15 Colorado projects selected for “B2E” funding have yet to receive funding
Letter comes as admin recently released funding for two other Colorado projects
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper and Representative Jeff Hurd along with Senator Michael Bennet and Representatives 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 (DOI) and the Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) to release $140 million in previously awarded federal funding for 15 Colorado projects, including the Shoshone project, to help fight the Colorado River crisis.
“By making the Colorado River Basin’s headwaters more resilient, these Bucket 2 projects will also help manage the impacts of the unrelenting 25-year drought affecting the Colorado River Basin,” wrote the Colorado lawmakers. “We ask you to move forward with obligating the remaining $140 million worth of Bucket 2 projects in Colorado – not just for the benefit of our state, but for the resilience of the entire Colorado River Basin.”
This January, USBR announced up to $140 million in federal funding for 17 projects in Colorado to combat the Colorado River crisis, increase drought resiliency, and restore habitats. However, only two of the 17 projects have received funding.
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, and the USBR’s Upper Colorado River Basin Environmental Drought Mitigation program, referred to as “Bucket 2”.
Text of the letter is available HERE and below.
A list of the Colorado projects awarded Bucket 2 funding are available below. The two projects that recently received a recommitment of funding are at the bottom.
| Funding Status | Project Title | Project Description | Funding amount |
| Waiting on Funding | Shoshone Water Rights Preservation Project | Purchase two of the oldest water rights on the Colorado River mainstem in Colorado, known as the Shoshone Permanency Project, to preserve the river’s historical flow. | $40 million |
| Waiting on Funding | 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 |
| Waiting on Funding | 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 | $16.7 million |
| Waiting on Funding | Grand Mesa and Upper Gunnison Watershed Resiliency and Aquatic Connectivity Project | Implement watershed restoration actions to combat drought effects in western Colorado. Through a variety of strategies, it enhances water quality, habitat resilience, and connectivity for aquatic species. | $24.3 million |
| Waiting on Funding | Enhancing Aquatic Habitat in Colorado River Headwaters | Restore stream habitats along the Fraser, Blue and Colorado rivers in Grand County, enhancing aquatic ecosystems through channel shaping and bank stabilization through collaboration with key conservation partners | $7 million |
| Waiting on Funding | Yampa River/Walton Creek Confluence Restoration Project | Restore river and wetland ecosystems in Steamboat Springs through restoration of river and floodplain habitat and the rehabilitation of riparian and wetland area thereby enhancing ecological health and promoting biodiversity. It addresses drought impacts by improving water quality, habitat complexity, and community resilience. | $5 million |
| Waiting on Funding | 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 |
| Waiting on Funding | Upper Colorado Basin Aquatic Organism Passage Program | Restore stream habitat in Grand County, promoting biodiversity and resilience against drought conditions while enhancing habitat connectivity and improving fish passage for native species, particularly Colorado River cutthroat trout | $4.2 million |
| Waiting on Funding | Conversion of Wastewater Lagoons into Wetlands | Transform outdated sewer lagoons into wetlands, enhancing biodiversity and providing habitat for migratory waterfowl and endangered fish species in the town of Palisades. Once completed, the wetlands will improve water quality and increase native plant diversity, recharging groundwater and supporting up to 75% of commercially harvested fish. | $3 million |
| Waiting on Funding | Fruita Reservoir Dam Removal | Remove a dam on Pinon Mesa, restoring wetlands and enhancing biodiversity and wildlife habitat while ensuring ecological resilience through water pooling, pipeline removal and comprehensive habitat restoration efforts. | $2.8 million |
| Waiting on Funding | Monitoring and Quantifying the Effectiveness of Beaver Dam Analogs on Drought Influenced Streams in the Upper Colorado River Basin | Restore degraded headwater meadows by implementing structures that mimic the natural functions of beaver dams. These interventions enhance ecosystem resilience, improve water retention, and support native species | $1.9 million |
| Waiting on Funding | Uncompahgre Tailwater Rehabilitation Project | Address habitat degradation, enhancing ecological health and recreational opportunities through rehabilitation of river habitat, restoration aging structures, and implementation of bank stabilization techniques | $1.8 million |
