Colorado Water History

1. Colorado Water History By Travis Hoesli

2. Colorado Water History Here is a land where life is written in water the West is where the water was and is Father and Son of Old Mother and Daughter Follow Rivers up immensities of Range and Desert thirsting the sundown ever Crossing a hill to climb a hill still Drier Naming tonight a City by some River a different Name from last night’s camping fire

3. Colorado Water History Look to the green within the Mountain Cup look to the Prairie parched for water lack Look to the sun that pulls the Oceans up look to the Cloud that gives the oceans back Look to your Heart and may your Wisdom grow to power of lightning and to peaces of Snow Thomas Hornsby Ferril

4. Colorado Water History In the word of Ferril’s Poem we see • How water connects all aspects of life and environment. • Colorado’s climate and geology shape us. • Water was developed as Colorado became developed. • Colorado water ecology is formed by diverse watershed and prairies. • How the water cycle works • Moisture and rainfall determine water’s fate in Colorado. • Storms in Colorado can bring fury and peace.

5. Colorado Water History The story of Colorado water and be told by History Geography Science Economics Politics

6. Colorado Water History • Unit Objectives • Recognize the important historical dates in Colorado Water History. • Know the people that made a historical difference in development and use of Colorado Water.

7. Important Dates in Colorado Water History • 14,000 BC First people appear in Colorado. • 1 AD The Anasazi (ancient ones) move into Mesa Verde area to farm the mesa tops. • 450 Anasazi begin to build houses and develop pottery. • 750 Anasazi begin to build pithouses and live together in pueblos. • 1100 Anasazi begin building cliff dwellings and develop water delivery systems. • 1539-42 The Spanish explorer Coronado ascends the Rio Grande, then crosses the high plains into what is now Kansas. • 1664-1680 The Spanish enter Colorado searching for Indians at El Quartelejo, somewhere in the lower Arkansas Valley. • 1762 French Traders Paul and Pierre Mallet ascend the Arkansas River. • 1776 Escalante and Dominguez explore western Colorado and name many rivers and streams. • 1787 Governor Juan Bautista de Anza tries to settle Comanches at San Carlos on the Arkansas River. • 1800 Beaver trapping begins in the streams of the Central Rockies

8. Important Dates in Colorado Water History • 1819 The Adams-Onis Treaty defines the Arkansas River as part of the official boundary between the United States and New Spain. • 1820 Major Stephen H Long proclaims the High Plains "the Great American Desert.“ • 1822 Trading along the Santa Fe Trail, following the Arkansas River, becomes legal. • 1835 The Bent brothers and St. Vrain build Bent's Fort on the Lower Arkansas River. • 1840 – The Oregon Trail became heavily traveled. As more people ventured from the trail to find new routes to the west, Settlements popped up in Colorado.

9. Important Dates in Colorado Water History • 1849 Torrential rains and bitter cold batter the plains. • 1851 Hispanic settlers found San Luis, today the oldest continuously inhabited place in Colorado. • 1855 Irrigation on the Conejos River begins. • 1858 The Russell party finds gold along Cherry Creek, touching off the Pikes Peak Gold Rush of 1859. • 1859 David K. Wall diverts water from Clear Creek for farming near Golden. • 1859 Placer gold discovered on the forks of Clear Creek, and arrastras are brought in to crush ore to recover gold from hard rock. • 1861US Congress creates Colorado Territory. • 1862 Homestead Act was passed and many farmers arrived in Colorado to claim land. Cooperative ventures such as the Union Colony showed that large amount of water can be diverted to land higher and farther from the streams. • 1867John W. Smith builds the 24-mile-long City Ditch to deliver South Platte River water to Denver.

10. Important Dates in Colorado Water History • 1872 With increase in irrigation and demand for water the Colorado’s Territorial Courts started making water decisions. In that same year the Territorial Supreme Court recognized the appropriation doctrine in the Yunker vs. Nichols case. • 1870 Union Colony, now known as Greeley, is settled. Farmers begin water diversion. • 1871 Chicago-Colorado Colony founds Longmont and begins canal construction. • 1874 The summer is unusually dry. High temperatures, forest fires and grasshoppers abound. • 1876 Colorado becomes a state. • 1876 Doctrine of Prior Appropriation is included in the state constitution. • 1876 The "English Company" completes the Larimer and Weld Canal.

