From 1895-1935, Grand Ditch was built to bring water from Never Summer Range across La Poudre Pass and down the Cache Le Poudre to the plains for agriculture. According to historian D. Ferrel Atkins, this project was one of the largest of all the early engineering efforts to divert water from the western slope and send it eastward. La Poudre Pass in the northwest corner of today's Park at an elevation of 10,175 feet above sea level was seen as a perfect point for diversion canals. Water from melting snow could be caught in ditches carved along the mountainsides. Once those canals emptied their liquid cargo into Long Draw Creek, the eastern flow of the Cache la Poudre River would do the rest. With that basic plan in mind, the Larimer County Ditch Company was formed in 1881. On October 15, 1890 the first diverted water moved across La Poudre Pass heading east. Later the Water Supply and Storage Company of Fort Collins, gained ownership and construction rights. Building and extending the Grand Ditch became the main effort. Each summer season from 1894 onward men cut into the slopes with picks and shovels and moved rocks and dirt with wheelbarrows. Several construction or "ditch" camps were built at spots beside the canal. Teams of Japanese workers were employed, hiring on as "companies" rather than as individuals. Other companies of ditch diggers were also hired. Visually, the Grand Ditch made a 14.3-mile scar. Although it "stole" water from the Grand (later Colorado) River, demands for water outweighed concern about unsightliness or the disruption of natural watercourses. Future problems caused by dumping water into unnatural drainages, erosion, scarring, landsliding, seepages, and other damages created by the project were ignored until the 1960s, when critics were concerned.

Credits and Sources:

“Timeline of Historic Events.” National Park Service: Rocky Mountain, Colorado. Stories. Accessed May 31, 2015. http://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/historyculture/time_line_of_historic_events.htm

“Rocky Mountain National Park: A History. Chapter 5: For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People.” National Park Service. Park History Program. Accessed May 31, 2015. http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/romo/buchholtz/chap5.htm

“Rocky Mountain National Park: A History. Chapter 5: For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People.” National Park Service. Park History Program. Accessed May 31, 2015. http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/romo/buchholtz/chap5.htm