House Passes New Water Resources Legislation

The U. S. House of Representatives has given the green light to the Water Resources Development Act of 2026, which features a section on the incomplete Arkansas Valley Conduit in southwest Colorado.

This bill is part of an annual package that authorizes various studies, construction projects, and policy updates regarding U. S. water resources, flood control, and navigation, as stated by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers.

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At the request of Colorado’s congressional delegation, this measure includes a provision for the Arkansas Valley Conduit, a water pipeline that was authorized by Congress in 1962 as part of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project.

Situated just east of Pueblo, the 130-mile-long Arkansas Valley Conduit will supply filtered water from the Pueblo Reservoir to 50,000 residents across 39 communities. Construction on this pipeline began in 2023 but has encountered several financial hurdles.

The total cost for this project is estimated at $1.39 billion, more than double earlier estimates from a few years ago. According to federal legislation approved in 2009, the federal government would cover 65% of these costs while Colorado and around 40 local water providers would handle the rest.

Last year, Congress passed the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act with support from Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Windsor and Jeff Hurd of Grand Junction. This measure aimed to waive interest payments for local water providers and extend repayment terms from 50 years to 100 years.

In December, President Donald Trump vetoed this bill, arguing it would force taxpayers to fund “expensive and unreliable policies.”

“My Administration is committed to preventing American taxpayers from funding expensive and unreliable policies,” Trump wrote in his veto letter. “Ending the massive cost of taxpayer handouts and restoring fiscal sanity is vital to economic growth and the fiscal health of the Nation.”

The following month, Colorado’s congressional delegation made attempts to override this veto; however, those efforts ultimately fell short with a vote tally of 248-177.

Senator Michael Bennet, a Democrat from Denver, described Trump’s veto as a “revenge tour,” claiming it was retaliation against Colorado for not pardoning election denier Tina Peters.

“It’s very disappointing that the President is hurting rural Colorado by vetoing this bipartisan and noncontroversial bill – passed unanimously by both the U. S. House and Senate – which would have delivered on the decades-long promised Arkansas Valley Conduit and secure this much-needed supply of clean water for rural southeastern Colorado,” said Gov. Jared Polis.

Bennet along with fellow Democrat Sen. John Hickenlooper, Boebert and Hurd sent a letter in March to leaders on Environment and Public Works as well as Transportation and Infrastructure committees urging them to include Finish the Arkansas River Conduit Act within this year’s Water Resources Development Act.

“Given WRDA’s established role as Congress’s bipartisan water infrastructure package, we believe 2026 WRDA is the appropriate legislative vehicle to secure completion of the AVC,” wrote lawmakers in their letter. “We respectfully urge the Committee to include H. R. 131 in the 2026 Water Resources Development Act and help ensure that southeastern Colorado communities finally receive safe reliable drinking water they were promised.”

Boebert and Bennet celebrated when WRDA passed through House approval with Boebert thanking Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) for collaborating with her on this provision.

“This is about clean water for families in Arkansas Valley who’ve waited more than six decades,” she stated. “The Arkansas Valley Conduit is an unfinished component of Fryingpan-Arkansas Project. Including it in this bipartisan WRDA brings us closer to completing our goal.”

“I’m glad to see that House passed my Finish The Arkansas Valley Conduit Act within WRDA fulfilling federal government’s promise made over sixty years ago about finishing AVC delivering clean water over fifty thousand people across thirty-nine communities throughout southeast Colorado,” Bennet shared on social media platform post adding importance noting its inclusion during Senate discussions regarding WRDA next steps ahead.”

Now that it has cleared The House chamber floor , the bill moves forward into The Senate’s hands.

Reporter Marianne Goodland contributed to this story.

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