The Denver Post reports that southeastern Colorado has found a new sense of hope regarding the long-anticipated Arkansas Valley Conduit, which was authorized in 1962. The Conduit will bring mountain water from the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project’s Pueblo Reservoir 230 miles to serve more than 40 communities within the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, which includes Bent, Crowley, Pueblo, Prowers, Kiowa, and Otero counties. The systems currently rely on alluvial groundwater and the Dakota-Cheyenne bedrock aquifer. The groundwater often contains harmful levels of selenium, sulfate, manganese, and uranium. The aquifer also contains naturally occurring radionuclides, which also have health risks. Concerns about water quality, drought, and agricultural impacts have residents of southeastern Colorado relying on the completion of the conduit. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2022 and take 15 years to complete.
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