President Donald Trump has vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have secured federal funding to expand access to clean drinking water for communities on Colorado’s Eastern Plains.
The legislation, known as the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act, was sponsored by Rep. Lauren Boebert and Rep. Jeff Hurd and passed unanimously in both the U.S. House and Senate. The bill aimed to provide continued funding for construction of the Arkansas Valley Conduit, a long-planned water pipeline intended to serve 39 communities between Pueblo and Lamar.
Many of the communities along the route rely on groundwater with high levels of salinity, making clean drinking water difficult to access. The Arkansas Valley Conduit is designed to deliver treated water to an estimated 50,000 residents in southeast Colorado.
The project traces its origins back more than six decades. It was first developed in 1962 as part of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, a large-scale federal water initiative intended to provide reliable water supplies to southeastern Colorado.
In a press release following the veto, Boebert sharply criticized the president’s decision.
“President Trump decided to veto a completely non-controversial, bipartisan bill,” Boebert said. “Why? Because nothing says ‘America First’ like denying clean drinking water to 50,000 people in southeast Colorado, many of whom enthusiastically voted for him in all three elections. I must have missed the rally where he stood in Colorado and promised to personally derail critical water infrastructure projects. My bad, I thought the campaign was about lowering costs and cutting red tape.”
Sen. John Hickenlooper also condemned the veto, calling it politically motivated.
“Donald Trump is playing political games,” Hickenlooper said in a statement. “Congress should swiftly overturn this veto.”
Lawmakers are now expected to consider whether to pursue a veto override, which would require a two-thirds vote in both chambers of Congress.
