Colorado's Water History

Colorado's water history!

Water history is a combination of natural history, geography, social and political history – people, place, and climate – and the interactions between facets of each.

Let's explore

Colorado's population has grown from half a million people in 1900 to 5.7 million in 2020. The increasing demand on a limited water supply has caused much conflict -- and cooperation.

Colorado has 5 major watersheds...

These factors - and many more - are vitally important to Colorado's water history.

...and 4 major aquifers.

...fed mainly by mountain snowpack...

Watershed Events in Colorado's Water History

Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, and the Department of the Interior began negotiations about implementing the Endangered Species Act along the Platte River in 1994. The process yielded a Cooperative Agreement in 1997, but conflicts, discussions, and compromises continued until 2006.

The Echo Park Dam controversy of the early 1950s pitted environmental groups against western Congressional representatives. The dam was proposed as part of the Colorado River Storage Project but was removed from the legislation before its passage in 1956.

On July 31, 1976, the Big Thompson River flooded below Estes Park. The flash flood killed 144 people and caused over $35 million worth of damage.

Yampa River

South Platte River

White River

The State Engineer's Office was created in 1881. This made Colorado the first state to have public officials administer private water use, and the first to have a dedicated water management office.

1937 saw the passage of legislation enabling the creation of water conservancy districts and water conservation districts, as well as the birth of the Colorado Water Conservation Board. This set of firsts enabled the start of the Colorado-Big Thompson transmountain diversion project the same year.

Arikaree River

Wayne Aspinall began his tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1949, serving until 1973. In the 1950s, he was a major sponsor of the Colorado River Storage Project.

In 1876, Colorado became the 38th state. The state constitution included the law of prior appropriation. In 1882, the state Supreme Court reaffirmed the doctrine as the basis for water rights in Colorado.

Colorado River

Colorado and six other states negotiated the Colorado River Compact in 1922. This was the first interstate river compact, conceived by Greeley water lawyer Delph Carpenter as a way to reduce interstate water litigation.

Recurring Drought

1930s

early 1950s

late 1970s

early 2000s ...

Gunnison River

In 2005, the Colorado legislature passed House Bill 05-1177, the "Colorado Water for the 21st Century Act." This created basin roundtables and an Interbasin Compact Committee, with the overall purpose of collaboratively resolving water supply challenges.

The Uncompahgre Project was the first Bureau of Reclamation project in Colorado. It was authorized in 1903, a year after the Bureau was created. Much of the construction was completed by 1912.

Arkansas River

The U.S. Supreme Court decided the first Kansas v. Colorado case in 1907, six years after litigation began. This marked the beginning of litigation over interstate water conflicts.

Dolores River

The Colorado Ground Water Management Act of 1965 created the Ground Water Commission and designated groundwater basins. This coordinated surface and groundwater law administration under the Division of Water Resources.

In 1852, Hispanic settlers dug the People's Ditch in the San Luis Valley. This is the earliest recognized water right in Colorado.

Purgatoire River

Animas River

Rio Grande

In 1988, Congress ratified the Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement, which ensured the water rights of the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute tribes. The protection of Native American water rights stems from the 1908 Supreme Court case Winters v. United States, which said that a tribe's water rights dated back to the establishment of a reservation and could not be lost through non-use.

Piedra River

Cimarron River

Prezi created by A. E. Barkley, edited by P. J. Rettig

September 2012

Water history flows onward...

Hopefully this has "wet" your appetite for further exploration!

Image Credits:

For more information, surf over to:

CSU Water Resources Archive:

• Papers of Delph E. Carpenter and Family
• Groundwater Data Collection
• David McComb Big Thompson Flood Collection
• Ival V. Goslin Water Resources Collection
• Papers of Arthur L. Littleworth
• Digital Photographs of Bill Green

University Historic Photograph Collection, CSU

Colorado Water Conservation Board

Colorado Division of Water Resources

Colorado Foundation for Water Education

National Park Service

Daniel Dalet / www.d-maps.com

PRISM Group and Oregon Climate Service, Oregon State University

Pueblo Chieftain

www.lifeboat.com

Water Resources Archive,

Colorado State University Libraries

https://lib.colostate.edu/water/

Colorado Water Center

https://watercenter.colostate.edu/

Water Education Colorado

https://www.watereducationcolorado.org/

Colorado Water Conservation Board

https://cwcb.colorado.gov/

Colorado Division of Water Resources

https://dwr.colorado.gov/

Prezi created by Patricia J. Rettig and Alan Barkley, Water Resources Archive, Colorado State University, September 2012; updated September 2022