Historical Perspectives
- Cache La Poudre River - Laflin & Werner, source and date unspecified
This document is a brief (4-page) summary of the history of the designation of (1) the Wild and Scenic portion of the Cache la Poudre River, and (2) subsequently the National Heritage Area.
- History of Agricultural and Urban Water Use in Fort Collins - Public Lands History Center at CSU
This website explores the history of human use of the Cache La Poudre River during the last 150 years.
- History of Water Law and Development in the Cache La Poudre Basin - Author and date unspecified
This scanned document (an appendix to an another report) discusses the antecedents to and eventual compromise between Fort Collins and Greeley area farmers that led to the formalization of "first in time" water rights that became the basis for Colorado's (and much of the arid west's) prior appropriation water law. It also discusses some other allocations systems, such as the Wyoming administrative approach.
- Irrigation, settlement, and change on the Cache La Poudre River - Laflin, 2005
This extensive 'Special Report' of the Colorado Water Resources Research Institute covers the early history of the Poudre basin, early water development activities for agriculture, the development of water law, the evolution of the "Working Poudre", continued competition for water, and the continued challenges faced in the basin. The report contains an extensive bibliography, a glossary of water-related terms, and a set of historical and contemporary photos.
- Irrigation Development in Northern Colorado: A Brief History of How Water Influenced the Development of the Fort Collins Region - Werner, no date specified
This short piece discusses early individual and cooperative efforts to develop the water resources in the Poudre basin, including storage reservoirs and trans-mountain diversions.
