Attention shifts to the House, which could take up a bill next week that focuses just on Corps projects and policies.

As Congress hurries to its preelection recess, the list of major bills the House and Senate must pass before leaving may only include one item: legislation to keep federal agencies operating past September.

Shuster fends off proposed amendments dealing with drinking-water and wastewater programs.

A Senate committee has approved an $11-billion water-resources bill authorizing funds for 27 new Army Corps of Engineers projects. But in a striking change from similar past measures, the new one has an array of drinking-water and wastewater provisions, too, including a new trust fund.

Hopeful signs are emerging on Capitol Hill that Congress will pass a Water Resources Development Act, or WRDA, this year, just two years after the last one became law.