The history of water in Colorado is a story of natural history, geography, people, place, politics, and climate—and the myriad ways in which these different facets interact and overlap. Much of the state’s water history has been shaped by population growth. In particular, a tenfold increase in residents from 1900 to 2010 (U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.) was paralleled by a similar increase in competition and demand for the water in Colorado’s nine major watersheds and four major aquifers.| waterknowledge.colostate.edu
Water, the most fundamental, life-sustaining element in the natural world, has shaped the American West for millenniums. An overlapping tale of peoples, interactions, management, infrastructure and nature, the ever-changing role of water continues to shape the very fabric of Western existence in the United States. Water played a vital role in Indigenous cultures, impacting the...| The Rocky Mountain Collegian