H.R. 7889 explained · 119th Congress · Pending in Congress
AWRC Act of 2025
Cosponsors: 10 (3 D, 7 R) · per Congress.gov, 2026-10-14
Introduced: 2026-03-09
Latest action (2026-09-15): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
What H.R. 7889 does, in plain terms
Advancing Water Research and Collaboration Act of 2025 or the AWRC Act of 2025 This bill reauthorizes through FY2029 and modifies the Water Resources Research Act Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Under the program, USGS provides grants for Water Resources Research Institutes that are in each of the 50 states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam. Among other activities, the institutes plan and conduct research to improve water supply reliability and address water problems.
Official summary by the Congressional Research Service, via Congress.gov.
Constitution Index
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H.R. 7889 has not been graded yet. New measures with an official summary are graded daily under the published rubric.
The Framers
“Founders’ Verdict”
Confidence 0.75
Archived SI output (machine-generated)No editorial review recorded. This historical SI verdict was machine-generated by software and predates the review desk; check it against the official bill text.
Synthesis
The bill is constitutional under the Commerce Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause, as water resources development affecting interstate commerce is a valid federal objective. However, the Act must be limited to interstate or navigable waters and must not infringe upon state sovereignty or commandeer state resources, as per the Tenth Amendment and federalism principles.
The AWRC Act of 2025, concerning water resources development, falls within the enumerated power of Congress to regulate commerce among the several states and to provide for the general welfare. Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 grants Congress authority over interstate commerce, and water resources that affect navigation, flood control, or interstate water supply are clearly within this sphere. Additionally, Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 empowers Congress to lay and collect taxes to provide for the general welfare, which includes funding for infrastructure projects like water resource developmen…
The AWRC Act of 2025 proposes federal legislation in the area of water resources development, a domain not enumerated among the powers granted to Congress in Article I, Section 8. The Constitution does not vest the general government with authority over internal improvements or water management within the states. Such matters are reserved to the states or to the people under the Tenth Amendment. To permit Congress to act here would be to assume a power nowhere delegated, thereby undermining the compact of the Union and the sovereignty of the several states. The General Welfare Clause cannot be…
This bill, concerning water resources development, must be examined under the principles of enumerated powers and federalism. The Constitution grants Congress authority over interstate commerce (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3) and property (Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2), which may extend to navigable waters and federal lands. However, the Tenth Amendment reserves to the states or the people all powers not delegated to the United States. If the AWRC Act regulates purely intrastate waters or imposes mandates on states without clear constitutional warrant, it would exceed the limited sphere of…
The AWRC Act of 2025, concerning water resources development, falls within the ambit of Congress's enumerated powers under the Commerce Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause. Navigable waters and their improvement are integral to interstate commerce, as this Court held in Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) that commerce includes navigation and the regulation of watercourses. The Necessary and Proper Clause, as interpreted in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), grants Congress the discretion to select appropriate means for executing its enumerated powers, provided the end is legitimate and the means are no…
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