Comprehensive legislation is currently working its way through Congress that will lead to the completion of work on the big Arkansas Valley Conduit in southeast Colorado.
That infrastructure is made up of 130 miles of pipeline with spurs serving nearly 40 different communities to the east of the city of Pueblo.
As designed, the pipeline will deliver filtered water ready for treatment coming out of the Pueblo Reservoir.
The project has been very long in the development stage, having been initially authorized by Congress and signed into law by President John Kennedy in 1962.
Five years ago, it received $28 million for the completion of design work and to launch construction.
Colorado Democrat Governor Jared Polis subsequently signed legislation giving a green light to another $90 million in loans and $10 million in grants for the project.
Now, members of the House Natural Resources Committee have approved a bill that will eliminate interest payments on construction costs, while extending the repayment period to 75 years.
In forwarding the legislation in the upper chamber earlier this year, Democrat Senator Michael Bennet remarked: “We have invested over $500 million to build the Arkansas Valley Conduit over the past decade, and now we must ensure increased costs don’t stop this project in its tracks.”
Due to inflation, the estimated cost of the project has ballooned from $640 million in 2019 to around $1.3 billion today; cost increases due to inflation and labor.
Lead sponsor for the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act in the House is Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert.
July 11, 2025
By Garry Boulard
