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<br /> <br />(.GJi <br /> <br /> <br />History <br /> <br />In 1859, discovery of gold in <br />the Arkansas River Valley in <br />Colorado brought many <br />settlers to the area, but few <br />were successful in their <br />search for wealth. More and <br />more gold seekers turned to <br />farming to provide for <br />themselves and their <br />families. As permanent <br />settlements were <br />established, farmers <br />discovered normal rainfall <br />was inadequate for <br />agriculture. The era of <br />irrigation began. <br /> <br />Early irrigation in the valley <br />depended on available <br />stream runoff from the <br />Arkansas River and its <br />tributaries. As irrigation <br />farming increased, a <br />demand developed for late- <br /> <br />....4':. <br />. lilt'", <br /> <br />season water which <br />couldn't be supplied by <br />unregulated streamflow. <br />Storage reservoirs were <br />needed. As a result. farmer. <br />owned irrigation companies <br />were formed between 1890 <br />and 1910. These <br />companies constructed <br />several storage reservoirs <br />having a total storage <br />capacity of nearly 600,000 <br />acre-feet. In addition, they <br />received water from <br />transmountain diversion <br />systems originally <br />importing only a few <br />thousand acre-feet <br />annually. <br /> <br />After years of drought and <br />hard-ship, residents of the <br />Arkansas Valley sought <br />government aid to plan and <br /> <br />3 <br /> <br />