11. Important Dates in Colorado Water History • 1881 State Engineer’s Office was created to supervise the administration of water. • 1881 T. C. Henry begins construction of the Rio Grande Canal, completed in 1884. At the time it was thought to be the largest canal system in the United States. • 1882 North Poudre Canal completed. • 1883 The High Line Canal and Antero Reservoir completed to divert water from the South Platte River to Denver and other communities. • 1885 E. F. Hurdle installs Colorado's first centrifugal water pump near Eaton. • 1885-1886 Savage winter pounds the plains; 85 percent of the cattle perish. • 1887 Artesian aquifer in the San Luis Valley accidentally discovered. • 1893 A three-year drought begins destroying farms and fruit orchards on the high plains. • 1894 Walter Scott Cheeseman's new Denver Union Water Company consolidates the assets of 11 water companies and obtains an exclusive water franchise in Denver

12. Important Dates in Colorado Water History • 1901 Colorado General Assembly passes District Irrigation Law. • 1901 The court case Kansas v. Colorado begins over the division of the Arkansas River waters. It concluded in 1907. • 1904 Uncompahgre River Project begins to transfer waters via a tunnel from the Gunnison to the Uncompahgre River for farming. Completed in 1910, it was Colorado's first federal water project. • 1911 The court case Wyoming v. Colorado begins over the quality of water. It lasts 11 years. • 1922 Seven western states negotiate the Colorado River Compact to divide the river's waters. • 1922 Colorado legislature creates the Pueblo Flood Conservancy District and the Moffat Tunnel Improvement District, which leads to trans mountain diversion of water from the Fraser River.

13. Important Dates in Colorado Water History • 1925 Construction begins on the Grand Canal near Grand Junction • 1925 Colorado and Nebraska agree on dividing the waters of the Platte River. Twin Lakes Tunnel begun to bring water from Roaring Fork River to Twin Lakes and the Arkansas River. • 1925-1930 Southern plains plowed up in response to rain and high wheat prices left from World War I. • 1928 Colorado, New Mexico and Texas negotiate to equitably apportion the waters of the Rio Grande. • 1930s The Dust Bowl dries out the High Plains. • 1936 Colorado-Big Thompson Project is proposed in Congress. Approved in 1937, construction on the project begins in 1938 and is complete in 1957).

14. Important Dates in Colorado Water History • 1956 Upper Colorado River Projects begins, ultimately resulting in Blue Mesa Dam on the Gunnison; Rifle Gap Dam near Silt; Lemon Dam on the Florida River; and Paonia Dam near Paonia. • 1962 Frying Pan-Arkansas Project brings additional water to southeastern Colorado. • 1965 Cherry Creek flood causes extensive damage in Denver • 1966 New Mexico and Texas sue Colorado for failure to meet its obligations under the Rio Grande Compact. • 1976-77 Drought occurs in Colorado. • 1976 Big Thompson River floods.

15. Important Dates in Colorado Water History • 1981Construction of the Closed Basin Project begins; completed in 1992. • 1989EPA blocks construction of the proposed Two Forks Dam. • 1991Colorado Water Education Foundation created. • 2003 After drought court case began over use of Irrigation wells on South Platte

16. Colorado Water Hall Of Fame There are many people through out the history of Colorado that have contributed to the development of water in Colorado but here are a few that made huge contributions. • Herbert Hoover – As Secretary of State he played large role in 1922 River Compact. • Theodore Roosevelt – his experience as a rancher gave him a feel of the importance of water in the west and pushed for the passage of the Reclamation Act that had many Colorado water projects in it. • Elmwood Mead – was the first developer of water codes. • Charles Lory – Former ditch rider and president of Colorado A&M and National leader in water policy. • Michael Hinderlider – State engineer from 1923-1954. Was a strong advocate for water user and by the time he left in1954 his office administered 25,000 water right and regulated storage in 1800 reservoirs.

17. Colorado Water Hall Of Fame • Ralph Parshall – Colorado State instructor and USDA employee that researched and developed the Parshall Measuring Plume which is used through out the world to measure and regulate water use. • Delph Carpenter- Was the Greeley Lawyer that worked to write and pass the Colorado River Compact.