Community Project Funding Requests
For Fiscal Year (FY) 2026, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert submitted the below community project funding requests for important Colorado water and infrastructure projects. Funding request letters for each of these individual projects and their federal nexus can be read HERE.
Project Title: Plum Creek to Rueter-Hess Reservoir Pipeline
Organization: Castle Rock Water
Subcommittee: Interior and Environment
Location: Castle Rock, CO
Amount Requested: $5,000,000
Project Description: Construction of a 7-mile long, 16 and 20-inch diameter transmission pipeline and pump station to transfer native water from Plum Creek, alluvial well water, and reusable water supplies in Plum Creek owned by Castle Rock to Rueter-Hess Reservoir. The complete project includes a pipeline booster pump station, and outlet structure at the reservoir. The pipeline will be capable of transferring up to 1,000 Acre-Feet of water per year and will be used to store water in the reservoir so that it is available to meet needs in significant drought as well as high demands in the summer and fall. The pipeline will be constructed in phased projects. Collectively, these districts serve over 200,000 people throughout Douglas County who will benefit from the project.
Castle Rock Water primarily relies on non-renewable ground water that threatens long-term sustainability of the water supply. In order to address this issue, Castle Rock Water has made it a high priority to transition more of its supply to sustainable long-term renewable water. This project will help in achieving that goal. The pipeline will allow for storing of renewable surface water, alluvial groundwater, and even re-use water that Castle Rock owns in Plum Creek. This water is currently not captured because there is limited infrastructure to do so. Castle Rock Water owns the right to store 8,000 acre feet of water in Rueter-Hess Reservoir but is unable to fully utilize this capacity because the pipeline is not built yet. Rueter-Hess Reservoir is a critical part of the water system that provides the Town and other surrounding water districts as a source for potable water.
Furthermore, Rueter-Hess Reservoir is an important recreational reservoir asset for Douglas County and the region, and maximizing storage in the reservoir improves this asset and ensures a significant benefit and enjoyment by the community.
Project Title: Water Infrastructure Reconstruction and District Consolidation
Organization: Prairie View Ranch Water District
Subcommittee: Interior & Environment
Location: Wiggins, CO
Amount Requested: $5,000,000
Project Description: This funding is critical to maintaining drinking water and fire protection service to the community of Prairie View Ranch. The community has a dire need for preliminary funding to assist with an ongoing effort to consolidate the water infrastructure of two Special Districts: the Prairie View Ranch Water District (PVRWD) and the Morgan County Quality Water District (MCQWD). This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to solve a drinking water sustainability and fire suppression problem that will only get worse if funding for planning and engineering cannot be secured.
Without this funding, running water service may come to a permanent end. The funding will be used to hire engineers and professionals to assist with a consolidation project between two water districts. The project will benefit the entire Hoyt area, with better water pressure, quantity, and increased fire protection capacity for hundreds of additional families in the rural vicinity.
Project Title: Cobb Lake Regional Water Treatment Plant and Transmission Lines
Organization: Town of Severance
Subcommittee: Interior and Environment
Location: Severance, CO
Amount Requested: $5,000,000
Project Description: This project is a regional treatment plant that will serve the Towns of Severance, Windsor, Eaton, and the constituents of the Fort Collins Loveland Water District. Additionally, this plant will allow for the future treatment of water in rural Weld County towns in Phase 2. This plant not only provides a reliable source of treated water but also provide a much-needed source of water treatment redundancy for the NOCO Region.
Project Title: Wastewater Treatment Plant
Organization: City of Lamar
Subcommittee: Interior and Environment
Location: Lamar, CO
Amount Requested: $5,000,000
Project Description: The Lamar Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) Improvements Project, Phase II is the construction of a new mechanical plant with improved secondary and tertiary treatment for enhanced nutrient removal prior to discharge to the Arkansas River. The City's existing WWTP reached 80 percent capacity in 2020, and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment required the City to begin planning for expansion. This is the largest need for the community and the largest capital project the City has faced in over half a century. The benefit to the community from this project would be widespread and positively impact not only residents of the City, but also visitors traveling along the Highway 287 commerce corridor. The City’s ability to construct these critical improvements and effectively treat wastewater will be significantly hampered if Phase II cannot be sustainably funded. The City of Lamar is one of the most disadvantaged rural Cities in the State of Colorado and needs support to make this necessary project a reality.
