WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator John Cornyn announced that the following Texas priorities he advocated for have been included in the Water Resources Development Act of 2020, the water infrastructure bill that will be voted on by the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Sen. Cornyn’s priorities that are included in the Water Resources Development Act of 2020 are as follows:
- Authorizes the Houston Ship Channel Expansion Improvement Project.
- Authorizes the Jefferson County ecosystem restoration project.
- Authorizes the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Brazos River Floodgates, and Colorado River Locks navigation project.
- Authorizes the Matagorda Ship Channel Improvement Project in Port Lavaca.
- Authorizes the Chacon Creek flood risk management project.
- Authorizes a new feasibility study for the Port Arthur and Orange County flood risk management project, including construction of improvements to interior drainage.
- Authorizes a feasibility study for the Chocolate Bayou flood risk management project.
- Authorizes project modifications for the Houston-Galveston Navigation Channels project.
- Authorizes a feasibility study for the Port of Victoria flood risk management project.
- Expedites the completion of the Buffalo Bayou feasibility study for flood risk management.
- Requires the Secretary of the Army to provide a written status update on efforts to address flooding at Wilson Creek and Sloan Creek in Fairview, Texas.
- Authorizes project modifications for the Port of Corpus Christi Channel Improvement project.
- Expedites completion of the Lake Whitney Reallocation Study for the reallocation of water supply storage.
- Expedites completion of the Aquilla Lake Reallocation Study for the reallocation of water supply storage.
- Expedites the completion of the Lower Rio Grande River feasibility study for flood risk management, ecosystem restoration, and water supply.
- Authorizes the USACE to participate in the repair and restoration of the eroding embankment at Lake Waco.
- Directs the USACE to assist El Paso County with a proposal to modify the authorized funding level for a water related infrastructure project.
- Assists Harris County Flood Control District in streamlining benefit-cost analyses for projects.
- Directs the USACE to identify specific engineering and maintenance deficiencies for levees across Texas and the nation, and to describe recommended remedies to correct each deficiency to ensure that critical levee performance is being achieved.
- Reauthorizes of the Rio Grande Environmental Management Program in Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado through 2029.