A bill to provide temporary authorities to the Secretary of the Interior to facilitate emergency actions to mitigate the impacts of the 1976-77 drought.
Public Law 95-18 · S. 925 · 95th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Jimmy Carter (D) on Apr 7, 1977 · Water Resources Development
Sponsor: Sen. Scoop Jackson (D-WA)
Cosponsors (12): Sen. Warren Magnuson, Sen. Wendell Anderson,
Passage votes
- HouseMethod not stated
- SenateMethod not stated
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Directs the Secretary of the Interior: (1) to study opportunities to augment, utilize or conserve water supplies available to Federal reclamation projects and Indian irrigation projects and to undertake conservation activities to mitigate damages to such projects from the 1976- 77 drought period; (2) to acquire water supplies by temporary lease of water rights from willing sellers and to redistribute such water to irrigators to minimize losses and damages resulting from the drought; and (3) to evaluate studies of potential facilities to mitigate the effects of a recurrence of drought and make recommendations to the President and to Congress evaluating such facilities.
Authorizes the Secretary to defer without penalty the 1977 payments of any installment charges owed to the United States by irrigators as he deems necessary because of financial hardship caused by extreme drought conditions.
Requires the Secretary to report to Congress by March 1, 1978, on expenditures under this Act.
Authorizes the Secretary to make loans to irrigators for specified activities undertaken to mitigate drought losses and damages.
Authorizes the appropriation of $100,000,000 to carry out the water purchase and reallocation program authorized by this Act.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 14 actions.
- Apr 7, 1977Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public law 95-18.
- Apr 5, 1977PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in Senate.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in House.
- Apr 4, 1977Resolving differencesResolving differences · Senate agreed to House amendment.
- FloorFloor · Measure passed House, amended, in lieu of H. R. 5117.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from House Natural Resources Committee
- Mar 16, 1977CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Natural Resources Committee
- Mar 15, 1977FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate, amended, roll call #54 (92-0).Senate roll call 54
- FloorFloor · Measure called up by unanimous consent in Senate.
- Mar 11, 1977CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
- Mar 7, 1977CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the Senate
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.