Colorado is the Headwaters State. Four major rivers begin in its Rocky Mountains: the Colorado, the Rio Grande, the Arkansas, and the Platte. Because all of these flow out of Colorado to other equally arid states, competition for this limited supply occurs both within the state and across its borders.
The development and use of water, and the politics and law that accompany it--not to mention people and organizations with diverse needs that use it--have created a complex history. That history touches on agriculture, engineering, wildlife, recreation, and much more.
Researching Colorado's water history can be daunting! The resources presented in this guide will help you navigate water history from Colorado's headwaters to the state's borders--and beyond.
This guide is brought to you by the Water Resources Archive, the best place in the state to begin learning about the history of Colorado's most precious resource.
May 2024 - Blog post: Digging into Snow Survey History
May 2024 - New Topic Tour: Snow
March 2024 - New finding aid: Department of Earth Resources Collection
March 2024 - CSU's The Audit podcast (episode 20) on "The Story of Water"
February 2024 - New issue: Preserving the Source e-newsletter
Explore "Water Connections," a 6-minute video of clips from 22 interviews of retired or senior Colorado water professionals all answering the same question: "What stream or body of water do you feel most connected to and why?" (Might take a minute to load...)
Find more images and historical information in the Water Resources Archive.
Connect with library staff via chat, email, phone or text.
