In the West, water
flows towards
moneyTHE HISTORY OF COLORADO AND ITS WATER
Irrigation from Aquifer
History of water usage in Colorado
First peoples
Mesa Verde: Ancestral Puebloans
Check dams and
terraces: 650 CE -
1200 CE
Ute Indians
Cheyenne (Valley Rosebud)
The borders takes shape
Europeans arrive in Colorado
Colorado Territory
1803-1860
Colorado State: 1876
Rivers:
South Platte
Colorado
Arkansas
Rio Grande
Santa Fe Trail: 1792-1880
Acequia: People’s
Ditch, 1852
Pikes Peak or Bust
Colorado becomes part of the US
Emigrants’ Guides
Oregon Trail: 1846-1869
Rain follows
the plow
Homestead
Act
1862
Water Wars: 1874
Union
Colony
(Greeley)
V.
Fort Collins
Agricultural
Colony
Water and the Law
Colorado Doctrine:
First in time, first in right
Colorado River
Compact: 1922
Post War Growth
The demand for water increases
Denver Population
2015
Denver: 648,937
Denver metro: 2,951,798
Rank among US cities: 21
Denver Water Supply
Big Thompson project: 1938-1958
18 dams
10 reservoirs
Adams tunnel
6 power plants
33 cities
830,000 people
The Future
Long-term drought and Colorado’s rivers