The Waldo Canyon fire burns an entire neighborhood in near the foothills of Colorado Springs, Colo. Tuesday, June 26, 2012. The state is poised to receive tens of millions in emergency watershed protection money thanks to Congressional passage Wednesday. (Helen Richardson/Denver Post)
WASHINGTON — Colorado is one step closer to receiving much-needed federal dollars to help repair damaged forests and waterways from last summer’s wildfires.
The Senate on Wednesday approved $65.5 million in federal emergency watershed protection money. The U.S. House of Representatives, after much lobbying from the Colorado delegation, passed the measure earlier this month.
The money was tucked into a continuing resolution that will fund the federal government through this year.
While local officials will still have to compete for the money, it is assumed the state’s needs for forest and water storage repair are stark enough to warrant grants.
“It’s really good news for El Paso and Larimer County and the whole state,” said El Paso County Commissioner Sallie Clark on Wednesday. Clark has personally flown to DC several times to lobby on behalf of her county, which was devastated by the Waldo Canyon Fire last year. “We don’t know exactly how much were going to get on this.”
Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat, said he was proud of the state delegation’s bipartisan effort to get the money.
“I’m grateful for the efforts of our state’s delegation, which worked together in this fight to secure these critical funds for Colorado,” he said, in a statement. “Passing this bill … will allow these communities to take the next step to complete the recovery process. These funds will help restore our land and repair critical infrastructure to help prevent larger costs and bigger problems down the road.”