On January 25th, Colorado Senators introduced an amendment to the bill which would allot $125 million in aid to the state for the Emergency Watershed Protection Program, an effort to restore watersheds eroded by the wildfires that put communities in danger of flooding and contaminated water supplies. Colorado Representative Jared Polis offered a motion to allow the amendment to be considered in the House, but it was voted down 9 to 4, along party lines. The allocation was in the original Senate draft of the bill, which expired when the House adjourned without acting on the bill at the end of 2012.
Democratic Colorado Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet both spoke out about the House closing with no action on the Senate bill. In a statement on his website, Udall said, “Confronting the lasting effects of the High Park and Waldo Canyon fires is the fiscally responsible approach and could save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars over the long term.”
watersheds susceptible to runoffs into water supplies.
Bennet, in a statement, said that “It’s really unfortunate, given the history we have in this country to come together to aid a community in need following a disaster, that the House would not follow our lead in the Senate to include critical resources to stabilize our watersheds and protect our drinking water.” He will not oppose the bill, though, as he said “the victims of Hurricane Sandy desperately need this aid.”
Without the EWP funding, over 300,000 northern Colorado residents will be at risk for contaminated drinking water due to top-level soil eroded by the High Park fire last summer. So, too, would many in Colorado Springs, as a result of the Waldo Canyon fire leaving soil much more vulnerable to mudslides and debris flow after even an average rainfall. While the Federal Emergency Management Agency can provide some relief in that event, it would be “after the damage has occurred,” as Gardner said at rules hearing on the amendment. The Colorado legislators seek to prevent such an emergency altogether.