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WSP06131
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Last modified
1/26/2010 2:21:24 PM
Creation date
10/12/2006 1:27:05 AM
Metadata
Fields
Template:
Water Supply Protection
File Number
8149.911
Description
Miscellaneous Small Projects and Project Studies - SE Needs Assessment and PSOP
State
CO
Basin
Arkansas
Water Division
2
Date
8/1/2001
Author
US Army Corps of Eng
Title
Arkansas River From John Martin Dam To The Colorado-Kansas State Line Channel Capacity and Riparian Habitat Planning Study
Water Supply Pro - Doc Type
Report/Study
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<br />I <br />I <br />. <br />I <br />I <br />. <br />I <br />I <br />. <br />.. <br />. <br />. <br />,. <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />27 <br /> <br />1792 <br /> <br />traders and small communities were established to supply the growing demand for vegetable and <br />meal products as well as forage and grains for travelers, their livestock and eventually for the <br />growing military presence. Some even commented on the potential riches to be gained from <br />farming to supply produce to the miners rather than working in the mining districts (Steinel <br />1926:53,122-123; Ubbelohde et al. 1982:198; West 1998: 250-254). After the 1862 Homestead <br />Act as well as other factors many settlers were drawn to the west especially during railroad and <br />agricultural land promotions that occurred, especially during rainy years (Eddy et al. 1982: 17, <br />256-257). Humans were changing the west and the farmers plow. although with good intentions <br />"had consequences far beyond their understanding" (West 1995:97-98). <br /> <br />The U.S. Anny compounded the problem and added hundreds of horses and on-the-hoof <br />supplies that required forage along the trails and near their forts, which were located in prime <br />locations (Steinel 1926: 107). With all of this, the ecological system was more than strained and <br />began coming apart, leading to a climax in social tensions with the Sand Creek Massacre (West <br />1995:40-50). To compound the complex situation, "the monsoon" was over and a series of <br />droughts generally held the region from 1849 to 1862 (West 1995:38-39,79-81; 1998:89-90, <br />350-351). <br /> <br />By 1873, the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad had reached Coloiado and was <br />poised to move up the Arkansas Valley (Betz 1986:52; Taylor 1963:319-320). The railroad <br />grade, of course, following the old trails that followed the river was constructed along the <br />margins of the river's floodplain. To be near water and timber for crossties to constroct the track <br />and,in the early years, for firewood required by the old wood/coal-burning locomotives was a <br />necessity (West 1995:47-48). In numerous places along the valley the railroad grade tends to <br />confine flood-stage flows and restricts the river's ability to meander. The railroad grade also <br />redirects side drainage frpm upland areas to specific culvert. and bridged locations. This has <br />enhanced erosion in some areas. There are several records of floods having destroyed or causing <br />damage to significant amounts of railroad track (Betz 1986: 149, 1898 photograph; Nadler <br />1978:70, similar 1898 photograph; USACE 1970: 09-012). One 1904 localized cloudburst on <br />Hogan's Gulch, a tributary to Fountain Creek, caused a catastrophe when a railway bridge <br />located 8 miles north of Pueblo washed out causing an oncoming train to wreck killing over 100 <br />people (USACE 1973:48). <br /> <br />In the Arkansas River drainage area there were many irrigation water diversions <br />established, primarily in the 1880s (Milenski 1990, see Weiland Irrigation Division No.2 map <br />[inserted as end piece]). Many were abandoned for various reasons while many of the larger <br />canals, such as the Ft. Lyon, Amity, Fort Bent, and Catlin Canals, have consolidated and are still <br />in use today (Milenski 1990; Nadler 1978:58-63). "... along the Arkansas River below Pueblo, <br />the earliest priorities [for irrigation water] range from 1861 through the 1880s" (Milenski <br />1990:6). ''The earliest Bppropriation date listed in [Colorado State Engineer] Irrigation Division <br />2, March 31. 1859, is that of the Hicklin ditch on Greenhorn Creek" and the river and it's <br />tributaries were considered to be fully appropriated for normal years by the middle of the 1880s <br />(Abbott 1985:8). After the experiences of the harsh mid 191b Century droughts and the <br />devastating drought years of 1888-1897 many irrigators in the valley built upon the idea of <br />storing water during the good rainfall years for use during the dry years (West 1995:38-39,79- <br />81; 1998:89-90,327-330,350-351; USACE 1965:23). Many reservoirs were constrocted, <br /> <br />17 <br />
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