The City is currently completing Phase I and anticipates finalizing design and 1 permitting of the new WWTP prior to the award of CPF funds. Upon receipt of awarded funds, the City will be shovel-ready for construction. The City has already received significant federal and local support for Phase I through a DOLA EIAF grant and FY2024 CDS. Now, the City is seeking additional funding sources to offset the cost of constructing this critical infrastructure. In addition to the requested $5M in CPF, the City also intends to apply for all available grants to mitigate the financial burden to its ratepayers. Future funding requests likely include a $1M DOLA EIAF grant for construction and an additional $5M DOLA LOMA grant, which could leverage the requested CPF funds as a federal match. The City also intends to take on significant debt to finance the remaining costs, likely through a combination of an $18M SRF loan and SWIFIA loan/municipal bonds to cover the remaining construction costs.
Project Title: Louviers Water & Sanitation District Drinking Water Distribution Replacement
Organization: Louviers Water & Sanitation District
Subcommittee: Interior and Environment
Location: Louviers, CO
Amount Requested: $4,000,000
Project Description: Louviers Water and Sanitation District is requesting funds for the replacement of their drinking water distribution system. This project would include the replacement of Louviers’ water distribution system. This would include the construction of approximately 12,000 feet of water pipe, 86 service lines, 15 Fire Hydrants, and associated work. Currently, Louviers’ water distribution system is currently made of aging galvanized steel that shows significant signs of aging and corrosion.
This project will help the residents of Louviers, Colorado by providing them with critical infrastructure that will provide cleaner drinking water to the town of Louviers by removing aging corroded pipes from service. The current distribution pipe is undersized to provide sufficient fire flows to the town of Louviers and a replacement of the existing infrastructure would improve delivery fire flows to the entire town. Additionally, replacement of Louviers Water distribution system will help move forward regional drinking water and wastewater projects, helping the greater Douglas County area as a whole.
Project Title: Water System Improvement
Organization: Town of Ovid
Subcommittee: Interior and Environment
Location: Ovid, CO
Amount Requested: $5,000,000
Project Description: The Town of Ovid (Town) water system requires several equipment replacements and improvements due to aging infrastructure. These critical infrastructure replacements include a new primary well pump and appurtenances, replacement of the secondary well, secondary well pump and appurtenances, new disinfection piping and disinfection building to replace the existing water treatment building, new backup generator, replacement of the transmission line to potable water storage tank, an at grade storage tank with booster station, abandonment of the existing elevated storage tank, replacement of the eastern portion of the distribution system, and replacement of all water meters. Due to a lack of existing system redundancy, if any of the critical water system infrastructure failed, the Town would likely enter into a state of emergency with boil water orders and temporary water truck service until emergency repairs could be made. The proposed project will allow the Town to address redundancy, resiliency, and human health/safety concerns.
Project Title: Kiowa Well Redundancy Project
Organization: Town of Kiowa
Subcommittee: Interior and Environment
Location: Kiowa, CO
Amount Requested: $4 million
Project Description: The Town is currently serviced by only a 66-foot alluvial groundwater well, which is not adequate to sustain any type of further growth, whether domestic services, fire protection, or otherwise. The State requires that water systems have at least two wells to provide redundancy of supply to municipal water customers, not to mention it would provide our community with reliability & water system resilience.
Without this funding, the users of the Town water system are faced with the prospect of an increase of rates that is double the current rates, due to the amount of debt the Town would have to incur with a loan. The Town only has 377 accounts to spread that debt out across and a system that is insufficient to sustain further growth to the municipality, at this time.
Project Title: Construction Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment Facility
Organization: City of Brush
Subcommittee: Interior and Environment
Location: Brush, CO
Amount Requested: $2 million
Project Description: Funding would be used to construct a reverse osmosis water treatment plant in the City of Brush. The plant will significantly increase the community’s ability to prepare for future impacts and growth, including economic development in attracting new residents and businesses through an expanded sustainable water supply. The City currently receives its drinking water from a wellfield that is an alluvial aquifer, which is recharged by precipitation, not by nearby Beaver Creek. Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) values have been increasing as more of the river water is leaching into the wellfield, reducing the quality of our water. To protect the existing wellfield water quality and provide resiliency and flexibility to the system, a new source well and reserve osmosis (RO) facility are being designed. The well will have higher levels of TDS than existing wells, so additional treatment will be required. An RO system that will reduce about 90% of the TDS is the recommended treatment method.
Project Title: City of Yuma – Streets, Water Line, and Drainage Improvements project
Organization: City of Yuma
Subcommittee: Interior and Environment
Location: Yuma, CO
Amount Requested: $1,000,000
Project Description: Provide $1,000,000 in Community Project Funding for the City of Yuma, Colorado, to support critical improvements to aging street, water line, and stormwater infrastructure. Funding will assist with necessary upgrades to ensure public safety, improve utility reliability, enhance drainage capacity, and support economic and community development in a disadvantaged rural area. A recent engineering assessment estimated over $42 million in street infrastructure damage throughout the City, a staggering amount for a small, rural community with limited resources.
