Otero Commissioners Urge Trump and Congress to Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit and Deliver Safe Drinking Water

Description: Otero County Commissioners call on President Trump, federal officials, and Congress to support H.R. 131 and finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit, a bipartisan, infrastructure project to provide safe drinking water to 50,000 rural residents.

Otero Commissioners Urge Trump to Support for H.R. 131 to Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit and Deliver Clean Drinking Water

Re: H.R. 131 - Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act

President Trump and Secretary Rollins:

First and foremost, thank you for your service to our great country and your continued commitment to America First.

As your constituents, we are asking for the opportunity for our delegation from Southeast Colorado to come to Washington D.C. to speak directly to you about the benefits of the Arkansas Valley Conduit to the people in our region. Providing clean drinking water is our priority as County Commissioners and as conservatives, we believe strongly in prioritizing funding for water and infrastructure projects that fall within the proper role of government and align with your America First agenda.

We would like to work with you on a solution that benefits taxpayers, including your taxpaying constituents in Southeast Colorado. We fully support efforts to identify and eliminate fraud, waste and abuse within federal funding, and, as Otero County serves as the pass-through entity for the Arkansas Valley Conduit, we are fiscal conservatives as well. However, we can confidently assure you that this water project is vital to our communities and that a strong federal partnership is a necessary component to complete the project.

We trust that you will continue this conversation with us, and with our aligned counties across Southeast Colorado, and are grateful for the opportunity to work with your staff on a viable and responsible solution.

Thank you, sincerely, for hearing us, and we look forward to continuing our working relationship. May God bless you and the United States of America.

Otero Commissioners Thank Reps. Hurd and Boebert for Opposing Veto of Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act

Subject: Support for the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act

Dear Representative Hurd and Representative Boebert,

Your public statements of opposition to President Trump's veto of the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act are greatly appreciated by those of us who have long supported this project to ensure that residents in rural southeastern Colorado have access to a safe drinking water supply. The challenges we face with naturally occurring contaminants in groundwater are precisely why the federal Safe Drinking Water Act exists.

It is imperative that we work together to overturn this decision. We stand ready to assist you in any effort to override the veto or pursue an alternate path to enact this strongly supported legislation.

The conduit cannot be viewed as a mere amenity or frivolous investment. It is the most effective way to deliver safe drinking water to 50,000 people without creating harmful "side effects" associated with other treatment processes like reverse osmosis. This is a public health issue, and shared investments by federal, state, and local governments are critical to addressing it.

Indeed, H.R. 131 highlights the significant non-federal investment-35 percent of the total cost. The bill simply adjusts the interest rate and extends the repayment period, while also providing an option for economic hardship consideration, which is vital given the challenging economic conditions in our region.

The long-standing bipartisan support for the Arkansas Valley Conduit speaks volumes about its clear purpose: a safe drinking water supply. Together, we must fight this attempt to stop the project and diminish that critical purpose. We respectfully ask you to use all tools available to overturn this decision and ensure the enactment of H.R. 131.

Thank you for your leadership and commitment to the health and well-being of southeastern Colorado communities.

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