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to another" - under our constitution. Finally, the formation, he said, of an organization by the Northern Colorado people would have the power and funds to "construct this project even though the federal government never participated at aiL" It was against this background of information that Frank Delaney laid before the attendees the foundation for the creation of what would become the Colorado River Water Conservation District. He said, "To me, this matter of conservation and use of water in the state is a thing of great importance. It is not going to be solved in all its details for years and years. When those of us who are here actively participating are gone, there will still be problems of this kind to solve. We thought that an organization designed something like the Moffat Tunnel District, with a very limited right to. raise funds, could do a very valuable piece of work." Delaney continued, "I. for one, thought that it would be a very desirable thing and probably what we ought to do for the protec- tion of ourselves and those who follow us in the future here in Western Colorado. Therefore, I put in something like three or four days in drafting a bilL" n And so it was that in 1937 Frank Delaney drafted the enabling I1Is originally conceived, the Colorado River District was to in- legislation forming the Colorado River Water Conservation c1ude six West Slope counties: Grand, Summit. Eagle, Pitkin. Gar- Distriet. Without question, he is considered to be "the father of field and Mesa. When the Board of Directors held their first the Colorado River District." His fellow attorneys, Dan Hughes, meeting in Glenwood Springs on September 24, 1937, there were Silmon Smith, and others reviewed his efforts looking for seven counties represented. Grand County declined to join, loopholes and objections and reportably found none. The bill sail- believing the proposed C-BT Project would not be in their best in- ed through the Colorado legislature. terests. Gunnison and Delta elected to come in. Delaney claimed the Conservation District would be set up as a The first president of this newly formed conservation district "counter-irritant to be used as a bulwark against attempted would be John L. Heuschkel, the director from Garfield County. future infringements of our rights, as well as to serve a useful Other directors and the county they represented were: Hume S. purpose in promoting our own resources over here." White, Eagle; Andrew Lindstrom, Summit; W.H. Whalen, Gun- It was perceived then that only counties along the main stem of nison; G.B. Brown, Pitkin; Starr Nelson. Delta; and D.W. Aup- the Colorado River would be included in the District, and that perle. former president of the Protective Association and now there would be a board of directors consisting of a member ap- Mesa County director. pointed by the county commissioners of each county. That ap- Present at this first meeting were two men who would go on to p~nted board would meet and approve plans of a preliminary play significant roles in Colorado's water history. They were ~~ure for the developmeot of the District. Further. Delaney's Judge Clifford H. Stone, attorney and director of the Colorado bill4provided for the creation of subdistricts "here and there and Water Conservation Board, also authorized by the state wherever there may be a feasible project." and the subdistrict legislature in 1937. who attended most of the meetings of the 3 must carry out the project by special assessment. In part, in its official language, the opening declaration of the River District statute approved in 1937 by the Colorado General Assembly reads: "In the opinion of the General Assembly of the State of Colorado...an appropriate agency for the conservation, use and development of the water resources of the Colorado River and its principal tributaries should be established and given such powers as may be necessary to safeguard for Col- orado, all waters to which the State of Colorado is equitably en- titled under the Colorado River Compact." THE EARLY YEARS I i