Water

My top three issues are water, water, and water!

For years, Colorado and the West have suffered from drought. Lower Basin States, including California and Nevada, have consistently breached the century-old Colorado River Compact, which established water allotments for each basin. As a consequence of their excessive use, Colorado and other basin states are in need of expanded water storage.

One of the biggest issues always facing agriculture is water. In Colorado, water rights are paramount to our economy, our environment, and our way of life. I have a strong knowledge of water issues and am a member of the Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee on Natural Resources. I am the only Republican Member of the House to speak at the Colorado Water Congress in recent years and I consistently work with them and other important water stakeholders in Colorado on my bills, to find witnesses, and to deliver important water solutions.

My Western Water Accelerated Revenue Repayment Act passed the House Committee on Natural Resources and permanently authorized a provision that allows agriculture and municipal water users to prepay infrastructure costs they owe the federal government, generate hundreds of millions for new water infrastructure and water storage, and decrease federal paperwork requirements and operating costs for water users. 

I secured $279.26 million into federal law for Bureau of Reclamation projects and rural water projects, including the Arkansas Valley Conduit that will provide an abundant supply of clean water for 50,000 people in Southeastern Colorado. 

I secured $5,000,000 to help fund construction of the Wolf Creek Reservoir. This important project will create 400,000 acre-feet of new water storage, generate $535 million in local spending, and create 360 new jobs. The project will provide a critical water supply, as well as protect and stimulate rural development, including agriculture, for present and future water users. It will also foster new employment, income, business generation, and tax revenues to Northwest Colorado. 

I passed a statutory provision into law directing the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to establish a pilot program to combat salt cedar and Russian olive infestations in the West. Invasive salt cedars can consume 200 gallons of water per day per plant. 

Two of my amendments that redirect $5 million towards funding the Colorado River Storage Project to help address the severe water shortage in the West and also to increase water storage through improvements through the Colorado River Dam Fund passed the House.

I introduced the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins Endangered Fish Recovery Programs Reauthorization Act to provide certainty for 1,200 water and power users in Colorado and help recover four threatened and endangered fish species in the Upper Colorado River Basin and the San Juan River Basin. In addition to protecting the endangered and threatened fish, the bill will protect 2,500 federal, state, local, and tribal water projects—including 1,200 in Colorado— that use more than 3.7+ million acre-feet of water per year. My bill has passed committee and will advance to the House floor.

I authored a letter of strong support for 566 water projects that would provide new or improved ditches, pipelines, conveyance, and storage for Conejos, Alamosa, Rio Grande, and Mineral counties.

According to the Colorado State Forest Service more than 24.4 million acres of Colorado forestland impact Colorado’s water supply, where 80% of the state’s population relies on those forested watersheds for municipal water supplies. Healthy forests act as a natural water filter and storage system and are critical to maintaining healthy watersheds. In the United States, forests are a source of drinking water for over 180 million people. I introduced H.R. 4302, comprehensive forestry legislation that will improve forest health and improve water quality. We can reduce the size and severity of wildfires through active forest management, which will also help protect our watersheds and municipal water supplies.

In multiple legislative provisions signed into law, I secured $48.72 million for the Indian Irrigation Fund to address the deferred maintenance backlog and increase water storage projects like the Southern Utes’ Pine River Indian Irrigation Project.

I introduced the House Companion to the Dolores River National Conservation Area and Special Management Area Act. This locally driven, bipartisan bill protects the Dolores River, prevents a federal water grab, allows current uses and upholds private water rights. 

I am working to help water district managers make data-driven decisions assisted by improved information gathered by the San Luis Valley weather radar. After a year of bureaucratic delays, the National Weather Service had not gotten the fully functional weather radar integrated into its system. I reached out, and I was able to get them to expedite the process. Now, this improved data will help water districts and farmers manage drought, assist first responders in reacting to emergencies, and give rural communities more resources and information.

I cosponsored legislation and voted to block the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule, a land and water grab that sought to assert the Clean Water Act and federal jurisdiction over areas with the slightest connection to water.  

Our property and water rights are also under attack by the Biden administration’s 30 x 30 program, which aims to lock up hundreds of millions of acres and 30% of lands and waters in the U.S., including private lands, over the next eight years through a massive federal land and water grab. I introduced the 30 x 30 Termination Act to protect water rights, ranching, grazing, and multiple-use and block this radical initiative.

I will always fight to protect our water.