Lamar Open House Set for Conduit Project

Residents along the Arkansas River will be given an opportunity to comment on an environmental impact statement regarding the Arkansas River Conduit project, running between Pueblo and Lamar. 

The Bureau of Reclamation has set up a series of public hearings between September 24 and 27 in various locations.  One will be held in La Junta on Wednesday, September 26 at Otero Junior College from 6:30pm to 8pm and one will be held in Lamar, Thursday, September 27 in the multi-purpose room at the Lamar Community Building, also between 6:30 and 8pm.  Each of the public hearings will be preceded by an Open House.  The Reclamation Bureau will accept written comments on the EIS until October 30, 2012. 

The conduit project has been in planning stages since the early 1960s.  Some 32 communities and entities between Pueblo and Lamar will share in the cost of constructing a pipeline conduit to supply potable water to points between the two cities.  The estimated cost is $360M and the impact study of the project was recently funded by the federal government, the first time in many decades that interest has been shown in the project.  The federal government will fund a substantial cost, however each municipality along the conduit will also bear a portion of the project. 

A copy of the draft EIS is available at www.usbr.gov/avceis.