Colorado Water Legislative Forecast

Colorado’s 2026 legislative session kicked off this month—and it’s starting under a dry winter sky and a tight budget, creating tough conditions on the ground  and tough decisions at the Capitol. With a historic low-snowpack and a slow start to winter, the stakes for rivers, wetlands, and the birds and communities that depend on them are clear. At the same time, Colorado lawmakers are navigating an estimated $850 million state budget shortfall , which will make prioritization and partnership even more essential. Audubon’s water priorities this session are focused on outcomes that support birds and the wetlands, streams, and rivers we all need—and on bringing people together to find durable, workable solutions.

Colorado River Negotiations

Colorado is deep into the Colorado River negotiations  for nearly two years with little visible progress. In this era of aridity, the best path forward is flexibility and adaptability—the ability to respond to hydrologic extremes, protect critical environmental resources, and keep communities whole.

The next milestone is clear: if the seven Colorado River Basin states (AZ, CA, CO, NM, NV, UT, and WY) can agree on a river management plan by the federal February 14, 2026 deadline, Audubon will work with partners to help Colorado succeed. We’re hopeful the states can reach agreement and avoid legal fights—because in a courtroom, problem-solving and compromise are replaced by legal positioning, and the outcomes are often worse for both communities and the river.

As we navigate this, we will keep emphasizing what’s often overlooked: healthy rivers and wetlands are critical natural infrastructure for communities, and engines of the economy. They stabilize flows, improve water quality, and sustain habitats that birds and people rely on across the Basin.

Water Funding

With fiscal pressure mounting, Colorado must use limited dollars wisely. In 2026, we will advocate for water funding policies and investments that deliver measurable resilience outcomes—projects that reduce risk and provide multiple benefits, including drought resilience, wildfire recovery, water quality protection, and habitat for birds and other wildlife.

Audubon will work with partners to protect and strengthen funding pathways that support:

• Wetlands and riparian restoration, with practical implementation capacity to assist with planning and work on-the-ground, to build drought, fire, and flood resilience.
• Watershed-scale recovery efforts that protect water supplies and habitat.

In lean years, we need common-sense investments that keep Colorado adaptable.
 

Watershed Health

Watershed health is the throughline from headwater forests to the rivers that sustain our communities and migratory birds. A dry winter and low snowpack raise the stakes for headwater forest health, post-fire recovery, and floodplain function—because when landscapes are degraded, runoff comes faster and dirtier, impacts are more destructive, and late-season flows shrink

This session, we will also be very clear on defense: Colorado should protect existing pathways that support stream and wetland restoration. Across the state, restoration partners are already demonstrating early successes that improve habitat, reduce erosion, rebuild floodplain function, and support working lands. These are win-win projects, and we will continue to work to inform the water community about these win-wins and advocate for the policies and programs that support and allow such work to continue.   

Finally, we will support the rollout of Colorado’s Beaver Conservation and Management Strategy in a way that’s science-based and workable. Colorado Parks & Wildlife expects to publish the final Beaver Conservation and Management Strategy  in late February 2026, and getting implementation right will take many partnerships— collaborating with agencies, landowners, water managers, and practitioners so benefits can be realized while addressing legitimate water and road infrastructure management needs to address and reduce common beaver-human conflicts. 

What this means for birds: When we protect watershed health from forest to river—headwaters, riparian corridors, and wetlands—we protect the places where birds concentrate in the arid West: breeding habitat, migration stopovers, and the drought refuges that sustain populations in tough years. Species like the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher and Yellow Warbler rely on dense, connected riparian habitat tied to reliable surface water and saturated soils, while Colorado’s high-country streams support birds like the American Dipper, which depends on cold, clean, flowing water year-round—and on rivers that stay connected and resilient through drought and disturbance.

We’ll share action opportunities throughout the session so you can lend your voice to protecting and strengthening Colorado’s wetlands, streams, and rivers. If you haven’t already, join our Western Water Action Network  to stay in the loop and ready to act when it counts.