Colorado-Statewide

The 1902 Reclamation Act changed the landscape of the west by authorizing federal irrigation works in the western United States. Learn more about the act by clicking the DOWNLOAD link below for a PDF. 

Authors: Katie Arntzen, Bureau of Reclamation

This 2005 context document by Dr. Michael Holleran is a comprehensive overview of the history of water supply systems in Colorado. It provides details on the types of historical resources that are a product of these water conveyance systems, with a particular emphasis on how to evaluate these resources for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The context begins with a detailed history of water supply systems in Colorado, from the earliest settlers in the region and continues to more recent times describing municipal water systems and other non-agricultural water use.

Irrigation Ditches and Canals: Historic Water Management in Colorado is an ArcGIS StoryMap detailing the statewide history of ditch irrigation in Colorado. Ditch-irrigation was - and still is - the backbone of Colorado agriculture. Unfortunately, due to their age and increasing demand for water, many historic ditches in Colorado have been, or soon will be, replaced with buried pipelines. Though often overlooked, these nonrenewable resources may yield unique information about past societies and environments, and provide answers for modern day social and conservation problems.