Snow Water Supply Forecasting Reauthorization Act of 2025
Floor Speech
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Mr. HURD of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3857) to amend the Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program Authorization Act, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 3857
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Snow Water Supply Forecasting Reauthorization Act of 2025''. SEC. 2. SNOW WATER SUPPLY FORECASTING PROGRAM.
The Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program Authorization Act (43 U.S.C. 1477) is amended--
(1) in subsection (c)(2)--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``culminating in the report required under subsection (d)(3)'' and inserting ``with an emphasis on deployment of technologies that provide integration of snowpack measuring and modeling''; and
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``after submitting the report required by subsection (d)(3),'';
(2) in subsection (d)--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) in the heading, by adding ``with integrated modeling'' after ``data'';
(ii) by striking ``emerging technologies for snowpack measurement, such as'' and inserting ``technologies that provide complete integration of accurate, timely, and spatially complete snowpack measurements and models, including the integration of''; and
(iii) by striking subparagraphs (A) through (C) and inserting the following:
``(A) airborne laser altimetry;
``(B) imaging spectroscopy;
``(C) integrated physics-based snowpack and hydrologic modeling; and
``(D) other technologies that the Secretary determines are likely to provide more accurate or timely snowpack measurement data commensurate with operational water management needs.'';
(B) in paragraph (2) by inserting ``, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Natural Resources Conservation Service,'' after ``other Federal agencies''; and
(C) by striking paragraph (3);
(3) in subsection (e)--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``After submitting the report required under subsection (d)(3), the'' and inserting ``The''; and
(B) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following:
``(2) Focus.--The program shall focus on activities that will maintain, establish, expand, or advance snowpack measurement and integrated modeling, with an emphasis on--
``(A) enhancing activities to achieve improved snow and water supply forecasting results that are more responsive to changing weather and watershed conditions;
``(B) real-time integration of activities described in this section with water supply forecasts;
``(C) activities in river basins where activities described in this section can produce snow and water supply data to inform water management decisions, including interstate water management decisions; and
``(D) building program partners' capacity to implement and adapt to the new measurement and forecast capabilities enabled under this program.'';
(4) in subsection (f)--
(A) by striking ``of this Act'' and inserting ``of the Snow Water Supply Forecasting Reauthorization Act of 2025'';
(B) in paragraph (1)--
(i) by striking ``and sub-basins'';
(ii) by striking ``technologies'' and inserting ``and integrated modeling technologies''; and
(iii) by striking ``technology used'' and inserting ``application, outcome, and data resources used''; and
(C) in paragraph (2), by striking ``or sub-basin''; and
(5) in subsection (g), by striking ``$15,000,000, in the aggregate, for fiscal years 2022 through 2026'' and inserting ``$3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031''.
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Mr. HURD of Colorado. 3857, the bill now under consideration.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3857, the Snow Water Supply Forecasting Reauthorization Act.
In Colorado and in the West, we don't measure water by what comes out of a faucet. We measure it by what falls on our mountains. Snowpack is our reservoir, our lifeline, and our future, but water managers are still forced to make major decisions with incomplete data and outdated tools.
This bill reauthorizes the Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program so that we can use modern technology, lidar, satellite imagery, and other remote-sensing tools to build accurate 3D models of snowpack across entire watersheds. Better data means better reservoir planning, better support for agriculture, better protection for our cities and towns, and better management across every industry that depends upon water in the West.
We cannot manage what we can't measure. H.R. 3857 gives Western communities what they need to plan ahead and protect the water resources that sustain our way of life.
Mr. Speaker, I urge support for this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. HURD of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, this bill reauthorizes a vital program that helps water managers promptly and effectively plan for and respond to drought.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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