ArcGIS StoryMap

The Short Ditch begins in what was once described as Midway, a point in the valley of the North Fork of the Gunnison south of Paonia and north of Hotchkiss. From here it follows the base of the ridges and slopes to its terminus south of Hotchkiss. It is defined as a mutual ditch and was originally owned and operated by The Short Ditch Company. The segment of the ditch in this Storymap is owned by the Short Ditch Extension Company.

The Kannah Creek Aqueduct (5ME.16137) is a nearly twenty-mile-long underground water transportation pipeline conveying water from Grand Junction's intake facility to reservoirs and then to the City's water treatment facility in Orchard Mesa. The 1911 pipeline was updated in 2023 with funding from the Bureau of Reclamation's WaterSMART Program.

The historic Maybell Canal provides irrigation water drawn from the Yampa River to farm lands surrounding Maybell, Colorado. Construction and the initial appropriation of water for the canal began in 1899. The upper portion of the canal extends through Juniper Canyon, elevated above the Yampa River by a stone retaining wall, prior to crossing the river via flume and flowing towards Maybell.

In 2023, the Natural Resources Conservation Service partnered with local landowners to make improvements to the Ninemile Canal (5OT.448). The canal is a historical irrigation ditch in southeastern Colorado. The canal is approximately 9.8 miles long and located within the Purgatoire River Canon south of Higbee, in Otero County. The canal was constructed in 1888 and diverts water from the Purgatoire River near the confluence of Jack and Vose canyons and carries it east/northeast where it is further diverted for a variety of agricultural uses.

The Cañon Irrigation Ditch was first appropriated in April of 1857 and adjudicated in October 1883. The ditch is priority number 22 for this district and was originally allocated 42.7 cfs of water. The Cañon Irrigation Ditch is one of the oldest irrigation ditches in the state. The resource (along with the Antonito and San Juan San Rafael ditches) played an important role in the agricultural and community development of Antonito, Mogote, and Paisaje, Colorado and the surrounding areas. The resource was previously determined eligible for listing in the NRHP under Criteria A.

Red Top Valley Ditch (5GA.2773) was determined eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 2007. Completed circa 1903, the ditch was found to be significant under Criterion A for its association with early settlement and development of agriculture and ranching in the Grand Lake area. In June of 2021, NRCS again determined, and the Colorado State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) concurred that Red Top Valley Ditch retained a preponderance of historic integrity and was eligible for the NRHP.

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.

The Grand Tunnel Ditch (5GF.2913) was originally built in 1882 to irrigate approximately 17 acres outside Rifle Colorado. The ditch has been expanded and enlarged several times over the years and today the ditch irrigates between 500 and 700 acres of land annually. In addition to agricultural users, the ditch also provides water for residential and municipal irrigation. The resource was determined to be eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places for its contribution to the historic settlement and agricultural development of the area around Rifle, Colorado.