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Pathfinder #3:
Resources for water research at the Center of Southwest Studies and elsewhere

 

Collections for water research at the Center

Books on Southwest water issues 

Links to other resources for water research in Colorado and nearby

While other collections at the Center of Southwest Studies may also contain documents that are useful, the following are likely to be the richest source for information about water issues pertaining to the Four Corners region.  The arrangement of this list is alphabetical by collection title.

M 092: Animas-La Plata collection inventory.  Records retained from several sources regarding this federal water development project near Durango in southwest Colorado.  The collection strengths are printed materials by both proponents and opponents of the project (especially the latter); eleven folders of public responses to environmental impact study reports; newspaper clippings; and materials documenting the project's legislation.  At the end of this collection are several folders of materials pertaining to a related federal project, the Dolores River Project.

M 022: Colorado River Basin Pilot Project records.  Weather records: temperature and precipitation data compiled by Western Scientific Services, Inc. (Fort Collins, Colo.), 1969-1975.  5 boxes.

M 091: Colorado Water Conservation Board publications.  Reports, publicity, and other records and publications, 1950-1969, in 2 document cases and 1 records box.

I 011:   Includes microfilmed records of irrigation disputes of the H.H., Carracas, Animas, and Ignacio Mesa Ditch companies, circa 1905-1911 at the end of roll 4 (formerly roll 6a).

C 004:  Hayden Survey maps (Colorado and adjacent territory, mid-1870s).  Two series of maps: the first, of four sheets, each covering the whole State of Colorado; the second, of twelve sheets, presenting the results of the field work of 1873, '74, '75 and '76, covering the entire State of Colorado and adjacent portions of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.

M 032: Jim Dyer collection inventory.  Records retained from Jim Dyer's personal and political life, including the Colorado state legislature.  See the inventory’s index for records pertaining to water.

M 201:  Montezuma Valley Water Supply Company (Colo.) records inventory.  The Company's bills and receipts, cancelled checks, financial documents, legal evidence, payrolls, stock certificates, and vouchers, from 1886-1889 (bulk 1887-1888).  In 2 document cases.

M 103 and I 052: Pine River Irrigation District (La Plata County, Colo.) records.    Records relating to the construction and operation of Vallecito Reservoir (Bayfield, Colo.) and related irrigation in La Plata County and vicinity.  Includes annual reports, operations reports and statistics.  In 10 document cases and on 3 rolls of microfilm.

M 154: San Luis Valley water resources collection.  Printed materials, 1988-1991, compiled and produced by a student researcher (Laura J. Rohland) regarding American Water Development, Inc. and the use of San Luis Valley water resources.  .5 document case.

M 119: Snow survey and irrigation water forecast records.  Four files, each from 1940-1949, of forecasts for the Colorado River Drainage, Gila and Salt River Drainages in Arizona, Rio Grande Drainage, and Missouri-Arkansas Drainage.

I 095: Southwest water resources records on microfiche.  Includes reports on: Sediment discharge in the Colorado River near De Beque, Colorado, by David L. Butler, 1986 (1 fiche); Adequacy of NASQAN data to describe areal and temporal variability of water quality of the San Juan River drainage basin upstream from Shiprock, New Mexico, by Carole L. Goetz, 1987 (2 fiche).

C 007:  Southwest U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) maps collection.  More than 2,500 United States Geological Survey topographic maps of the Southwest, especially of the Four Corners states, for the period from 1889 through the 1990s (bulk 1947-1987).

M 161: Southwestern Water Conservation District records.  Minutes, correspondence, reports, newspaper clippings, maps and other publications, legal documents and other records pertaining to water issues in the Four Corners region.  Topics include Rainbow Bridge National Monument and the Animas-La Plata project, bulk 1930-1980.  In 8 records boxes and 2 document cases.

I 054: State water resources reports on microfilm.  Arizona State Water Commissioner's annual reports #s 1-11 for 1921-1940 (1 roll) and New Mexico Engineering Department's biennial reports #s 1-14 of surface water supply of New Mexico, 1913-1932 (2 rolls).

U 002: Vallecito Dam Oral History Project Oral history interviews.  10 interviews.

M 020: Western Slope water projects reports.  1980s.  In one box.

Books at the Robert Delaney Southwest Research Library at the Center of Southwest Studies that pertain to water issues of the Southwest:

Links to other resources for water research in Colorado:

This inventory was prepared by Todd Ellison, C.A., February 26, 2003 (last revised 5/31/07).
Doing your own research:  This description of a portion of the collections at the Fort Lewis College Center of Southwest Studies is provided to inform interested parties about the nature and depth of the repository's collections.   It cannot serve as a substitute for a visit to the repository for those with substantial research interests in the collections.

These collections are located at the Center of Southwest Studies on the campus of Fort Lewis College.   Interested researchers should phone the archivist at 970/247-7126 or send electronic mail to the archivist at: Ellison_T@fortlewis.edu .   Click here to use our E-mail Reference Request Form.  The Center does not have a budget for outgoing long-distance phone calls to answer reference requests, so please leave us your email address if you wish to receive a response from the Center.

Guides to the collections at the Center of Southwest Studies

Center of Southwest Studies

Page last modified: August 28, 2007