Amazing Ways Sports Betting Helps Colorado Water Supply

What does Colorado’s sports betting and its water supply have in common? Continue reading to learn how Colorado sports betting is affecting the future supply.

Most people associate Las Vegas with gambling and water supply. Lake Mead is another example. California should be included in the same conversation as Lake Mead. They are the largest users of Lake Mead’s water.

The Lake Mead situation also includes Colorado. The Colorado River runs from Colorado through Utah and Arizona to Lake Mead. Rainwater makes up only a small portion of Lake Mead’s water.

Lake Mead is dependent on snowmelt from the Rocky Mountains.

The Colorado River flows into Lake Mead from melting snow from the Rocky Mountains. Because of the small amount of water flowing from Colorado to Nevada, Lake Mead is in crisis.

Colorado Water Supply

What about Colorado’s water supply discussion? Colorado often forgets about the water supply debate in the southwest. California and the desert are often at forefront of these issues.

The government of Colorado is using legal Colorado sports betting to combat water shortages. The state is using the revenue from Colorado sports betting to help with societal issues.

The Colorado Water Plan is an initiative that aims to identify and solve problems for water supply in the future. The Water Plan also addresses watershed projects that require immediate attention. It is wise to start programs now, rather than waiting until it is too late.

No matter your opinion on climate change, or whether you believe it is caused by natural cycles or human behavior, everyone agrees that the water supply must be addressed. The state’s government uses Colorado sports betting as an instrument. Let’s look at how Colorado’s water supply and sports betting are intertwined.

Colorado Sports Betting

In November 2019, Colorado voters approved legalizing sports betting. With legal sports betting becoming legal in Colorado, the process was expedited. The launch date for legal sports betting was May 1, 2020.

Colorado, unlike other states like Minnesota and Maine, had a framework and was able to act immediately. Two years ago, Colorado made its first legal sports wagers.

The government had a plan in place for sports betting, but it was also responsible for distributing funds for public projects. Is Colorado’s sports betting profitable? You bet.

Let’s take a look at the Colorado Department of Revenue‘s monthly breakdown of numbers:

MONTHLY COLORADO SPORTS BETT REVENUE REPORT

May 2020 – $2.57 MILLION

August 2020 – $7.52 million

October 2020 – $17.4 million

January 2021 – $23.14 Million

June 2021 – $19.73 Million

September 2021 – $22.66 million

November 2021 – $36.78 million

March 2022 – $28.24 MILLION

June 2022 – $6.78 Million

September 2022 – $51.34 million

These numbers are from September 2022 in Colorado. The start of the football season saw Colorado’s gambling boom. While the public was inflicted with severe pain, both sportsbooks and the state prospered.

Colorado taxes sports betting at 10%. The net revenue from sports betting must be reported to Colorado as 10%.

What can Colorado do with all this extra cash? It is obvious that sports betting has been illegal for only two years.

Colorado uses sports betting revenue in four areas. The Colorado General Assembly states that the revenue will be used to fund the following:

Administrative costs from the Division of Gaming, Department of Revenue

For reimbursement of casino gaming tax revenue, the Hold Harmless Fund will pay 6% to those who may lose their current casino gaming revenues.

$130,000 was distributed to counseling services and a hotline for gambling crises at the Office of Behavioral Health within the Department of Human Services through the end of 2023.

The rest of the revenue goes to the Water Plan Implementation cash Fund. These funds go towards the Colorado Water Plan.

Colorado Water Plan

What is the State Water Plan (SWAP)? Colorado uses the Water Plan Implementation Cash Fund to combat and resolve problems.

These projects include those that will be beneficial to the state’s ecosystem for many years. According to the Colorado Water Conservation Board, the Colorado Water Plan was implemented in 2015.

Governor John Hickenlooper then implemented the grassroots program to create basis-specific and statewide projects in the water supply. This program is designed to benefit Colorado’s water users now and into the future.

There were currently 240 water projects in Colorado as of 2020. The Colorado Water Plan is moving in the right direction with the introduction of sports betting. Not to be confused with the fact that the 240 projects were started before Colorado legalized sports betting.

The program’s future is bright thanks to the revenue from Colorado sports betting. The Colorado Water Plan has four major goals going into 2023: healthy watersheds and resilient planning; robust agriculture; and vibrant communities throughout the state.

Water Plan Cash Fund Contributions from Sports Betting

Are you convinced that sports betting is helping? Sports betting in Colorado is a huge asset. Officials are left wondering why it wasn’t legalized years ago.

Before legalization, there was a lot of money missing from the states that went to offshore sportsbooks.

The Gaming Commission approved $11.4 Million in funding for the Colorado Water Plan in the second fiscal year. This represents a 43% increase in sports betting in Colorado over the previous year.

The State Water Plan should be reassured that sports bettors are taking care of them as sports betting continues to grow in popularity. If the Broncos lose many games, they would be grateful. Casual sports bettors will be more inclined to place bets on their team.

Conclusion

This extra money has been available to most US states over the past few years. Legalized sports betting has led to governments using the revenue for state-funded projects.

This money would be a disappointment to all taxpayers in each state. It is working well in Colorado right now. The state can decide how to spend the sports betting revenue.

Legalized sports betting will change the landscape of Colorado gambling. This is a positive change. They are happy about these changes, much to the delight of the Colorado Water Plan.

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