Announcement Follows Senators’ Letter Requesting Additional Funding for Project
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet applauded a Bureau of Reclamation announcement of $100 million in new Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for the Arkansas Valley Conduit, a planned 130-mile water-delivery system from the Pueblo Reservoir to almost 40 rural communities and 50,000 Coloradans throughout the Arkansas River Valley in Southeast Colorado.
In May, the senators thanked Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton for her visit to Pueblo for the project’s groundbreaking and urgedReclamation to release additional funding to speed-up completion of the six-decade-long project.
“Southern Coloradans have been waiting decades for clean drinking water. Now, thanks to our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, it’s in our reach!” said Hickenlooper.
“Since my earliest days in the Senate, I’ve fought to ensure the federal government keeps its word and finishes this vital infrastructure project for southeast Colorado,” said Bennet. “Today’s announcement marks the single largest investment in the Conduit’s history. I’m grateful to have helped deliver this new funding to provide safe, clean water to nearly 40 communities and 50,000 Coloradans along the Arkansas River.”
Hickenlooper and Bennet have consistently advocated for increased funding for the AVC. In January, Hickenlooper and Bennet joined in a letter to urge Reclamation to allocate additional resources through annual appropriations and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding. Hickenlooper and Bennet also requested funding for the project in this year’s FY24 omnibus spending bill. In October 2022, the senators celebrated an announcement of $60 million in new funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support the completion of the Conduit. The senators also secured $10.1 million for the project in the FY23 omnibus spending bill, which was signed into law in December, and $10.5 million in the FY22 omnibus spending bill.
In honor of the announcement, Hickenlooper and Touton recorded a HikTok announcing the funding. Download video file HERE.
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