Colorado's water community calls on elected leaders to bring home the water funding

With the recent passage of the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act, state leaders across the nation are working hard to secure this once-in-a-generation funding for the needs in their state. Colorado’s water community encourages the Polis Administration and our Congressional delegation to work together to bring home significant dollars for Colorado’s rivers and related water infrastructure needs.

Congress dedicated a significant sum of funding for drought mitigation, climate resilience, water infrastructure, agriculture efficiencies, and other water programs and efforts. They even carved out money for Colorado to address upper Colorado River basin needs. However, the remaining portion of federal funds will be issued through competitive grants to states that apply. We urge the administration to work with our Federal delegation to secure as much funding as possible for Colorado’s water needs. If we don’t, these dollars will go to other states and other needs.

These dollars are critical for the state to further address systemic and shared water issues such as stream health and flows, forest landscape restoration, agricultural infrastructure needs, wildlife habitat and species needs, as well as interbasin issues commensurate with the challenging hydrology we will continue to experience.

A coalition of water interests from across the state stands ready to assist the administration and its associated departments and agencies to work collaboratively to identify projects and opportunities to use this funding to further implement Colorado’s Water Plan and other related water needs in the state.