Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works R.D. James sent a memorandum on September 23 to the commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) directing that USACE halt issuing a final water supply rule for at least six months, in order to “better integrate input from stakeholders.” The rule was originally proposed in 2017 and the comments AMWA submitted asked USACE to conduct consultations with utilities, states, and other stakeholders before finalizing the rule, in particular regarding the role of states versus USACE in allocating instream flows.
In a press release announcing the delay, Senator Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water and Wildlife praised the decision, noting that it came after 19 senators sent a letter to the Office of Management (OMB) and Budget, asking that OMB step in to “direct the Corps to make the adjustments necessary to follow decades of federal precedent and respect state and tribal authority.”