Colorado River stakeholders ask Congress for $2 billion in emergency funds to address drought crisis

The coalition’s request for funding comes as another federal source of funding for drought mitigation begins to trickle into Colorado. In the final days of President Joe Biden’s term, the Inflation Reduction Act awarded $388.3 million to projects in the Upper Basin to mitigate the impacts of drought. This included $152 million awarded to 17 Western Slope projects. Three days later, President Donald Trump took office, and his Day 1 order, “Unleashing American Energy,” called for all federal agencies to “immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act.”