The U.S. House on January 8, 2026 fell short of overriding President Donald Trump’s veto of the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act, a bipartisan measure tied to a long-running effort to deliver cleaner drinking water to communities in southeastern Colorado.

The override vote failed 248–177, well under the two-thirds threshold required. All of Colorado’s House members backed the override, but only 35 Republicans joined Democrats, leaving the effort roughly 40 votes short of what it needed.

At the center of the fight is the Arkansas Valley Conduit, a Bureau of Reclamation pipeline project intended to bring a more reliable municipal water supply to 39 communities across several counties east of Pueblo,serving up to 50,000 people.

Supporters argued the bill was a modest financing fix, not a new spending package. The legislation would have extended repayment terms for participating local water users from 50 years to 100 years and reduced the interest rate on repayment, changes the Congressional Budget Office estimated would cost the federal government less than $500,000 and would not affect federal revenues.

Trump vetoed the bill in late December, saying it would shift too much of the burden to federal taxpayers for what he framed as a local project that was originally meant to be paid for by the communities using it.

Colorado’s delegation had tried to keep the coalition intact ahead of the vote, circulating letters to colleagues emphasizing the bill’s low cost and the fact it had previously passed both chambers unanimously. With the override failing in the House, supporters are now looking for other legislative paths to revive the policy, potentially by attaching it to a broader package.