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.
