A contract to repay the federal government for the Arkansas Valley Conduit (AVC) was signed Wednesday, October 7, 2026, by the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District and the Bureau of Reclamation.
Reclamation and the District are building the AVC in a collaborative project. Reclamation is building the 130-mile trunk line from Pueblo to Lamar and the District is building spur and delivery lines to connect 38 water systems to the trunk line.
The total cost of the project is estimated to be $1.4 billion. The AVC will provide water to 50,000 people served by cities, towns, water districts and private water companies. This is the final element of the original Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, an effort that led President John F. Kennedy to sign the legislation.
“Without the Arkansas Valley Conduit, the Valley would not be developed as it would have been otherwise. You cannot attract industry without a supply of clean water. This is an important milestone” said Bill Long, president of the District Board of Directors.
Participants in this project are required under federal law to pay 35 percent of the AVC’s cost. Any costs incurred by the
District for construction of spur and delivery lines will be credited to the 35 percent repayment. The remainder will be repaid with miscellaneous revenues generated from the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project
The contract signed Wednesday defines the responsibilities for design and construction, facilities ownership, and when the
repayment period will start. Reclamation will retain ownership of the trunk line and related facilities it is building, as well as the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System that will be used to operate the AVC. The District is developing a cost model in order to provide reliable estimates of operation, maintenance and replacement at partial and full capacity
