Denverites have grown accustomed to leafy green trees and lush Kentucky Bluegrass, but do you know that our natural habitat is a semi-arid, shortgrass prairie? Without people bringing water to the plains, Denver would look more like the treeless area around Denver International Airport. Denver’s green landscape is made possible by manmade water projects. Half of Denver’s water is from the South Platte River and its tributaries and half is diverted from tributaries of the Colorado River.
One of Denver’s first water projects was Smith’s ditch constructed in the 1860s to bring water from the South Platte River in Waterton Canyon to Denver where it fills Smith Lake in Washington Park and Ferril Lake in City Park. Multiple private water projects were built in Denver’s early days including the Cheeseman Dam which stored water from the South Platte River for the use of Denver residents.
In 1918, Denver voters approved the creation of Denver Water which purchased and constructed water systems including the Moffat Tunnel (1936) which diverted water under the Continental Divide from the Fraser River - a Colorado River Tributary - to Denver. Denver Water also constructed the Dillon Reservoir by damming the Blue River - another Colorado River Tributary - and diverting the water under the Continental Divide to Denver via the Moffat Tunnel.
With this year’s record dry and warm winter, all of Denver’s water sources are in jeopardy. Denver Water and other statewide water utilities ask us to limit our water use. Denver’s Kentucky Bluegrass may not be so green this year.
- Courtesy Tom “Dr. Colorado” Noel, Kendra Black, https://www.denverwater.org/about-us/history
- Image: The Moffat Tunnel’s east portal fed the ski area and resort town of Winter Park. Source: Tom Noel CollectionLearn more: Edgar Carlisle McMechan. The Moffat Tunnel of Colorado. The Moffat Tunnel Commission, 1927. E vols.