Funds for Climate-Tied Colorado Water Plan Drying Up Due to Virus

Plummeting oil and gas tax revenues and a state budget thrashed by the coronavirus pandemic means water projects in Colorado are facing a financial double-whammy.

And the odds are long that sports gambling—which launches in the state Friday and was supposed to provide supplemental funding for water priorities—will provide any short-term rescue, state water and gaming officials say.

The projected funding shortfalls are forcing state officials to “get creative” as they seek to shore up the state’s water supplies and protect the environment in the face of longer-term problems that stretch beyond the pandemic: drought, climate change, and burgeoning municipal ...