| Waiting on Funding | Eagle River Habitat Improvement, Gypsum Ponds State Wildlife Area | Enhance Eagle River in Eagle County, improving fish habitat and increasing resilience to low flows and drought while supporting local ecosystems and enhancing water quality | $1.5 million |
| Waiting on Funding | 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 |
| Waiting on Funding | Cyanobacteria Monitoring and Treatment for Drought-driven Blooms in a High Elevation, Upper Colorado Reservoir to save Ecosystem Function | Restore aquatic health at Williams Fork reservoir by deploying real-time water quality monitoring tools and implementing targeted hydrogen peroxide treatments to combat algal blooms. It enhances water quality management to protect ecosystems and support community recreational activities | $518,000 |
| Funding Re-Announced | Orchard Mesa Irrigation District Conveyance Upgrades for 15-Mile Reach Flow Enhancement | Convert open canals into pressurized pipelines, improving water delivery efficiency and reducing environmental stressors. | $10.5 million |
| Funding Re-Announced | Orchard Mesa and Grand Valley Metering | Enhance water management in the Grand Valley through the installation of advanced metering technology and SCADA systems. This project addresses drought conditions by improving water use efficiency and supporting local aquatic ecosystems | $1.5 million |
Dear Acting Assistant Secretary Cameron and Acting Commissioner Palumbo:
We write to urge you to release funding for fifteen Colorado projects that were selected for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Upper Colorado River Basin Environmental Drought Mitigation funding opportunity, part of a category of funding commonly known as “Bucket 2.” We appreciate that you recently released funding for two such projects in western Colorado which will ensure reliable water delivery while improving water quality and endangered fish habitat. Now, we ask you to move forward with obligating the remaining $140 million worth of Bucket 2 projects in Colorado – not just for the benefit of our state, but for the resilience of the entire Colorado River Basin.
In 2022, Congress provided $4 billion to address the impacts of drought with a priority for the Colorado River Basin, including activities to support environmental benefits and promote ecosystem and habitat restoration. This directive recognizes the interconnected nature of a water system like Colorado’s, which relies on healthy waterways as our most important conveyance facilities. The majority of Colorado’s awards from the $4 billion provided by Congress thus far have been for these Bucket 2 projects, which were developed by our state’s water users – Tribes, irrigation districts, agricultural producers, towns, and conservation groups – who understand the improvements they need to build drought resilience.
By making the Colorado River Basin’s headwaters more resilient, these Bucket 2 projects will also help manage the impacts of the unrelenting 25-year drought affecting the Colorado River Basin. As Colorado and the other Basin States work towards an agreement for future operations on the river, it is critical to invest in the health of our headwaters so we can all better withstand the impacts of drought. We must make these investments in long-term drought management now as Congress intended, and not delay until only short-term solutions are available.
Each of Colorado’s Bucket 2 projects deliver water supply security in ways that make sense for our state. Every project was the result of thoughtful collaboration amongst regional partners and every project provides multiple benefits. For example, one project will improve water supply reliability to 23,000 acres of tribal and non-tribal agricultural lands by repairing deteriorated infrastructure and simultaneously improving fish habitat. Another will deploy drought mitigation strategies across an entire region of the state, benefiting a wide variety of water users. Yet another will secure permanency of river flows with large-scale, systematic benefits to the Colorado River and has garnered support from rural communities across western Colorado.
Our water infrastructure in Colorado is not just a network of manmade dams, canals, and pipelines – crucially, it is also the streams and rivers that convey water, the headwater meadows and wetlands that regulate water timing, the healthy forests that store snowpack, the riparian areas that prevent erosion, and the reliable flows that we all count on. With the headwaters of the Colorado River originating in our state, resilience in Colorado means resilience for the whole basin. We stand ready to work with you on building the West’s drought resilience, and ask that you help us do so by fully funding Colorado’s Bucket 2 projects.
Sincerely,
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