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Water Advisory Committees: One Group, Multiple Funding Agencies – Colorado

Written by: A.J. Barney, Research Engineer, Southwest Environmental Finance Center

Funding for water and wastewater projects can be confusing to navigate, and it is generally provided by a variety of agencies in a state. Some states have made an effort to consolidate funding entities and partner agencies to provide a singular point of contact for assistance to communities in their region. In this blog series, you will learn about some of the existing Water Advisory Committees in the country, what they are, who they bring together, how they operate, and what assistance they provide to their state. In this blog, we will give an overview of the Colorado Statewide Field Coordination Meeting.

What is Colorado’s Water Funding Coordination Meeting?

The Colorado Statewide Field Funding Coordination Meeting was founded over 20 years ago and is an opportunity for water and wastewater funders to come together to discuss and provide updates on their programs. These discussions include affordability issues, project trends, and common funding roadblocks the funders in Colorado have observed. These meetings facilitate further collaboration by introducing funders and allowing for more targeted exchanges, where funders can discuss specific communities in need of more creative solutions and co-funding opportunities.

The Colorado Statewide Field Funding Coordination Meeting also helps funders work together to standardize their operating procedures and minimize duplication of efforts when creating funding applications.  In Colorado, there are many co-funded projects, and these meetings allow funders to cooperate better and increase their overall efficiency.

More about the meeting

The Colorado Statewide Field Funding Coordination Meetings occur twice a year and are held virtually. Meetings are attended by funders from the state of Colorado and technical assistance providers. Communities looking for funding are not included in these meetings, but funders coordinate with each other to set up additional meetings to include communities to discuss their specific funding needs. The funders in Colorado take a collaborative approach, do not treat each other as competition, work together to find communities the best fit and deal for funding, and bring as many funders as possible to the table to address the needs of the communities they serve.

Members

How to receive assistance

The Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) facilitates the Colorado Statewide Field Funding Coordination Meeting and is a great first contact for communities looking for help with their water and wastewater projects. DOLA provides information on funding opportunities, training, and technical assistance for communities in Colorado. DOLA also provides an extensive list of funding opportunities in Colorado that communities can reference to identify funding sources that may be most appropriate for them. Communities seeking funding for their projects may contact funders on this list. If another funding source is more appropriate for the community’s project, the contacted funder will connect the community with the more appropriate funder in the Colorado Statewide Field Funding Coordination Meeting.

Point of Contact

Desi Santerre