A bipartisan group of state lawmakers Tuesday urged Colorado’s two U.S. senators to support federal funding that will help the Colorado River Conservation District and its partners achieve their goal of buying the state’s largest and most senior non-consumptive water right.

The project, which dates back to 1902 and is named for the Xcel power plant just east of Glenwood Springs, is known as the Shoshone water right. The Colorado River flows through the turbines at the Shoshone power plant.

Tuesday’s letter from the General Assembly was signed by 16 lawmakers, which includes every legislator, Republican or Democrat, who represents the Western Slope, as well as members from the rest of the state who sit on the House and Senate agriculture committees. That includes House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon; Reps. Karen McCormick, D-Longmont and Marc Catlin, R-Montrose, who led the House Agriculture, Water and Natural Resources Committee; and Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco and Jeff Bridges, D-Greenwood Village, who lead the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

“Hot temperatures over the last 23 years have diminished the flows of the Colorado River by 20%, and sound science tells us we should anticipate and plan for further significant reductions,” the letter stated. “Without the Shoshone water rights, Colorado River flows would be significantly lower, (especially in drought years), diminishing over 250 miles of connected ecosystems that rely on the river’s flows to support Gold Medal fisheries and critical habitat for native, threatened, and endangered fish.