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o 1."') ....,. e.n ",1 o 1 I ;j _:-! .l .6. j Th prinoiples and provisions expressed in these stipulations have been approve by the WesternOolorado Proteotive Assooiation. representing' interests in weste n Colorado, and the Northern Colorado Water Users Assooiation !lS evidenoe by the letters hereto attaohed. SUMMARY The Colorado-Big Thompson projeot comprises 61,.000 aores of irrigated lands, 0 t of Il.pproxillfl,tely 800,000 aores lying under the oanal systems in the northern and northeastern portions of Colorado. The water supply for the area is t,o be derived from a portion of 782 squs.re m les ofdrailllLge area above Hot Sulphur Springs lying west of the Con- tinental ivide in Grand county, COlorado. and varying in elevation frolll 8,050 to 14,0 feet. mST ORY The early set irrigate high-wate irst irrigation in northeastern Colorado ooourred about 1860 Where the lers plowed out small ditohes with suffioient grade and length:ill I:ew aores 01: land in the first bottan--i.e. lands not ~r aboll'e the line 01: the streams and adjaoent to them. '1 The irst irrigation Of the higher or second benoh, lands along the Caohe La PoUdre River Wll-S by the Old Union Colony, of Greeley, in 1870. ,This C1010ny Wll-S organ zed by Horaoe Greeley, then editor of the New York Tribune, whO will be rememb ,red here espeoially for his advioe to eastern young men to "Go west and grow p with the oountry.1f ' i :~ :1 This oolony irrigated about 12,000 aores under their I:irst projeot and it Wll-S a suo ess trom the start, due in a large measure to the ,:taot the.t they were people 01: oonsiderable means and were then able to finanoe themselves over the period r ired to bring raw prairie land into profitable oultivation. This olony was soon followed by others along the Poudre at Fort Collins, on the Big Thompson, at Loveland and the st. Vrain n,8lI.r Longmont. The d ffioulties experienoed by these oolonists in distributing the Water bEltween th m led to the oreation of Colorado's irrigation laws whioh have been oople. by ost of the irrigation'States of the West. 't This developed enterprise ditohes an rrigated area of six hundred to eight hundred thousand a ores W$.S y means of individus.l initiative and by small soale oooperative . TOday there are 6,400 irrigated farms, served by 124 oanalsand 60 storage reserVOirs. .'j '1 'j IRRIGATION USE 1" , I ;1 .. I , j , 'J ~ 1 i early days irri!,;ation in this area was oonfined to grOWing orops to needs, the laok of transportation oontributing to high prioes for produotion and prohibiting shipping to distant points. The were mainly the grains and hay for looal oonsumption, with some .. t .1. l