Water in the West-Wyoming Submission Topic Examples

Below is a list of topics from Appendix B of the 2020 Wyoming Statewide Programmatic Agreement on Irrigation Infrastructure. Consider the following as a general list of topics appropriate as subjects for content production on Water in the West. Main themes are listed as bold text. Highlighted items are listed as in progress, and linked items show what has already been done under that theme and topic. If a specific topic is highlighted or linked, consider how your content can expand upon what has already been produced or consider using a different theme or topic. If a topic, particularly a very specific one, has not yet been assigned and you would like to claim it, please notify Chris Johnston to mark the item as in progress. Topics and content need to be approved by the Wyoming SHPO prior to submission. 

1. Irrigation in Prehistory
   
   1. Nomadic to Settled Life
   2. Horticulture to Agriculture
      
      1. Crops
      2. Activities
   3. Cultivation practices
2. Wyoming Prehistory to Proto-History
3. Fur Trade to Pre-Territorial Era
4. Wyoming Statehood to WWI
   
   1. Tribes, Treaties, and Water Rights
      
      1. Treaties between the Federal Government and Tribes
      2. Supreme Court’s 1908 Winters v. United States decision
      3. Big Horn Water Adjudication
   2. Federal Acts
      
      1. Homestead Act (1862)
      2. Carey Act (1894)
      3. Reclamation Act (1902)
   3. Wyoming Water Administration
      
      1. Water Law and Water Rights
      2. “Duty of Water” – 1cfs/70 acres
      3. Social organization, litigation/feuds, and colorful characters
   4. Immigrants to Wyoming
      
      1. Knowledge of farming brought with them
      2. Early experiments in Agriculture
         1. Agriculture methods
   5. Building communities through irrigation
      
      1. Early communities
      2. Canal building
         1. Methods, failures, success
5. Industrial Irrigation (WWI to ~1970)
   
   1. Irrigation and Government Agencies (e.g., Bureau of Reclamation, CCC, NRCS, SEP, WWDO)
      
      1. Purpose, Actions, Methods, Locations
      2. Rise of Irrigation Districts, Canal Companies, Water Districts, and other irrigation entities
   2. Farming in the Industrial Age
      
      1. Improvements, modifications, large machinery, etc.
      2. Droughts and water banking
      3. Changing trends of agriculture
6. Modern Farming (1970 to 2020+)
   
   1. Changing Irrigation Ideals and Methods/Irrigation Efficiency
      
      1. Canals to Pipe (Water Conservation)
      2. Flood irrigation to Pivot and drip
   2. Changing demographics of farming
      
      1. Family Farm to industrial
      2. Ranching vs Farming
7. Irrigation methods and equipment
   
   1. Early irrigation methods (AD 1800s to 1930)
      
      1. How was a canal sited, dug, and built
      2. Moving water uphill and other challenges
      3. Water Storage and Beneficial Use (Flood Control, Irrigation, Hydroelectric, etc.)
   2. Industrial Irrigation methods
      
      1. Irrigation infrastructure funding, planning, and construction
   3. Modern tools, methods, and challenges
      
      1. Irrigation infrastructure funding, planning, and construction
      2. Environmental laws
      3. Water Availability
      4. Aging Infrastructure
   4. Definitions and examples
      
      1. Major terms
         1. Definition, figures, photos, and videos of use
      2. People’s jobs in irrigation
         1. Definition, figures, photos, and videos of use
         2. Oral interviews
8. Compiling Research on Canals and Irrigation Infrastructure
   
   1. Various site forms, pdfs, other videos, etc.
   2. GIS storymap
   3. Irrigation infrastructure GIS dataset
   4. Histories (e.g., oral, interpretive, or thematic)
   5. School curriculum
   6. Specific examples
9. Local Canal, Canal System, or Regional Irrigation History (could include any above topics but focused at a smaller scale on dingle canals or canal systems)