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~"''' i {u.. . General Description Subsequently, as a result of shronic water shortages, it became evident that most of tb8 ir-rigation districts had over- estimated the available water supplies and had overextended their service areas. At the beginning of the severe drouth of the 1930's, these water shortages becoo~ widespread, and many farmers developed ground water for irrigation. As the drouth cont1nued throU&~out the 1930 's, ground-water development in the South Plat.te River Basin expanded rapidly. . However, it had been apparent for a considerable time that additional surface water for irrigation would be required--particu- larly in the upper portion of the basin. The only practicable means of resolving the situation was by transmountain importation of water from headwater sources on the western side of the Continental Divide. Accordingly, in 1935, the Public Works Administration granted funds for a survey by the Bureau of Reclamation of' what was called the Grand Lake-Big Thompson project. The project was subsequently found feasible by the Secretary of the Interior and was approved by the President on December 21, 1937. Funds were included in the Interior Department Appropriation Act of 1938 (50 Stat. 564, 595) for construc- tion of the project in accordance with the plan described in Senate Document No. 80 of the 75~h Congress. Concurrently with the Federal authorization of the project, the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District was formally organized in 1937 and entered into a contract with the United States, through the Bureau of Reclamation, on July 5, 1938, for the repayment of project construction costs on what became known as the Colorado-Big Thompson PrQjec~. Most of the available Colorado-Big Thompson import.ations have been used initially in the upper basin above the Narrows area. The lower basin--i.e., t.he Narrows service area--has benefitted from the use of retur'n flows. However, most uf the return flows, or their equivalent, have been utilized by means of ground water withdrawals, leaving surface flows in the river about the same as before the Colorado-Big Thompson Project return flows mater"ialized. Thirty-three "irrigation systems now serve lands within the Lower South Platte Water Conservancy District. Four offstream reservoirs, "ackson Lake, Prewitt, North Sterling, and Julesburg ("umbo), serve about ten to twelve ditch systems in the Conservancy District. None of these reservoirs has sufficient capacity to assure adequate supplies for the systems served. The rema"inder of the ditch systems in the conservancy district rely on streamflows for their major source of supply. . 7