Biden maps big spending plans in the West, including in Colorado

The Biden administration is mapping out the billions of dollars in infrastructure and green technology it muscled through Congress — and much of those funds are focused in the West, Axios' Hans Nichols reports.

Driving the news: Colorado will receive hundreds of millions of dollars in new government spending for a series of projects to improve roads, tunnels, bridges and water infrastructure.

• The federal funding is also going toward more than 130 projects to address the drought crisis in the West.

Zoom in: The five most significant projects slated for the Centennial State include:

• $167 million for a new energy and minerals research facility on the Colorado School of Mines campus, allowing United States Geological Survey researchers to work alongside university faculty members.
• $60 million to construct a new pipeline in the Arkansas Valley region, bringing clean water to roughly 50,000 southeast Colorado residents by 2029.
• $56 million to finalize planning, design and construction for replacing the 2-mile-long Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel.
• $25 million to clean up about 700 orphaned oil and gas sites across the state.
• $10.8 million for the design and construction of the Navajo Nation Municipal Pipeline, a structural component of the Animas La-Plata Project.

The big picture: The federal government is infusing $7.3 billion worth of grants in more than 1,300 projects across the country.

• The Interior Department recently released an interactive map showing where the funding will be funneled.