(PUEBLO, Colo.) — Senator John Hickenlooper will join Senator Michael Bennet in Pueblo on Friday for the groundbreaking of the Arkansas Valley Conduit (AVC).

The AVC is a major water infrastructure project receiving $60 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Senators Hickenlooper and Bennet will join Department of the Interior (DOI) Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Gary Gold, Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton, and Director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board Becky Mitchell at the groundbreaking ceremony.

The AVC is a planned 130-mile water-delivery system from the Pueblo Dam to communities throughout the Arkansas River Valley in Southeast Colorado. The funding will expedite the construction timeline for the Conduit and allow for federal drinking water standards to be met more quickly by local water providers, according to Senator Hickenlooper’s Office.

The Conduit is the final phase of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, which Congress authorized in 1962. Hickenlooper and Bennet celebrated the announcement of this funding with local leaders in October.