Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 587.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jun 22, 2023
Watershed Results Act
This bill provides funding for the Department of the Interior to establish at least two and not more than five watershed pilot programs in certain states using pay-for-performance contracts. (Under the bill, a pay-for-performance contract is a contract to purchase successfully implemented outcomes at a negotiated per-unit price.)
Interior must designate a management team for each watershed pilot project. Each team must develop and implement a five-year plan for carrying out the applicable pilot.
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Interior and the management team for each watershed pilot must use advance watershed analytics throughout the planning, implementation, measuring, and monitoring of projects within the pilot. This technical analysis must be conducted to identify quantifiable outcomes, costs, feasibility, and impacts of the projects before making funding available for a watershed pilot.
Further, Interior and the management team for a watershed pilot must set and publish minimum per-unit outcome prices. Interior must also enter into a pay-for-performance contract to achieve outcome-based goals described in the plan developed for the pilot.
Interior must submit specified annual and five-year reports to Congress.
Interior may approve the establishment of more than five projects if the congressional appropriations committees are notified.
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 587.
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Manchin with an amendment in the nature of a substitute and an amendment to the title. Without written report.
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Manchin with an amendment in the nature of a substitute and an amendment to the title. Without written report.
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 118-287.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Introduced in Senate
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Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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