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Early settlers on lands east of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado found rich soils and an even climate requiring only a controlled water supply to produce bountiful crops. Winter snows on the eastern slopes melted rapidly in the warm early summer producing temporarily swollen rivers which dwindled to a trickle in midsummer. Rainfall was sparse and undependable. Pioneer farmers, therefore, banded to- gethertoJorm mutual stock companies to construct canals for irrigation of lands away from streams and to build reservoirs for impounding the early summer runoff for release later in the growing season. The canal and reservoir network is one ofthe largest privately financed irrigation operations in the world. The area's economy suffered, however, from recurrent water shortages. The Westem Slope had surplus water, and action to import the large quantities needed to assure mature crops on the eastern side of the Rockies was spurred by drought and economic depression in the early 1930's. The South Platte River Basin in northeastern Colorado is famous for its lush crops. Within the Northem Colorado Water Conservancy District are some of the best agricultural lands in the United States. From seed to harvest, a crop's require- ments are soil, air, sun, and water. The South Platte Basin has all of these in abundance:-except water. Average precipitation of 12 inches a year is not enough to support all of the irrigated agriculture even with the most efficient conservation. To supplement existing supplies for both farm and city users, water is imported from the western side of the Rocky Mountains via the Colorado-Big Thompson Project. The District distributes Project water for use on 750,000 acres to supplement the South Platte Basin supply. Addition- ally, the District supplies water to numerous industries, to more than a dozen municipalities, and to twenty some rural domestic water distributing agencies. . . A Better Land! . Public-spirited business and farm leaders overcame obsta- cles as big as the mountains themselves. They raised funds and organized support. While the engineering problems were being solved, they satisfied opponents that the project would help the state and national economy while not harming the Western Slope or mountain scenery. Their Northern Colorado Water Users Association, formed in 1934, invoked the aid of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (now called the Water and Power Resources Service) which not only had excellent design and construction skills but oper- ated under national legislation permitting power generation as part of the plan. Power revenues would make project con- struction economically feasible. Colorado legislation passed in 1937 (the first of its kind nationally) enabled formation of quasi-municipal corporations with power to levy taxes, enter into repayment and water delivery contracts, and operate and maintain 1"orks. The As- sociation, which stimulated the legislation, was replaced by the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, formed under the new law to be the contracting and operating organi- zation for the Colorado-Big Thompson Project. By free election, residents of the District agreed upon a repayment contract with the Bureau by a vote of 7,508 to 439. The contract was executed in 1938 obligating the District and, hence, the people of the area served, to pay for the irrigation works construction. With construction complete, the role of the NCWCDtoday is to meet construction repayment obligations, provide water for District water users, and maintain and operate those project features which directly serve the water users. Released from storage in the foothills reservoirs, Project water is delivered by the District to the South Platte River and its principal tributaries. Mutual ditch companies, municipalities, domestic distributors, and industries request Project water from the District and take it from streams into their distribution systems, some of which have been in opera- tion more than a century.