This project will:
- Upgrade outdated infrastructure lines
- Reduce road hazards and surface degradation
- Mitigate flooding through upgraded drainage systems
- Enhance safety for residents, businesses, and emergency responders
- Support economic development and quality of life in a disadvantaged rural community
Project Title: Town of Walsh Water System Improvement Project
Organization: Town of Walsh
Subcommittee: Interior and Environment
Location: Walsh, CO
Amount Requested: $3,250,000
Project Description: The requested funds will ensure the Town of Walsh can complete critical improvements to its aging and noncompliant water system. These improvements will bring the Town into full compliance with state (CDPHE) and federal drinking water regulations by constructing a new water treatment facility. Improvements include a new well and advanced ion exchange systems to address Nitrate and Combined Radium levels that exceed EPA maximum contaminant levels. The project will also enhance system efficiency and reliability through modernized controls, telemetry, and updated water meters. In 2022, the Town secured funding through USDA Rural Development for these improvements. However, due to inflation and market shifts since the project’s initial cost estimate, current funding is insufficient to complete the project.
This CPF investment will:
- Protect public health by ensuring compliance with CDPHE health and safety standards.
- Recapture lost revenue from faulty water meters and reduce existing water loss through metering upgrades, preserving a vital local water resource in a drought-prone area.
- Support rural economic development.
Project Title: SH 71 Corridor Improvements Project (Heartland Expressway)
Organization: Ports to Plains Alliance
Subcommittee: THUD
Location: Transportation corridor stretching from south of Limon to the Nebraska state line along CO 71, encompassing the counties of Lincoln, Morgan, Weld, and Washington.
Amount Requested: $5,000,000
Project Description: The SH 71 Corridor Improvements projects is included in the CDOT 10-year plan, Weld County in CDOT Region 4, eastern Colorado, extending along the Heartland Expressway (CO 71) from the Colorado –Nebraska state line to CO 14, covering approximately 27.5 miles. CDOT will determine the specific location within this segment. This project includes reconstruction of corridor, shoulder widening, safety, operational, and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) components as descried by CDOT in the Fact Sheet for the SH 71 Corridor Improvements in the 10-year Plan. The CDOT 10-year Vision Annual Report dated November 2024 shows the Total Project Cost of $200,000,000 with Transportation Commission Strategic Funding of $4.8M during FY19-22. No Transportation Commission Approved Strategic Funding for FY 23-26 was allocated. $14.3M is Planned Funding for FY 27+.
The project would provide improvements to SH 71 on the Heartland Expressway High Priority Corridor #14 north of Limon. Improvements for this corridor are included in the 10-Year Vision of the Colorado Department of Transportation and the matching state funding is proposed by CDOT Region 4 from RPP. This project includes reconstruction of corridor, shoulder widening, safety, operational, and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) components as described by CDOT in the Fact Sheet for the SH 71 Corridor Improvements in the 10-year Plan. Benefits from improvements to SH 71 include diversion of trucks from I-25 as described in the Colorado Highway 71 Truck Freight Diversion Feasibility Study published by CDOT Region 4 in May 2020 and provides increased mobility and safety by increasing traveler safety by minimizing unsafe passing maneuvers. Due to funding, the SH 71 Corridor Improvements project was scheduled in years 5-10 of CDOT’s 10-Year Vision.
Project Title: Highway 85 Widening Project
Organization: Douglas County
Subcommittee: THUD
Location: Castle Rock, CO
Amount Requested: $3 million
Project Description: Reconstructing and widening the segment of US 85 (Sedalia and Castle Rock) is of paramount importance since US 85 is part of the National Highway System (NHS) and it is identified as a strategic highway for national defense and part of the National Highway Freight Program (NHFP). Additionally, this segment of US 85 serves as an alternate route when accidents occur on I-25 and traffic needs to be diverted. US 85 is used by tourists traveling to C-470 and to the I-70 mountain corridor. Since the I-25 / US 85 final EIS and ROD was signed in 2002, the widening and reconstruction of US 85 (I-25 to C-470) has progressed slowly due to limited State and Federal funds allocated to US 85. In an effort to advance these critical improvements, Douglas County has partnered numerous times with CDOT on a segment-by-segment basis over the past 20 years. This is the last remaining segment to be widened, which is plagued with safety and operational deficiencies, and capacity constraints that contribute to existing and future anticipated traffic congestion.
