Water Projects Clear First Funding Hurdle
By The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.
Jul. 4–Water projects totaling $68.4 million for Colorado cleared the Senate Appropriations Committee late last week, U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., announced Tuesday.
The remaining funding for the U.S. Corps of Engineers study of Fountain Creek is among projects in the 2008 energy and water appropriations bill.
“The approval of this bill by the Senate appropriations committee is the first step in a long process to securing funding for these important Colorado projects,” said Senator Salazar. “These projects will improve water quality for residents and continue to make Colorado the renewable energy capital of the Nation.”
The bill contains funding for nine water projects for Colorado included at the request of Salazar:
$63 million for the Animas-La Plata project in Durango to build the project, which will supply an additional 66,000 acre-feet of water (plus another 38,000 acre-feet for municipal and industrial uses) to 100,000 people in Southwestern Colorado and nearby areas. The project is the linchpin of the 1988 Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement (amended in 2000) and is currently under construction. The funding represents a $5 million increase from the president’s request of $58 million.
$149,000 for Fountain Creek in El Paso, Pueblo and Teller counties for the Army Corps of Engineers to complete the watershed study on Fountain Creek, which has been troubled recently by flooding and sewage spills. The study was started in 2003 to evaluate improvements to infrastructure, restoration of habitat, and construction of flood mitigation projects.
$273,000 to continue the Chatfield Reallocation study by the Army Corps of Engineers.
$2 million for Cherry Creek and Chatfield Reservoirs and Trinidad Lake for renovations of recreation facilities.
$100,000 for South Boulder Creek in Boulder for the Army Corps of Engineers to begin a reconnaissance study on the South Boulder Creek floodplain, after a recent technical analysis showed several hundred homes were within the floodplain and at risk for flood damage.
$1 million for the Colorado School of Mines’ Colorado Center for Sustainable Energy, to expand research and development into coal gasification and carbon sequestration technologies as well as hybrid fuel and biomass fuel systems.
Also included are instructions to the Army Corps of Engineers to give “priority” designation for four Colorado projects, including the Arkansas River habitat restoration in Pueblo. The project will complete the Arkansas River fisheries habitat structures along a nine-mile stretch of the river below Pueblo Dam, including removal of non-native plants and the planting of native trees, shrubs, willows, and wetland plants. The project is currently 95 percent complete.
The bill now goes to the full Senate for consideration.
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