U.S. Reps. Ken Buck and Scott Tipton and U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner have asked for the continued funding for a 130-mile water pipeline that would serve 50,000 people east of Pueblo.

The Arkansas Valley Conduit “is necessary to address significant health concerns linked to radionuclides that are currently contaminating the Lower Arkansas River Valley water supply,” the officials wrote in a Nov. 24 letter to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

Groundbreaking occurred on Oct. 3 of this year. Congress originally approved the AVC in 1962, but the beneficiaries were not able to repay the construction costs, so the project did not proceed. Congress in 2009 amended the original law to allow for 65% federal funding.

Buck, Tipton, Bennet and Gardner hoped the U.S. Department of the Interior’s 2022 budget request would “sufficiently fund the ongoing design, land acquisition, and other pre-construction activities that will soon lead to the first construction contract.”

Earlier this year, Gardner announced the first $28 million in funding toward the approximately $500 million project.

“The construction of the Arkansas Valley Conduit is so important for rural residents of Southeast Colorado who need clean drinking water,” said Buck in a statement, thanking the other members of Congress for joining him in the request.