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<br />Historical Perspectives on Colorado Drought <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />Colorado Drought <br /> <br />The History and Future of <br /> <br />everyone agrees? <br /> <br />not <br /> <br />is drough <br /> <br />What <br /> <br />Measuring Drought's Severity: A difficult task. <br /> <br />form? <br />comes around. <br /> <br />goes around, <br /> <br />future hold? <br /> <br />John Henz, Seth Turner, William Badini and Jerry Kenny <br />HDR Inc, Denver, Colorado <br /> <br /> <br />Ilmlentaml el'erythillg better. <br />Albert Einsteill <br /> <br />will <br /> <br />tim/you <br /> <br />;1110 nature, <br /> <br />/.0011. deep, deep <br /> <br />....... <br />'. <br />.... <br />". <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />(: <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />. '-:..3\ <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />": <br />-.' <br /> <br />G~' <br />American <br />Om" <br /> <br />Stephen Long. a U.S. Army lieutenant who passed through Colorado in 1822. giving <br />his name to the most visible peak in Rocky Mountain Nationall)ark, wrote ofT the <br />entire block of real estate that included Kansas. eastern Colorado and the Texas <br />panhandle as .. the great American desert." II is assessment was much the same as <br />Pike. \I,rho preceded him, even as to the limiting factor of the plains: <br /> <br />The Oreat <br />-....- <br /> <br />The Great Plains region is almost wholly unfit for cultivation. and of course <br />inhabitable by a people depending upon agriculture for their subsistence. <br />Although tracts of lcrtile land considerably extensive are occasionally met <br />with. yet the scarcity of wood and water, almost unifonnly prevalent. will <br />prove an insuperable obstacle in thc way of settling the countT)'o <br /> <br />The Great American Desert <br />covered the Great Plains from <br />eastern Wyoming to the Texas <br />Panhandle including all of <br />Colorado east 01 the <br />Continental Djyide. <br /> <br />(fwe are 10 plan water supplies ofColorado's future, a good place to start IS In the <br />understanding of Colorado drought: its history. its cycles, hO\v we measure it. where <br />it comes from and how we might plan for its occurrence in the future. Thc Drought <br />of 1999-2002 in Colorado has provided a rude awakening to drought's impacts on <br />modem life. A mandate to respond has been sounded. The time for decisive but <br />meaningful action requires that we humbly appreciate and understand nature's po\\':er. <br /> <br />who? //1I011l0W, whell?" <br />Johll F. Kelllledy <br /> <br />"//1101 tiS, <br /> <br />Page <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />where does precipitation come <br />wha <br /> <br />ilability: <br /> <br />Water ava <br />Drought cycles <br /> <br />might the <br /> <br />what <br /> <br />mpacts of drought <br /> <br />Drought is an insidious hazard of nature. Unlike tornadoes. hurricanes, floods and <br />fires, it sneaks up on the unsuspecting as a series of sunny, hot summer days or a <br />period of mild. breezy weather during winter. Drought builds slowly on itself until <br />has a major impact on our very exislence. Water supplies dry up. wells run dry and <br />crops whither. If it is very severe. cities and stales turn on one another to secure it. <br /> <br />....'l' <br />....... <br /> <br />Frederic Remington, the artist and Western historian. understood the importance of <br />water 10 the West, His famous painting. The Fight for the Waterhole, embodies the <br />very essence ofwater's importance to the Western way of life. <br /> <br />recycled COnlent paper <br /> <br />HDR Engineering. Inc. <br />Printed on 30% post..coosumer <br /> <br />