{"id":43645,"date":"2021-11-18T16:46:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-18T16:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/local-projects-earmarked-for-funding-in-federal-budget-process\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T09:14:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:14:41","slug":"local-projects-earmarked-for-funding-in-federal-budget-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/local-projects-earmarked-for-funding-in-federal-budget-process\/","title":{"rendered":"Local projects earmarked for funding in federal budget process"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Federal
Federal funding for a central sewer system in Rico has been included in the proposed 2022 federal budget. (Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Several Southwest Colorado projects were submitted as priorities for federal funding by U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper in the pending 2022 budget appropriation bills.<\/p>\n

The senators announced they have included $158 million in various senate appropriation bills for Colorado projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we recover from the worst public health and economic crisis in a century, this funding will help meet the needs of Colorado communities across the state,\u201d said Bennet in a Oct. 19 press release. \u201cFrom expanding access to health care to building affordable housing and creating good-paying jobs, these investments will help rebuild our economy to deliver opportunity to every Coloradan.\u201d<\/p>\n

In total, Bennet and Hickenlooper requested funding for 56 projects in Colorado through the congressional directed spending process, commonly known as earmarks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese projects will make a real difference in towns all across our state,\u201d said Hickenlooper. \u201cColoradans know best what their communities need, and Congress should do its best to listen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Senate is expected to vote on the bills by the end of the year either individually or as a combined package.<\/p>\n

If approved by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden, several projects in Southwest Colorado would get funding.<\/p>\n

Big Canyon water line: $1.7 million<\/div>\n

\"The
The Dove Creek pumping station on the Dolores River has been idle for many years, but could get federal funding for repairs in the 2022 budget. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The pumping system delivers water to Dove Creek from the Dolores River pump station. The pipeline is in disrepair, and has not been used for many years in favor of water delivered via the Dove Creek Canal.<\/p>\n

Restoring the pump station and piping has become more a priority for Dove Creek as extreme drought has impacted the town\u2019s water supply via the canal.<\/p>\n

In October, a special deliver of water had to be delivered to Dove Creek from McPhee Reservoir to prevent a municipal supply shortage caused by the drought.<\/p>\n

\"A
A water shortage this year forced the Dove Creek Canal to shut off in July instead of October, which left Dove Creek without enough water to get through the winter. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span>Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Without the solution, the town would run out of water in February, said Chadd Dagan, manager of the Dove Creek Public Works Department.<\/p>\n

To fulfill the town\u2019s water rights in McPhee, the Bureau of Reclamation and Dolores Water Conservancy District arranged to deliver 40 acre-feet of water down the canal to fill the town\u2019s municipal reservoir.<\/p>\n

Dove Creek officials are looking toward solutions to provide redundancy for water supply in the future, including building a second small reservoir and fixing the pump station at the river.<\/p>\n

Rico central sewer system: $2.5 million<\/div>\n

Rico is a historic mining community located between Dolores and Telluride, and is home to 232 full-time residents. In addition to the full-time population, approximately 55 homes belong to part-time residents or are used as vacation homes.<\/p>\n

The town lacks a central sewer system.<\/p>\n

\u201cCurrently the residents and commercial operations make use of septic systems, and in some cases even cesspools for wastewater disposal,\u201d stated Rico Mayor Barbara Betts in a May letter to Bennet\u2019s office requesting the federal funding. \u201cWhile there is broad recognition amongst community members that a central sewer system is desirable, Rico\u2019s tax base is so small that the cost of a central sewer system places an oversized burden on the taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The $2.5 million in federal funding would be used as leverage to obtain additional funding for the estimated $4.2 million cost of the central sewer project.<\/p>\n

It would initially be built out to serve the commercial core of town along Glasgow Avenue (Colorado Highway 145). Plans in 2019 called for the wastewater treatment facility to be constructed on the south side of town.<\/p>\n

In 2019, Rico residents voted 60% to 40% to reject a proposed significant mill levy increase to help fund the project. Taxes would have increased $45 per month on a $250,000 home.<\/p>\n

Ute Mountain Ute Kwiyagat Academy: $2 million<\/div>\n

\"Ute
Ute Mountain Ute tribal elder, Alfred Wall, center, speaks to the children at Kwiyagat Community Academy, before his blessing during the first day of school in Towaoc. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The recently opened Kwiyagat Community Academy in Towoac provides kindergarten and first grade instruction for 30 students with a goal of adding additional grades in the future. Kwiyagat means \u201cbear\u201d in the Ute language.<\/p>\n

It is the first public charter school on an Indian reservation in Colorado. The curriculum will blend Ute history, art and culture with core educational instruction, including science, technology, engineering and math.<\/p>\n

Other local projects earmarked for funding include:<\/p>\n

Towaoc, Ute Mountain Ute Housing Improvement Project: $ 2 million.<\/div>\n
Durango and Archuleta County, bus purchase: $522,000.<\/div>\n
Durango regional inpatient\/residential treatment solution: $150,000,<\/div>\n
Durango, Southwest Colorado regional investigative, search, rescue and recovery capabilities enhancement: $166,000.<\/div>\n
Gunnison Valley Rural Transportation Authority Fleet Expansion: $1.5 million,<\/div>\n
Ignacio, Southern Ute enhanced outcrop methane capture: $2.5 million.<\/div>\n

jmimiaga@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. Sens. Hickenlooper and Bennet recommend priorities for state including in Southwest Colorado<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43646,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[21,28,445,497,629,547],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-43645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cortez","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter-lead","tag-rico","tag-southern-ute-indian-tribe","tag-ute-mountain-ute-indian-tribe"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43645"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85779,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43645\/revisions\/85779"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43645"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=43645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}