BOULDER’S WATERWORKS

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(NCWCD). Together, they envisioned an immense diversion of Western Slope water to the Eastern Slope. Theirs was the same dream that Boulder attorney and Water Commissioner Hiram Prince had spoken of in 1889––nearly a half century earlier––in front of the Colorado General Assembly. “Gentlemen,” Prince had stated. “Colorado’s surplus waters are on the Western Slope of the Continental Divide; the lands available for their use are on the Eastern Slope. I want an appropriation of $25,000 to find a route for bringing these waters across the mountains where they can be used.” 124 Supposedly, the Assembly gave the state engineers some funds to pursue various routes across the mountains, but their conclusions, if any, are unknown. The time had not yet come to act on Prince’s vision. In 1937, the Bureau of Reclamation agreed to pay one half of the proposed expenditure, estimated at $44 million, to be repaid by hydropower revenues from the project. The other half would be paid by the eastern slope water users through the NCWCD. Construction of the complicated facility began the following year. In 1947, the first Western Slope water to be carried through the Colorado-Big Thompson Project (otherwise known as the CBT Project) flowed through the 13.1-mile Alva B. Adams Tunnel, under the Continental Divide, and out to the Big Thompson River and the plains of the South Platte drainage. Despite its promise of ample water supplies for the future, Boulder was not an original member of NCWCD, which had its headquarters in Loveland. The Boulder City Council had previously considered acquiring rights to the Blue River on the Western Slope, with the water to be delivered through a pipeline directly over the Divide into the Silver Lake Watershed. After many years of discussion, the project was dropped. Boulder would wait until 1953 to become a partner in the CBT system. 60 Silver Lake and Lakewood Pipelines Reconstruction When the lower portion of the Boulder City Pipeline below the Lakewood Reservoir was originally constructed in 1906, its builders had used smaller-diameter pipe that restricted the flow rate. Beginning in 1939, Boulder’s water department crews began to replace deteriorated segments of the Lakewood Pipeline (as this section between Lakewood Reservoir and Orodell then became called) with larger-diameter pipe. That same year, the US Forest Service (USFS), for the first time, issued a Special Use Permit for approximately 30 percent of the pipeline that crossed USFS land. 125 This permit was a land use authorization in addition to the right-of-way that the City held for Lakewood Pipeline based on the U.S. Congressional Acts conveying land in the Silver Lake Watershed to the City and the Congressional right-of-way act passed in 1866. 126 Additional pipeline replacements continued as follows: • From 1946 through the mid-1950s: All of the old pipe between Lakewood Reservoir and Sugarloaf was replaced with 22-inch steel pipe that was 1/4-inch in thickness. • During 1947: With the salvaged pipe from the Lakewood Pipeline, crews replaced even
older clay tile pipe on the pipeline’s upper portion––known as the Silver Lake Pipeline. • In 1951: The intake of Silver Lake Pipeline was extended from the foot of Upper Boulder Falls several hundred feet upstream to a point inside the fence line of the protected Silver Lake Watershed. 127 (The Silver Lake Pipeline would be rebuilt again in 1997-1998.) Above, is the watershed gate as it looked in the 1950s. Below, a survey crew posed at Silver Lake, in 1949. Note the “Boulder Eng. Dept.” logo on the car. Both photos, Carnegie Branch Library for Local History, Boulder (above, 511-2-13 #3; below, 511-2-19 #4) 61
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BOULDER’S WATERWORKS PAST & PRESE
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BOULDER’S WATERWORKS -- PAST & PR
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• Water System Security Improveme
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INTRODUCTION The story of Boulder
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SETTLEMENT& DITCHES Boulder City To
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1859, they dug small ditches from B
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“Shovel diplomacy,” however, di
Page 15 and 16: state senator. In January 1873, the
Page 17 and 18: PUBLIC WATERWORKS & PROBLEMS • 18
Page 19 and 20: Above, the Town of Boulder Reservoi
Page 21 and 22: BOULDER’S EARLY WATERWORKS PRESEN
Page 23 and 24: Ditch laterals paralleled 12th Stre
Page 25 and 26: A few weeks later, the City Council
Page 27 and 28: Silver Lake Ditch had five wooden f
Page 29 and 30: NEED FOR NEW RESERVOIRS • 1891, O
Page 31 and 32: Continued population growth in Boul
Page 33 and 34: In Boulder, laborers replaced pipes
Page 35 and 36: INTO THE 20TH CENTURY Discovery of
Page 37 and 38: In 1904, glacier hikers even includ
Page 39 and 40: The Maxwells also made a similar pr
Page 41 and 42: LAKEWOOD, LAKEWOOD RESERVOIR & TUNS
Page 43 and 44: In addition, the City acquired ease
Page 45 and 46: The Act that conveyed the first gra
Page 47 and 48: BOULDER HYDRO SYSTEM, 1910 The twen
Page 49 and 50: The dam was photographed on April 1
Page 51 and 52: producing 5,000 kilowatts (KW) of p
Page 53 and 54: On August 4, 1910, a ceremony was h
Page 55 and 56: This drawing of the original two ge
Page 57 and 58: ADDITIONAL WATERSHED DEVELOPMENTS A
Page 59 and 60: Silver Lake Pipeline In the years p
Page 61 and 62: pieces, are we justified in denying
Page 63 and 64: The WPA built much of Boulder’s w
Page 65: mission lines which, in places, has
Page 69 and 70: NEW WATER SUPPLIES & GROWTH, 1950s-
Page 71 and 72: One of the surge chambers for the p
Page 73 and 74: At this time, Boulder was beginning
Page 75 and 76: The City entered into an agreement
Page 77 and 78: Beginning in 1947, CBT Project wate
Page 79 and 80: The next water rights used to fill
Page 81 and 82: Atmospheric Research’s proposed b
Page 83 and 84: BETASSO WATER TREATMENT PLANT, 1964
Page 85 and 86: A new raw water pipeline was constr
Page 87 and 88: In 1976, the Betasso Water Treatmen
Page 89 and 90: 83
Page 91 and 92: BOULDER RESERVOIR WATER TREATMENT P
Page 93 and 94: Throughout the 1970s, employees of
Page 95 and 96: WATER AND POWER FOR THE FUTURE, 198
Page 97 and 98: In 1989, roller-compacted concrete
Page 99 and 100: pressure zone into the lower zone.
Page 101 and 102: costs would rise to $999,000. Hartm
Page 103 and 104: DEVELOPMENTS IN THE 1990s From the
Page 105 and 106: Reconstruction of Silver Lake Pipel
Page 107 and 108: water shortages should occur. The c
Page 109 and 110: Water Treatment Plant improvements
Page 111 and 112: The dispute escalated when the City
Page 113 and 114: TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY PROGRESS As th
Page 115 and 116: Meanwhile, the City wanted to gain
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Repair of the Barker Gravity Line F
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Lakewood Pipeline reconstruction Bu
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struction of the Lakewood Pipeline
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the pipe manufacturer for enough mo
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sions, City staff surprised themsel
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Dealing with Drought In April 2002,
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PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE Boulder is
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Boulder Feeder Canal, and that was
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Problem 3 - Discharging water back
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Above, a new generator and turbine,
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The Feeder Canal would require repa
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APPENDIX Recent Water Utilities Wor
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ENDNOTES 1 The word “Arapaho” c
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35 Daily Camera, October 20, 1891.
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71 Deed between The Cashier Mining
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Supply, April 2009, pages 3-10. 104
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135 Preliminary Design Memorandum,
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167 The Windy Gap Project, Municipa
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198 City of Boulder Utilities Repor
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149
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BOULDER’S WATERWORKS

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