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

Gold! 1858

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

Dust Bowl: 1930s

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