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" o o t- -.J ~ N IRRIGA nON ASPECTS OF THE COLORADO-BIG THOMPSON PROJECT H. E. Prater.!:./ IntroductiQn T;he Colorado-Big Thompson Project is truly a multiple-j;lUrpose development and one which has received widespread publicity. Its primary purpo.se is! transmountain diversion of surplus water from the Colorado River on tl!1e western slope of the Continental Divide to. supplement the present in~dequate irrigation supply for approximately 708, 000 acres o.f irrigable.l~nd in northeastern Colo.rado. on the eastern slope of the divide. The seconqary purpo.se of the project is the developmen,t of electrical en- ergy by uti~izing the 2, 800 feet of elevation through which the water falls during the :course of diversions. Other secondary, although important, purpo.ses are enhancement of recreational areas, preservation of existing fishing are!ls, and improvement of do.mestic water supplies. In this pa- per, the irfigation aspects of the project wHi be presented.. . History of lrrigation in Northeastern Colorado Although the exact time and place that irrigation farming was first practij::ed in the South Platte Yalley of Colorado. are not definitely known, it probably occurred about 1860 .as a result of the mining boom touched off;by the discovery of gold in 1858 and 18511. Many of the disap- painted galq seekers turned to farming to supply the faod and forage needs of the minets and resid~nts of the boom towns which mushroomed into. ex- istence. Dljiring the early development, irrigatic,m ditch and diversion sys- tems were li:rude and simple, built and o.perated by individual landowners to serve ea~ily accessible tracts of bottom lands .along the streams. Much more significant irrigatian history was made in the Sauth Platte Riveri Valley with the settlement of the Union Colony at Greeley in 1870. Tqis co.lony was the first to attempt large-scale irrigation de- velapment and was significant for the type of organizational pattern it initiated. T;his was a cooperative undertaking, with each member sub- scribing $15:5 and the trustees furnishing the land and building the irri- gation syste~, Two ditches diverted fram the Cache la Poudre to irri- gate the town lots to.. the sauth of the river and the farms on the bench land on the north 1bank of the river. ThEj success of the Union Calony and the construction of the railroads int'Q the area braught rapid development, and attracted land- hungry immigrants seeking agricultural opportunity in the new West. Expansion wllls rapid. Within 10 or 12 years, irrigation along the South Platte and it;S tributaries had reached a point where claims to the natu- ral stream flow during the irrigation season were greater than the actual flaw, especially in dry years. 1/ ;fteglOnai Engineer, Region 7, Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, Colarada:- ' ):, ;,> ,I .,