Project Title: Windsor Colorado Blvd and Crossroads Blvd Intersection Improvements Project
Organization: Town of Windsor
Subcommittee: THUD
Location: Windsor, CO
Amount Requested: $5,000,000
Project Description: The Town of Windsor is advancing a vital infrastructure project aimed at enhancing safety, optimizing traffic flow, and improving connectivity for all modes of transportation at the intersection of Colorado Boulevard (County Road 13/Larimer County Road 1) and Crossroads Boulevard (County Road 26). This project entails transforming the existing signalized intersection into a multi-lane roundabout and widening the north and east approaches to a four-lane arterial, totaling approximately 3.1 lane miles of new pavement. The design incorporates dedicated bicycle lanes, pedestrian crossings, and connections to existing and planned multimodal infrastructure, significantly improving access to the well-used Poudre River Trail and Eastman Park. This upgrade is projected to elevate the Level of Service from the current LOS E to LOS A, decrease the frequency and severity of crashes, and reduce traffic congestion. There were 25 accidents from 2016-2024 including 5 accidents in 2024 alone. By upgrading pedestrian and bicycle facilities, the project seeks to encourage a shift towards active transportation methods, thereby contributing to better public health and enhanced network connectivity within the region.
Project Title: I-70/Airpark (Monaghan) Interchange Final Design
Organization: Arapahoe County Government
Subcommittee: THUD
Location: Aurora, CO
Amount Requested: $2.25 million
Project Description: This project supports the design of a proposed interchange reconstruction on I-70 in a fast-developing part of eastern Aurora. The I-70 corridor east of E-470 is experiencing significant pressure on the existing transportation infrastructure and limiting overall development and growth.
The I-70 corridor east of E-470 has seen significant development activity in both Arapahoe and Adams County and is placing significant pressure on transportation infrastructure. The existing interchange at I-70 and Airpark is impacting the level of allowable development along I-70 along with access to US-36. Since 2019, Arapahoe County along with others have completed studies that have identified solutions on how to address imminent traffic congestion, traffic safety issues, and delay in services needed for this developing community.
A planned development of an approximate 10 square mile area of unincorporated Arapahoe County south of I-70 between approximately Powhatan and Imboden Roads will generate substantial future traffic volumes at the Airpark interchange with I-70. Planning agreements and studies for nearby development have identified that improvements will be necessary at this rural interchange within the next few years to accommodate new traffic.
Future growth and development in the area will include major fulfillment centers for Amazon, Walmart, and other significant developments, such as Gaylord Rockies, The Aurora Highlands, Prosper Farms, Sky Ranch, Majestic Commerce Center, Port Colorado, and Aerotropolis at Denver International Airport (DEN). With significant job growth occurring in the area, the demand for housing and housing developments will also grow further increasing traffic demand on this interchange.
The proposed interchange reconstruction would be the first phase of the ultimate improvements which would consist of a new diamond interchange at the Monaghan Road section line alignment constructing three of the ultimate six lanes on the bridge over I-70. The project will enhance multi-modal choices and connectivity with planned pedestrian/bicycle accommodations. The planned interchange improvements are a unique, proactive approach to address infrastructure improvement needs before interchange failures occur. Investments in this community offer an opportunity to bring solutions and strengthen the quality of life of residents.
Project Title: US 34 - US 287 A.C.C.E.S.S. Intersection Project
Organization: City of Loveland Public Works
Subcommittee: THUD
Location: Loveland, CO
Amount Requested: $5,000,000
Project Description: The ACCESS Project will transform the critical highway junctions of US 34 and US 287 through comprehensive engineering improvements that (1) address safety and reduce traffic congestion (2) improve freight connections along Loveland's two business corridor areas for rural and metropolitan communities AND (3) enhance bike, pedestrian, and transit mobility. To accomplish these goals, the City will implement the following solutions:
- Double left turns for US 34 eastbound and westbound traffic
- Right turn pockets with increased queuing capacity at all corners
- Widen turning movements to accommodate larger freight trucks (WB-67)
- Improve service on two state freight routes
- Improved traffic signal devices with innovative bike and pedestrian detection
- Shorten crossing distances for pedestrians with center refuge islands
- ADA pedestrian sidewalks and ramps
- Shared-use bike and pedestrian sidewalks
- And a modern transit transfer station relocated from the existing 8th Street transfer location.
These improvements will optimize traffic flow, provide safer travel, improve business operations and create a strategic mobility hub.