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! . o The\next step was the construction .of storage reservotrs and o the utilization of .flood waters fromsprtng snowmeH and"ratns. Durtng l-a the'peri'od.fr~m 1BBO'to 1900, mutual reservoir companies came into -...Jexistence; . 'I\hesecompani.es constructed numerous offstream storage W . reservoirs,JiI,ot only. to furnish supplemental water for ditches with Wdirect'-flowTightsbut also to develop new lands. Further expatlSionof. irrigationtn 'he valley was atded by the enactment of state laws author- zing the form~tion ofirrtgation distrtcts through whtch bonds could be issued to finaflCe projects requiring large capital outlay, Expa:nsion of irrigation tn the lower valley by the proniotion and formation! of trrigation dtstdcts was the last major surface trriga- tton developm;ent tn the South Platte VaHey. By the outbreak of World War I, stgnifi~ant irrtgation expanston had come to an end, and stnce that time trrt~ation tn the valley has been tn a static state of develop- ment. . The litstory of trrigation in the South Platte River VaUeyhas been one of ab~lOst constant overdevelopment. As irrtgable land has always been pllentiful, H was natural in the process of water develop- ment for irrtg~tion companies to spread the cost of. irrigation works over as large $.n acreage as possible in order to attract a maxtmum number of land buyers and new settlers. Thts brought -more acres un- der irrtgation than could be served adequately by the avaUable water. Also consecuUye years of abnormally htgh predpHation whkh occurred tn the late ntne~ies and the early 1900's encouraged overextension of the. trrigated acre~ge: This overdevelopment of trrtgated land in relation. to the water supply has resulted in perennial shortages for many ditches having water ri!.ghts of late priortty and has caused a very critical situ/" ation over most of the basin dudng seasons of low predpitationand ab~ normally low r~':'off. Through the delivery of badly needed supplemel::\- tal water, the Golorado-Btg Thompson Project wHl contdbute greatly to the allevtation ~f these shortages. . Early Phases o~ Water 1Il!Portations. j , , The hn,'pdrtation of water from streams in other drainage ba- sins was recogn!ized early as a practical means of obtatning supplemen- tal supplies. The first decree for transmountain dt.version tnto the South Platte Ba~tn was granted tn 1882. The diversion works consisted of a canal with a; capacity of 10 second feet to car,ry water from Michigan Creek, a tribut~ry of the North Platte River, to the Cache Ill. Poudre River. Similar projects followeduntH at present there are 10 transmoun- tain diversions, iexclusive of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project, which import water intb the Cache la Poudre and Big Thompson Rivers from the Laramie, the Ndrth Platte, and the Colorado Rivers. The largest of these projects isj the Grand River DUch which collects and diverts about 20,000 acre feet I annually to the Poudre River from the mountain slopes that feed the Nor~h Fork of the Colorado. The value of this imported water became evident, and visions of larger projects began to take form. <.~ ;-;, ;':',~' -:' 2 ~',.'...' "