HB 20-1403 Summary

• Appropriates $19.88 million from the Colorado Water Conservation Board Construction Fund for the 2020-21 fiscal year to fund eleven water-related programs including satellite monitoring systems, floodplain mapping, weather modification, and watershed restoration.

• Authorizes three major loan programs totaling $130.48 million from the severance tax perpetual base fund: $23.23 million to Pueblo Conservancy District for levee repairs, $17.25 million to Tunnel Water Company for Laramie-Poudre tunnel rehabilitation, and $90 million to Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District for the Frying Pan-Arkansas project.

• Transfers $2 million to restore the litigation fund and $1 million to the fish and wildlife resources fund from unreserved cash in the construction fund.

• Appropriates $10 million as a grant (rather than loan) to the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District for nonfederal cost-share funding for the Frying Pan-Arkansas project.

• Modifies statute to shift fund transfer deadlines from 2020 to 2030 and reduces a prior appropriation from $1.7 million to $833,258 for water resources demand management program development.