Colorado Turns Sports Betting Into Major Water-Project Funding
By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics
Funding for the state’s 2015 water plan started as a trickle. But sports gaming revenue has now turned that trickle into a steady stream.
The Colorado Division of Gaming announced this week that nearly $33.8 million from 2024-25 will be allocated to the Colorado Water Conservation Board to support the state’s water plan, with distribution to water projects set to begin in July 2026.
Estimates of the following year’s revenues are even better: a forecast of nearly $39 million that could help fund hundreds of projects throughout the state.
It’s a far cry from when the water plan got underway in 2015.
Back then, the expectation was that the state would need to invest approximately $100 million per year for 30 years between 2020 and 2050, ...