PUB00068

• Year: 1952
• Title: A Hundred Years of Irrigatioin in Colorado, 100 Years of Organized and Continuous Irrigation
• Author: CWCB
• Description: Irrigation history of Colorado
• Publications - Doc Type: Historical

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Royce J. Tipton
Consulting Irrigation Engineer, Denver

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Probably the history of the development of no other part of the
country west of the :>'iississippi River is as replete with the elements
of fortitude, ingenuity, and human endeavor as are the annals of those
of the irrigation development in Colorado. Beginning with the crude,
comparatively small, irrigation systems built by the aborigines in
southern Colorado, whose efforts extend into the unrecorded past, the
evolution of irrigation in Colorado has passed through numerous well-
defined stages of development, the more modern stages of which may b~
classified as follows: First, th~sporadic attempts by the early pioneers
to divert water through small ditches for-the---irrigatlon-of small fields
adjaceht to the . streams for the production of those foodstuffs which
found a ready sale in.the early mining camps of the State.

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pecond, the later developments through community effort, such as the
Greeley and Fort CoIlins"coloi1fes";-wher"ebY-1:arger-ditches-were'-laid out
and- constructed for diverting water from the streams and conveying it to
the uplands adjacent thereto, thus covering large areas of land.previously
considered to be infertile and valueless. These enterprises required
much ingenuity, a strong community spirit, and fortitude to overcome almost
insurmountable obstacles. .

The third phase in the development of irrigation in the State
required greater wealth than was available locally. As a result, large
sums of out-of-State capital were invested by corporations in enlarging
some of the canal. systems previously constructed, and in constructing
n~, systems for diverting still larger quantities of water for reclaiming
still larger areas of bench lands. l:@.J1y_ofthese ventures resulted in.'a
loss tgthe investor, with .the reslllt that in succeeding years practically
jlL of these canal systems became the property of the indi vi dual water
1l.ser_s ..through the formation of mutual companies.

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The fourth phase of development resulted when the basic flows of the
streams became over-appropriated. The available water supplies at
certain seasons of the year were entirely inadequate to supply the needs
of the canals, while at other seasons of the year large quantities of.
water wasted down the river into adjoining states. To correct this
condition, storage reservoirs were constructed to regulate the flow of
the streams.' As the financing of such developments was beyond the ability
of the individual, community effort was again resorted to. Legislation
vvas enacted which provided for the creation of irrigation districts.
Other legislation was passed which enabled a community of landowners to
issue certificates of indebtedness in the form of bonds for use in
financing these larger enterprises.