Modernizing Access to our Public Waters Act of 2025

The law gives the public clearer, regularly updated information on where and how waterways can be accessed, navigated, and fished without changing existing access rights or regulatory authority.

What the law does ​

• Requires the Agriculture and Interior Departments to adopt compatible mapping-data standards within 30 months.
• Requires online maps within five years, where practicable, covering closures, restrictions, permitted recreational uses, access facilities, navigation information, and fishing limits.
• Requires access and navigation data updates at least twice yearly and fishing-restriction updates as changes take effect.
• Creates a process for public questions and comments and allows coordination with state, Tribal, nonprofit, private-sector, and federal partners.
• Encourages use of existing maps and data while protecting sensitive historic and archaeological information.

Who it affects ​

• People who boat, fish, paddle, or otherwise use federally managed waterways.
• Federal land and water managers and their state, Tribal, nonprofit, and private-sector partners.

Context ​

The law excludes irrigation canals and flowage easements and does not alter water access, fisheries management, or federal and state regulatory authority.

Breakdown ​

Modernizing Access to our Public Waters Act of 2025 ​

The MAPWaters Act requires federal agencies to standardize, digitize, and publish online mapping data about recreational access to federally managed waterways, waterway restrictions, and fishing restrictions. It also requires regular updates, public feedback options, interagency coordination, and annual progress reports while leaving existing water access, regulatory authority, and fisheries management unchanged.

Key takeaways

• The Agriculture and Interior Departments must adopt compatible interagency data standards within 30 months of enactment.
• Within five years, the departments must publish online mapping data, where practicable, covering waterway closures and restrictions, permitted recreational uses, access facilities, navigation information, and fishing restrictions.
• Waterway access and navigation data must be updated at least twice a year, while fishing restriction data must be updated in real time as changes take effect.
• The departments must provide a process for public questions and comments about waterway restrictions and access and navigation information.
• The departments may work with state, Tribal, nonprofit, private-sector, and federal partners and should use existing maps and data where practicable.
• The Act excludes irrigation canals and flowage easements, protects sensitive historic and archaeological information, and does not change existing water access or federal and state regulatory authority.