Hickenlooper, Bennet welcome release of $47M in federal funding for 4 projects to address Colorado River crisis
U.S. Sens. John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet welcomed the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s announcement on Tuesday of $47 million in federal funding for four projects in Colorado to combat the Colorado River crisis. Earlier this month, Hickenlooper urged Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to release funding for Colorado’s water projects, which provide resilience for the entire Colorado River system.
“This year’s extremely poor snowpack has made the Colorado River crisis even more dire. We don’t have time to stall and hope for a wet summer,” said Hickenlooper. “We’re relieved that this funding from our historic Inflation Reduction Act will continue to flow to help our communities manage the drought impacts on the Upper Basin. We won’t let up until all of the obligated funding is released.”
“Colorado communities, Tribal leaders, water users, and local advocates fought for years to secure these funds and keep critical projects moving forward,” said Bennet. “The funding released will support the Pine River Indian Irrigation Project, drought-resilient infrastructure across the Southwest, and endangered species recovery efforts, which are all essential to Colorado’s future. While this is an important step forward, the administration must still release the full funding Congress approved, including for Shoshone. I’ll keep pushing to make sure Colorado gets the certainty and resources we were promised.”
The federal funding comes from the Inflation Reduction Act, which included $4 billion to mitigate the impacts of drought, including activities to support environmental benefits and promote ecosystem and habitat restoration.
Last August, the senators and Representatives Jeff Hurd, Jeff Crank, Joe Neguse, Gabe Evans, Brittany Pettersen, Lauren Boebert, Diana DeGette and Jason Crow called on top officials at the Department of the Interior and USBR to release $140 million in previously awarded federal funding for 15 Colorado projects to help fight the Colorado River crisis.
ADDITIONAL $92 MILLION
Six of the 17 projects have now been awarded a total of more than $59 million. The Shoshone Permanency Project and 10 other drought projects remain unfunded. The senators are continuing to push USBR to release the additional $92 million.
The four projects will receive $47 million in funding from the USBR’s Upper Colorado River Basin Environmental Drought Mitigation program, referred to as “Bucket 2E.”
Hickenlooper and Bennet fought for $8 billion for western water infrastructure, $10 billion for forests, $19 billion for agricultural conservation, and $4 billion for drought in the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Details on the projects receiving B2E funding are below:
Addressing Drought Mitigation in Southwest Colorado — Support critical ecosystem and habitat restoration projects across six subbasins, addressing drought-related issues and providing cost-effective long-term environmental, ecosystem, and habitat benefits — $25.6 million.
Southern Ute Indian Tribe-Pine River Environment Drought Mitigation Project — Enhance ecosystem health in the Pine River watershed while addressing the impacts of prolonged drought — $16.75 million.
Drought Resiliency on Western Colorado Conserved Lands — Implement various ecological restoration strategies, including the restoration of wetlands, reconnection of floodplains, the installation of erosion control structures to reduce sediment transport and enhance water quality, while promoting habitat restoration for at-risk species like the yellow-billed cuckoo and Gunnison sage-grouse — $4.6 million.
Habitat Restoration in the Gunnison Basin — Restore stream habitats in the Gunnison Basin, implementing low-tech restoration structures to enhance ecosystem resilience and support habitat for the endangered Gunnison Sage-Grouse — $750,000.
