Colorado Reader April 2019: Where does our water come from? | Page 5

Geographic Precipitation Imbalance
to help build a ditch that would
be critical to the colony’s farms.
Eaton would not give up on the
ditch, even when things got tough.
Gophers digging holes through the
canal and even a fight between two
neighboring towns would not stop
Eaton. Canal No. 1, Larimer Canal No.
2, and even the Windsor Reservoir
were completed because of the
perseverance of Eaton and others.
Because of their efforts, water was
flowing to different parts of the Front
Range, bringing with it a boost to the
area’s agriculture and economics.
Eaton continued to try new
challenges and became the Justice
of the Peace and a Weld County
commissioner. He even served in
the territorial legislature. In 1884,
Benjamin Eaton became the fourth
governor of Colorado where he
continued to work on improving
farming and irrigation systems
in the state. He was given the
nickname “The Farmer Governor.”
Learning from each of the
experiences that he had, Eaton
made a difference in Colorado that
still impacts our state today. He
turned the South Platte River valley
into a vital agricultural region.
Did you know? Nearly 80 percent of the water in Colorado
is on the West Slope. More than 80 percent of Colorado’s
population and irrigation water demands are on the East
Slope. This is called a geographic precipitation imbalance.
One-third of an acre-foot of water is delivered to an average home
every year. An acre-foot is 326,000 gallons or enough water to
cover a football field 12 inches deep. Sixty percent of the water
is used inside the home for showers, laundry, cooking, cleaning,
and other uses. The remaining 40 percent is used outside. A
small fraction of water used outside returns to the water cycle
eventually. Of the water used inside the house, 95 percent returns
to the water cycle through the treatment system. Rainfall and
snowmelt on roofs and pavement flows directly to streams.

www.GrowingYourFuture.com - 5