Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act

Enacted in 2016, the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN Act) authorizes several federal programs to construct and improve water infrastructure for rivers and harbors throughout the United States. Included among the WIIN Act’s authorized programs are provisions to address the deferred maintenance needs of dams and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)-owned Indian irrigation projects.

Irrigation

Section 3211 of the WIIN Act, “Indian Irrigation Fund,” established an Indian Irrigation Fund to address the deferred maintenance needs and water storage needs of BIA-owned Indian irrigation projects.

The BIA Branch of Irrigation and Power has identified several Indian irrigation projects that are eligible under the WIIN Act. Personnel working on these projects may submit proposals to their BIA regional office to fund deferred repairs.  More information about project funding is available in the documents below.

• (December, 2016) WIIN Act text – Irrigation
• (January, 2017) Dear Tribal Leader Letter – Irrigation
• (January, 2017) WIIN Act – Irrigation Presentation

As required by the WIIN Act, funds were deposited by the Treasury Department into the Indian Irrigation Fund each year between 2016-2020, totaling $180 million of deposited funds. Congress then appropriates money from this fund to spend on WIIN Act-authorized BIA irrigation projects. Since 2018, Congress has appropriated $10 million annually from the Indian Irrigation Fund to address deferred maintenance.

Safety of Dams

Section 3101 of the WIIN Act, “Indian Dam Safety,” established two Indian dam safety funds to address the deferred maintenance needs of Indian dams. Both the "High-Hazard Indian Dam Safety Deferred Maintenance Fund" and the “Low-Hazard Indian Dam Safety Deferred Maintenance Fund" disperse available funds for the repair, replacement, and maintenance of dams in those hazard categories. The WIIN Act also directed the Secretary of the Interior to establish within the Bureau of Indian Affairs the Tribal Safety of Dams Committee to conduct a thorough study of all matters relating to the modernization of the Indian Dams Safety Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 3801 et seq.)

As of Fiscal Year 2023, Congress has not authorized expenditure of money for the two Indian dam safety deferred maintenance funds created by the Indian Dam Safety section of the WIIN Act. In addition, Congress has not appropriated funds to establish and support the Tribal Safety of Dams Committee as described in the WIIN Act.

Communications and planning documents for the Indian Dam Safety provisions are supplied below for archival purposes only. With no money appropriated from the Indian dam safety deferred maintenance funds, the spending and actions authorized in the WIIN Act and described in the documents below have not occurred.

• (December, 2016) WIIN Act text – Safety of Dams
• (January, 2017) Dear Tribal Leader Letter – Safety of Dams
• (February, 2017) WIIN Act – Safety of Dams Presentation
• (February, 2017)WIIN Act - Safety of Dams Visual Aid