Laserfiche WebLink
in 1940 mentioned that where wells operated near the South Platte, surface flows were <br />surely reduced: “in those areas,” the repor t affirmed, “the wate r levels are being <br />33 <br />maintained at the expense of the river.” While acknowledging this connection, Code’s <br />34 <br />overriding concern continued to be the c onservation of an underground water supply. In <br />essence, he sought to avoid a disruption of the existing accommodation between <br />groundwater use and its availability, worrying that haphazard explo itation would lead to <br />rapid depletion. Like many cons ervation-minded scientists of his era, Code advocated <br />regulation of this natural resource largely to ensure its continued availability for future <br />use. <br />Environmental conditions encouraged and accelerated well-drilling. From 1930 to <br />1940, a savage drought seared Colorado and most of the West – the most widespread and <br />35 <br />longest lasting in the state’s history. Not coincidentally, irrigation wells also <br />proliferated dramatically during this time, from 654 statewide to nearly 3,000 by the <br />decade’s end, with nearly two-th irds located in the South Pla tte valley. The increase was <br />no accident. Even before the drought, advisors at a northern Colorado economic <br />conference recommended “that pumping from wells be encouraged as a supplemental <br />36 <br />water supply.” As the drought intensified, the South Platte’s flows dwindled <br />37 <br />alarmingly, and farmers looked to save their crops. Wells offered abundant water in a <br />time of short supply. <br />33 <br /> W.N. White and C.V. Theis, “Proposed ground-water investigations in the drainage basins of South <br />Platte, Arkansas, and Republican Rivers in eastern Colorado,” (United States Department of the Interior <br />Geological Survey, August 1940), 15. Box 15, GDC. <br />34 <br /> W.E. Code, “Use of Groundwater for Irrigation,” Western Farm Life , 15 January 1948. <br />35 <br /> Thomas B. McKee et al., A History of Drought in Colorado: Lessons Learned and What Lies Ahead <br />(Fort Collins: Colorado Water Reso urces Research Institute, 2000), 15. <br />36 <br /> “An Agricultural Program for the Irrigated Region of Northern Colorado,” 1930. Box 73, Colorado State <br />University Extension Collection (hereafter EXT). <br />37 <br /> White and Theis, 5. Box 15, GDC. <br />15 <br />