provisions I secured in this bill will bolster California’s water infrastructure resilience in the face of increasingly extreme weather. I look forward to working with my House and Senate colleagues to make sure these critical California priorities become law.”

Padilla secured several key California priorities and authorizations in WRDA to help address ongoing climate impacts in the state. The bill authorizes $10 million for the Tijuana River Valley Watershed to help address the ongoing transboundary sewage crisis through stormwater conveyance, environmental and ecosystem restoration, and water quality protection projects. Additionally, the bill includes $20 million to restore ecosystems and bolster salmon recovery, and directs a new study to examine ways to modify the existing Sacramento River levee system for floodplain management and ecosystem restoration.

WRDA also includes several provisions from the Drought Resilient Infrastructure Act Padilla introduced earlier this year to provide new resources and authorities through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to support improved atmospheric rivers forecasting to help California communities stay prepared for flooding and long-term drought risks. Padilla also successfully pushed for the inclusion of a study on the impact of extreme weather on Army Corps dams and levees.

Senator Padilla has prioritized addressing the Tijuana River pollution crisis since he first came to the Senate, recently securing over $103 million in additional funding for the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) in the bipartisan FY 2024 appropriations package. Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee advanced FY25 appropriations legislation that includes another $159 million for IBWC construction that Padilla requested to continue funding projects to address Tijuana River pollution. Padilla has also fought for $310 million to repair infrastructure needed to treat wastewater flowing across the border after Tropical Storm Hilary, and he successfully secured language in the FY 2023 appropriations package to allow the Environmental Protection Agency to deliver $300 million previously secured in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement to the IBWC for water infrastructure projects.

Padilla has also fought alongside Representatives Jared Huffman (D-Calif.-02) and Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.-19) to provide aid to Californians harmed by salmon season closures the past two years. The lawmakers secured $20 million in relief funds for California’s fishing community earlier this year.

Full text of the bill is available here.