BOULDER’S WATERWORKS

Ten years later, a compromise was reached when the Chamber of Commerce led the first of
its annual group hikes to the glacier. For one day only, in the middle of the summer, participants
could slide around on the ice and snow. The group hikes eventually were discontinued
in 1976.
Today, individual hikers often hike to Arapaho Ridge for a close-up look, but they are not
allowed to venture onto the glacier. They can see the glacier and drink from it, but they
can’t walk on it anymore.
The Silver Lake Watershed remains closed to public access to prevent wildfire that might
impact the water supply, as well as to protect water quality, the fragile alpine environment,
and the wildlife habitat. Protection also extends to sensitive University of Colorado
research studies, begun in the 1930s, of alpine and climate conditions.
Infrastructure Development in the 1930s
The 1930s threw the whole country into the Great Depression. In 1933, following Franklin
D. Roosevelt’s inauguration as United States President, many young men in need of work
were hired by the federal government for public works programs. One of the first of Roosevelt’s
“New Deal” programs was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). In 1933 and 1934,
two camps were set up in Boulder––one was west of Chautauqua, and the other was on
the site of the Boulder County Justice Center, located at 6th Street and Canyon Boulevard.
Laborers from these camps worked on many improvements in Boulder’s Mountain Parks,
including the construction of the Sunrise Amphitheater and Chapman Drive.
The second public works program, established in 1935, was the Works Progress Administration
(WPA). Like the CCC, the program’s philosophy was to put the unemployed back to
work in jobs that would serve the public good, but instead of housing out-of-town workers
in camps, the WPA hired unskilled local laborers. The federal government footed approximately
two-thirds of the bill, while the City of Boulder paid the rest. While earning a total
of more than two-million dollars, the men graded roads, built parks, and improved schools,
but they also were credited with developing the City’s water system, years ahead of what
would have been possible without federal aid. 117
Boulder’s WPA projects began in 1935 and ended in 1942, when World War II made the
program obsolete. “Something very worthwhile was accomplished on every project,” stated
City Manager H.C. McClintock in a review of the program in 1943. “Much of it cannot be
seen. For example, the extensive improvement to the water distribution system is underground,
and people soon forget how the streets were before they were improved.” 118
The first project was started in October 1935, when six men mapped the City’s water main
system and then installed a 12-inch main on 14th Street, between Pearl and Mapleton
streets. Their work schedule was based upon the recommendations of a study by the Pitometer
Company of Denver and commissioned by the Boulder City Council. (A pitometer is
a piece of equipment that measures the relative velocity of fluid.)
56