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. lOne of the firstatte;r.nptsto deve,lop a plan for divertingw,ater o from'thel'We'sternSlope to the area now included in the Northern Color e; rado Wa~'ereorrse:Mrancy District was in 1889 when the statelegislature ... al?propri~ted'$~5, MOror a survey l:ly M~xwelL The first or.der for the .. ...... wIthdraw!al of We:sternSlope hind now wIthin the Colorado-BIg Thompson (,0.;1 Project' was made in 1904. In.this same year, . the Rec1arnationServiGe ~> made a r;eport in which it suggested that the elevation of Grand L.ake l:le raised aqd a tunnel driven from Grand Lake to the Big Thompson River or to St. !Vrain Creek. ; ., ~he interest shown l:lY northern Colorado irrigators in a sup- plementa\ water supply from the Western Slope continued togrow, and in August! 1933 fu.nds were made availal:lle for a study of the feasil:lilitYi of a trans;'mountain diversion project similar in scope to the Colorado- Big Thompson Project. Conclusions reached from'this study were fa.- voral:lle, and in 1935 a PWA allotment of $150, 000 was made for a. . survey ofjthe Grand Lake-Big Thompson Project, which was renamed the Colortf-do-Big Thompsonproje.ct in 1936. The project, as d.escril:led in Senate pocu;ment 80, was, authorii?'ed in 1937 l:lY the Congress and the . Presidenti and funds with which to ini.tiate constrllction were appropri- ated in thEl Interior Department Appropriation Act of August 9, 1937. . Legis1atio)1 which permitted the form.ation of a conservancy district for . negotiatio~ of contracts with the Federal Government and the collection ofas:sess$ents and tax levies was passed by the State Legislature in . ' 1937. In ~938, a contract was negotiated with the newly organized North- .. ern Colorli\do Water Conservancy District for repayment of project irri.- gation cos~s. Construction of sever.al project features was also initiated that same year, and, with the exception of the period during World War. II when co~struction was curt. ailed, work on the project has been continu- ous. The first diversion through the Alva B. Adams tunnel, piercing the Continental Divide, was accomplished!n the Summer of 1947. This diver- sion of water marked the ,first tangible evidence in the solution of an ever- present pr~blem--inadequate supplies of irrigation water--which has plagued th~ irrigator in northern Colorado for half a century. General Plrn of Project j T~e Colorado-Big Thompson Project is designed to divert an average of ~10, 000 acre feet of water annually through the system. Most recent studtes, based upon the 1!;l20-1947 period, indicate an average an- nual divertiple yield of 257, 700 acre feet after full allowances 'are made for evapora~ion losses, releases for fish life, and prior rights on the Western Slqpe. Possil;>ilities for expansion of the collection system are being inves~igated. . Beginning with the replacement features on the Western Slope and proceed~ng in sequence with respect to the flow of water from source to destinatiqn, the plan of the project is described as follows: . Surplus water is stored in Green Mountain Reservoir on the Blue River and re- leased at ap~ropriate times to avoid interference of transmountain diver- sions with existing water rights on the Colorado River and to assist in ., I 3