A bipartisan water bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives includes $208 million for Colorado projects and would revive federal financing for a pipeline that was vetoed by President Donald Trump late last year.
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The House voted 415-9 Wednesday night to pass the Water Resources Development Act, with all eight of Colorado’s representatives joining in support. The bill is a biennial measure that authorizes studies and projects for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and local communities.
The office of Rep. Brittany Pettersen, a Democrat from Lakewood, said the bill incorporates provisions from a bill led by Pettersen and co-sponsored by most of the state’s delegation earlier this year. It would add Colorado to a federal program that supports rural water projects in western states.
The bill passed Wednesday would allow up to $150 million for water projects in Colorado under that program. The larger package separately designates $22.5 million for water infrastructure in several counties in the northern Front Range and northeastern Colorado; $20 million for water infrastructure and supply in Custer County; and $15.6 million for water infrastructure and stormwater management in Aurora.
The Senate has not yet passed its own version of the bill, which could differ from the House version.
Also tucked into the package is the latest attempt by Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Republican from Windsor, to pass the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act. It would support a long-sought 130-mile pipeline that’s bringing drinking water to 39 communities east of Pueblo by extending the project repayment period and lowering the interest rate.
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Trump vetoed the bill in late December, citing the pipeline project’s $1.3 billion cost and saying local governments should pay for it. But the action came as Trump was targeting Colorado by yanking federal grants, denying disaster relief requests and trying to close the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, among other actions, while pushing Gov. Jared Polis to release convicted former clerk Tina Peters from prison.
In a statement, Boebert noted that the conduit language had also been added to an agriculture bill passed by the House in June. That measure has also not yet passed the full Senate.
“This is about clean water for families in the Arkansas Valley who have waited more than 60 years,” Boebert said in a news release. “The Arkansas Valley Conduit is the unfinished piece of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project. Getting it in this bipartisan WRDA and across the House floor on suspension is a big step toward finishing the job.”
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