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Water Development History <br /> <br />When most people think of Colorado they think about our mountains and their majestic scenery. They also <br />think of the rushing streams and rivers and our irrigated agriculture. The Colorado we know today is an <br />illusion that would disappear if the projects that those who preceded us built were to be removed from our <br />landscape. <br /> <br />Mesa Verde <br /> <br />The limited water supplies and the need for the storage of water has always played a significant role for <br />water users in Colorado. The first examples of using storage to meet the drinking needs of the people who <br />lived in Colorado exists at Mesa Verde. At the Far View Ruin a large doughnut shaped depression was <br />constructed around 750 A.D. as a reservoir that would provide a domestic water supply for nearby Far <br />View Village and other dwellers in the immediate area. Many other reservoirs like this one have also been <br />found in the park. <br /> <br />San Luis Peoples Ditch <br />The oldest continually used irrigation ditch in Colorado was constructed in the spring of 1852 on Culebra <br />Creek near the town of San Luis by settlers who came from New Mexico. Knowing that irrigation water <br />was needed, in order to provide adequate water for their crops, the settlers proceeded to dig what is known <br />as the San Luis Peoples Ditch. This ditch was constructed by the Spanish American settlers, six years <br />before the first gold discoveries were made near Denver. <br /> <br />Gold Rush <br />When the ‘Gold Panners' came to Colorado in 1859 they discovered that the amount of sand and gravel that <br />could be sifted in a pan was limited. Soon some of them came up with the idea of filing claims on <br />promising gravel bars in high altitude streams. Then they followed that with the building of rock or log <br />dams in the stream in order to divert water into a sluiceway. Serious problems soon arose. Miners <br />changed the way water was viewed in Colorado--from something that fell free from the skies to be shared <br />by one and all, to being something that was owned and fought over. <br /> <br />Irrigation efforts <br /> <br />Individual efforts <br /> <br />Some of the unsuccessful gold seekers stayed in Colorado to farm. If they were unsuccessful in getting <br />gold by prospecting they decided they would try to get it by the crops they raised. They knew that the men <br />in the mine fields and the new towns that were springing up would need food for themselves as well as for <br />their animals. <br /> <br />The first settlers located in the meadows near the streams, where native hay could be watered by flooding <br />and later harvested very easily. When they first began constructing ditches they were small and for the <br />most part served an individual farm. Most of the ditches constructed in the 1860’s were built by an <br />individual or two or three farmers joining forces. Often these ditches were too poorly and hastily <br />constructed to be long lasting. Spring high waters in the rivers often destroyed the crude diversion