A bipartisan, bicameral contingent of lawmakers are calling on congressional appropriators to support the Navigation and Ecosystem Restoration Program in upcoming report language.

Some 25 states are at risk for moderate to major flooding through May, including Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska, in a region where floodwaters last month already swamped millions of acres of prime farmland and whole communities.

EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers announced their new “waters of the U.S.” proposal Tuesday at an event that attracted dozens of farmers and industry leaders who had long sought straightforward definitions that allowed farmers to more clearly decide how to operate on their lands.

Congress is bent on expanding water projects coast to coast, while the White House pinches the Corps of Engineers' budget.