HR 487
109th Congress
House
Water Resources Development
Administrative procedure
Agriculture and Food
Commerce
Contracts
Department of the Interior
Federal-state relations
Government Operations and Politics
Infrastructure
Interstate compacts
Irrigation
Law
Supreme Court decisions
Water allocation (Policy)
Water rights
Water storage
Water supply
Water use
To impose limitations on the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to claim title or other rights to water absent specific direction of law or to abrogate, injure, or otherwise impair any right…
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Everywhere this bill has been
3 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Feb 9, 2005
Referred to the Subcommittee on Water and Power.
Feb 1, 2005
Referred to the House Committee on Resources.
Feb 1, 2005
Introduced in House
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Plain-English summary
Prohibits the Secretary of the Interior from claiming title or other rights to water in a State, other than for Indian reservation lands, absent specific direction of law, or from exercising authority so as to abrogate, injure, or otherwise impair any right to the use of any quantity of water: (1) that has been allocated in accordance with provisions of the Department of Justice Appropriations Act relating to suits for the adjudication of water rights by or pursuant to interstate compact and by a decision of the United States Supreme Court; (2) by requiring a change in the nature of use or the transfer of any right to use water or creating a limitation on the exercise of any right to use water; or (3) by modifying the delivery, diversion, nondiversion, allocation, or storage of any water to be delivered by contract.
What's happening now
Referred to the Subcommittee on Water and Power.
Bill text
1 version
- Introduced in House Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
Committees of jurisdiction
2
Cosponsors
1
Cite this page
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 487: To impose limitations on the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to claim title or other rights to water absent specific direction of law or to abrogate, injure, or otherwise impair any right to the use of any quantity of water.. 109th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/109-HR-487/
"H.R. 487: To impose limitations on the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to claim title or other rights to water absent specific direction of law or to abrogate, injure, or otherwise impair any right to the use of any quantity of water.." 109th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/109-HR-487/.
H.R. 487, 109th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/109-HR-487/.
[H.R. 487: To impose limitations on the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to claim title or other rights to water absent specific direction of law or to abrogate, injure, or otherwise impair any right to the use of any quantity of water.](https://openamerica.io/bill/109-HR-487/)