Colorado
$600 million water system underway to circumvent radioactive elements in southeastern Colorado
Construction is underway for an ambitious water delivery project in southeastern Colorado that is overdue by 60 years and, despite pledges totaling almost a quarter billion dollars, is not even half paid for.
But if successfully completed, the pipeline system will bring drinkable water to 50,000 residents who live in an area where water quality suffers from naturally occurring radioactive materials.
Currently, the water quality in the Arkansas Valley between Pueblo and Lamar is generally poor. The surface water there often contains harmful organisms and pollutants, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The possible solutions for these communities – facilities treating water via reverse-osmosis, ion exchange and filtration, or bottled water – are more expensive and problematic for the locals than the project’s current $600 million price tag, in the agency’s opinion.
Digging underground wells would be a solution, but for the harmful amounts of uranium and radium. These are radionuclides, a class of chemicals where the nucleus of the atom is unstable. These are natural products from ancient marine sediments which the river cuts through.
In addition, the established irrigation systems have contributed to contamination. A 2021 study found agricultural development along the river, which uses diverted river water and shallow wells for irrigation, drains dangerous sediments back in the river.
“This shallow return flow groundwater system eventually discharges directly to the surface flow of the Arkansas River and its tributaries,” wrote the study’s participants.
These elements are concern for other downstream users as well. Kansas authorities have measured increasing levels of uranium in the Arkansas since 2012 just across the Colorado state line in Coolidge.
Ground was broken in 2020 for the Arkansas Valley Conduit. That year, Congress appropriated $28 million toward it. This supported the $30 million the Bureau of Reclamation had received over the previous nine years.
RELATED Construction Begins On Pipeline To Deliver Water To 40 Colorado Communities (2020)
The funding faucet has gradually opened since, with money flowing forth in larger amounts:
- From 2021 through 2023, Reclamation funded $31.5 million for the AVC through regular appropriations.
- In 2022, the AVC received $60 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
- In 2023, the AVC received $100 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
RELATED Colorado’s U.S. Senators celebrate funding to secure clean water for part of southeastern Colorado (2022)
In mid-January, Colorado congressman again pleaded with the sitting president for continued funding.
A 2016 congressional report put the total cost of the project then at $400 million. But the Colorado Water Conservancy Board’s latest estimate is $600 million. That 2022 estimate takes into account the Bureau of Reclamation’s projected 2035 completion date, but the conservancy board pointed out a possible expedited completion of the main pipeline, called the trunk, and hoped to finish work at the end of 2028.
The trunk line will extend from water treatment plants immediate east of Pueblo Reservoir. It will be 30 inches in diameter at this early stage. Much of the trunk will lie adjacent to State Highway 50 for 130 miles. By the time it reaches Lamar, it will be 16 inches in diameter.
Between those two points, about 100 miles of spur line, or smaller delivery line, will bring water directly to 39 local water systems. Final designs for the spur lines are expected to be approved at the end of 2024.
Work began last spring on the trench for the trunk line.
It is hoped the system will deliver 7,500 acre-feet of water per year.
The project was initially approved in 1962 as the eastern portion of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project. President John F. Kennedy celebrated the legislation in Pueblo that summer.
For the next 18 years, the federal government and its partners built five major dams, 22 water tunnels, 16 diversion dams and three power plants.
The plan to construct lines beyond Pueblo Reservoir fell apart when it was determined the local agencies could not fund 100 percent of that build.
Going forward, the feds and local plan to split the costs. The current formula: federal government 65%, local and state agencies, 35%. That 35 percent will be repaid by the project’s beneficiaries over 50 years.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) is searching for a missing child.
CSPD said 11-year-old Emilio Gerardo was last seen Thursday around 8:06 p.m. near North Carefree Circle and Peterson Road.
Gerardo is described as a 4-foot-8 and 65-pound Hispanic male with brown hair and brown eyes.
Police said he was last seen in a black shirt, black pants and black Converse shoes. They said he may have a VR headset with him.
Police said he could be in the area of Sand Creek High School or Remington Park.
If you see Gerardo or know where he may be, contact the Colorado Springs Police Department at 719-444-7000.
Copyright 2026 KKTV. All rights reserved.
Colorado
Kids escape unscathed after van slips off Colorado mountain road and down Blue River embankment
A van carrying campers from a hike near Blue River rolled down an embankment Thursday afternoon, but everyone inside escaped without major injuries. According to the Keystone Science School, the 15-passenger van was transporting 13 campers and two adults back from Mohawk Lakes when it slid off a wet road and rolled over.
Emergency crews responded to Spruce Creek Road after receiving reports of a single-vehicle rollover.
“We’re fortunate that it was low speed, and there was no intrusion into the passenger cabin,” Matt Benedict, division chief of wildfire and community preparedness for Red, White and Blue Fire said.
Investigators believe muddy conditions created by recent rainfall contributed to the crash. The van rolled down a steep embankment before coming to rest against a tree. Two people suffered minor injuries, but neither required transportation to a hospital, according to fire officials.
Keystone Science School confirmed emergency responders arrived quickly and that no major injuries were reported.
“The safety and well-being of our campers and staff is our highest priority,” Executive Director Eric Rightor said in a statement. “We are grateful that there were no major injuries, and we are committed to fully supporting all those involved and their families.”
Fire officials also credited seatbelt use for helping protect those inside the vehicle. “We always encourage everyone to wear their seatbelts… and they did. And everybody left,” Benedict said.
The Keystone Science School is located in Summit County.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Two weeks have passed since officials closed four blocks of Uintah Street to repair damage under a bridge over Shooks Run Creek, and we’re now learning specifics about the response.
Officials said that the city was the lead entity in the repair response, with Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) providing a supporting role.
The closure began late in the afternoon of June 10 for what officials described as emergency bridge and utility repairs between Prospect and Institute streets, east of the Colorado College campus.
Officials said that on the previous day, a routine bridge inspection by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) discovered a large “void,” or sinkhole, under the bridge that compromised a utility line.
But officials didn’t explain how the void developed or how they repaired it until earlier this week, when Richard Mulledy, the city’s public works director, elaborated on the situation.
“It was about a six-foot by eight-foot void,” he explained. “That void was really caused by an abandoned storm sewer line and then a leaking manhole. It’s something that we see from time to time, but really doesn’t happen often.”
Crews approached the problem from under and above the bridge, with workers excavating into the street to access the utility lines.
“The utility line being compromised was an active storm sewer line,” Mulledy said. “It was sort of hanging out in the open and was unsecured. The old storm sewer line had been abandoned for decades and was starting to fail.”
Crews removed the old stormwater pipe, repaired the manhole, and backfilled the void with a material called “flow.”
“Flow fills almost like a kind of liquid concrete,” Mulledy detailed. “And that’s a really great structural solution. So, we filled that entire thing up, made sure the void is closed, and made sure it’s structurally sound.”
He added that the bridge is around a century old, the same age as most bridges across the creek.
“This was identified and got fixed in 48 hours, rather than let something structural fail, and then we’d be in a big, giant construction project,” Mulledy said. “The structure itself, I don’t think, was ever really threatened.”
The closure ended on Saturday, June 13.
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