- $140 million in approved funding for 15 projects remains unspent.
- Projects focus on long-term drought resilience and river ecosystem health.
- The Shoshone Water Rights Project alone would preserve historic river flows.
- Bipartisan lawmakers urge immediate federal action for Colorado River headwaters.
Wednesday, August 6, 2025 –– Yesterday a bipartisan group of Colorado’s congressional delegation sent a formal request
to the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, pressing the agencies to release $140 million in federally awarded funding for 15 drought mitigation and ecosystem restoration projects across the state. While the funding had been previously announced as part of the Inflation Reduction Act and designated under the Upper Colorado River Basin Environmental Drought Mitigation Program, often referred to as “Bucket 2,” the vast majority of projects have yet to receive any funds.
A Long Wait for Critical Drought Support.
In January 2025, the Bureau of Reclamation selected 17 Colorado-based projects to receive funding as part of a $4 billion national initiative to address long-term drought, restore habitats, and build climate resilience in the Colorado River Basin. However, only two of those 17 projects have received financial support. The remaining 15—including the high-profile Shoshone Water Rights Preservation Project—have yet to be funded, despite growing urgency due to the region’s ongoing 25-year drought.
Among the delayed initiatives is the Shoshone Permanency Project, which seeks to purchase two of the oldest water rights on the Colorado River’s mainstem. These senior rights are considered crucial to preserving streamflow through western Colorado. That single project accounts for $40 million of the withheld funds. Other unfunded proposals include ecosystem restoration in the Gunnison and Yampa Basins, stream rehabilitation in Grand County, and the transformation of wastewater lagoons into wetlands in Palisades.
Broad Political Support for Immediate Action.
The joint letter to the Department of the Interior was signed by Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, along with Representatives Jeff Hurd, Jeff Crank, Joe Neguse, Gabe Evans, Brittany Pettersen, Lauren Boebert, Diana DeGette, and Jason Crow. The lawmakers emphasized the diverse, locally driven nature of the proposed projects and their alignment with both environmental goals and water supply resilience.
The letter noted that Colorado’s Bucket 2 projects were developed by a broad coalition of stakeholders—including tribes, towns, farmers, and conservationists—and are tailored to regional needs. Some proposals aim to improve water delivery for agriculture, others to boost aquatic biodiversity, and several to repair or remove aging infrastructure.
Implications for the Broader Basin.
Colorado’s headwaters feed the Colorado River, which supplies water to seven Western states. The delegation’s letter argues that investing in upper basin resilience now could ease pressure on the entire basin later, reducing the need for short-term, emergency interventions downstream.
With ongoing negotiations over long-term river management among basin states, federal inaction on approved funding threatens to undermine regional cooperation. Colorado leaders stressed that failing to deliver on promised funding could stall both ecological restoration and long-term drought planning efforts.
