Basin Fund Preservation Act

The Basin Fund Preservation Act would direct the Bureau of Reclamation and Western Area Power Administration to work together and examine the impacts of a 2024 management decision for Glen Canyon Dam on the Upper Colorado River Basin Fund. The agencies would need to develop a plan addressing three main concerns: how the decision affects the fund's financial obligations, what impact it has on hydropower generation at the dam, and how it affects threatened and endangered species in the area.

The 2024 decision being studied revised earlier management plans to address two specific issues: controlling invasive smallmouth bass below the dam and using updated sediment science to determine when to conduct high-flow water releases that protect the endangered humpback chub. If enacted, this bill would ensure federal agencies formally assess and document these impacts through a memorandum of understanding, potentially informing future water management decisions in Arizona, California, and Nevada that depend on Colorado River resources.