Trump Vetoes Bipartisan Water Project Funding Amid Colorado Retaliation Claims
A critical infrastructure bill aimed at delivering clean drinking water to rural Colorado communities was vetoed by President Donald Trump on Monday, sparking accusations of political retribution and raising questions about the future of the decades-long project.
President Trump used his first veto of his current term to block funding for the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit (AVC) Act, a measure that received unanimous support in both the House and Senate. The decision comes shortly after Trump publicly vowed to retaliate against Colorado following the conviction of Tina Peters, an ally accused of tampering with voting systems during the 2020 presidential election.
The Arkansas Valley Conduit is designed to provide safe drinking water to 39 communities on the Eastern Plains between Pueblo and Lamar. Currently, the groundwater in the region is contaminated with high levels of salt and, in some cases, radioactivity, posing significant health risks to residents. The project represents the final phase of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, initially approved in 1962, and has faced escalating costs in recent years, nearly doubling in estimated price.
“My Administration is committed to preventing American taxpayers from funding expensive and unreliable policies,” Trump stated in his veto letter. “Ending the massive cost of taxpayer handouts and restoring fiscal sanity is vital to economic growth and the fiscal health of the Nation.”
However, the timing of the veto has fueled speculation that it is directly linked to the legal proceedings against Peters. According to sources, Trump’s public threats of retaliation against Colorado officials prompted concerns that the water project would become collateral damage in a political dispute.
The pipeline falls within the congressional district of Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert, who recently challenged the Trump administration by demanding the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Boebert expressed dismay at the veto, stating, “President Trump decided to veto a completely non-controversial, bipartisan bill that passed both the House and Senate unanimously. If this administration wants to make its legacy blocking projects that deliver water to rural Americans; that’s on them.” She further added, “Americans deserve leadership that puts people over politics.”
Colorado’s Democratic senators have worked for over a decade to secure funding for the project, and Boebert herself sponsored the House bill to complete it. The unanimous passage through Congress suggested a strong possibility of overriding the President’s veto, should Republican leaders allow a vote. It is exceedingly rare for a president to veto a bipartisan, unanimous bill, particularly while simultaneously suggesting punitive measures against a state.
Democratic Gov. Jared Polis condemned the veto as a direct attack on rural Colorado. “It’s very disappointing that the President is hurting rural Colorado by vetoing this bipartisan and non-controversial bill,” Polis said in a statement released Tuesday. “This would have delivered on the decades-long promised Arkansas Valley Conduit and secure this much-needed supply of clean water for rural southeastern Colorado.”
The future of the Arkansas Valley Conduit now hinges on a potential override vote in Congress. The veto underscores a growing tension between the administration’s stated commitment to fiscal responsibility and accusations of using federal resources as leverage in political battles, leaving the residents of Colorado’s Eastern Plains in uncertainty about their access to safe, clean water.
