Other Projects by
GWLA Members:
Collection Guide
All Collections
Colorado River Basin
- Arizona vs. California Legal Records
- Central Utah Project Records
- Colorado River Bed Case
- Colorado River/Central Arizona Project Records Collection
- Colorado's Waters Digital Archive
- Early Las Vegas
- Exploration of the Colorado River of the West
- Galloway-Stone River Expedition 1909
- Hoover Dam Collection
- Las Vegas: Water in the West
- Native American Water Rights in Arizona
- Overland Trails Diaries and Maps
- Southern Nevada and Las Vegas History in Maps
- Stewart L. Udall Papers on the Mexican Water Treaty and the Colorado River
Arizona vs. California Legal Records
Contributed by the University of Utah
The 25 volumes of exhibits presented by the States of Arizona and California before the U.S. Supreme Court during the long-running Arizona v. California case. Volume 26 is an index to the exhibits. Volumes 27, 28 and 29 are additional exhibits contributed by the States of Nevada, Utah, and New Mexico. Also included in this collection are the 1960 Special Masters Report and Offer of Proof and Brief in Support of Offer.
Contributed by Brigham Young University
The Central Utah Project, planned and constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation, is the most significant water resource development program in the state. The Project enables Utah to use most of her share of Colorado River water. The collection includes information about the Colorado River and its tributaries as well as documentation relative to the Central Utah Project, including annual reports, news reports, and other materials dating from 1964.
Contributed by the University of Utah
The Colorado River Bed Case collection contains abstracts of testimony, court briefs, and other related materials from United States v. Utah which was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1929. Oral histories from various parties involved in the case are also included.
Colorado River/Central Arizona Project Records Collection
Contributed by Arizona State University
Records of the Central Arizona and Boulder Canyon Project, comprised of selections from the Carl T. Hayden Papers and other sources. As Arizona Congressman from 1911-1970, Hayden influenced natural resource development, water reclamation, and land-use management, culminating in 1968 with the Central Arizona Project (CAP) to transport Colorado River water to Phoenix and Tucson via a series of aqueducts.
Colorado's Waters Digital Archive
Contributed by Colorado State University
The collection includes studies and reports documenting the history of Colorado's water resources, including environmental, engineering, economic, and feasibility studies regarding water projects and development in the Cache La Poudre, St. Vrain, Frasier, and Upper Gunnison-Uncompahgre Basins, as well as other watersheds and projects throughout Colorado.
Contributed by the University of Nevada at Las Vegas
A collection of photos, aerial views, correspondences, land sales documents and plats of Las Vegas around the turn of the 20th century.
Exploration of the Colorado River of the West
Contributed by the University of Utah
The complete text of Exploration of the Colorado River of the West its Tributaries by John Wellesley Powell. The report was published by the Smithsonian in 1875 and records the expedition led by Powell.
Galloway-Stone River Expedition 1909
Contributed by the University of Utah
Documentation of the three-month river expedition river expedition of Nathanial Galloway, Julius Stone and Raymond Cogswell, generally considered by historians of the Colorado River to be the first river trip undertaken purely for pleasure. The collection consists of diaries, photographs, and a short history.
Contributed by the University of Nevada at Las Vegas
A collection of photographs and documentary videos about the construction of Hoover Dam in the early 1930's. The photos include Franklin Roosevelt's visit and documentation of the living environment of the workers. Also included are the Bureau of Reclamation documentary, "Conquering the Colorado", and recorded interviews by Dennis McBride documenting workers' experiences during the construction of the dam.
Contributed by the University of Nevada at Las Vegas
The collections presented in this digital project document the history of water and Las Vegas, and include U.S. military and scientific surveys conducted to map a route for the transcontinental railroad and explore the feasibility of irrigating the desert for agriculture, as well as records regarding the planning and construction of Hoover Dam.
Native American Water Rights in Arizona
Contributed by the University of Arizona
Federal government documents pertaining to the water rights of the Navajo, Hopi, and Pima tribes in Arizona. Documents are arranged by tribe. Items are listed chronologically within each grouping. The collection will eventually include other tribes, and state and local documents as well.
American Westward Migration (formerly Overland Trails Diaries and Maps)
Contributed by the University of Utah
This collection of dairies from early settlers and pioneers describes the trek of LDS (Mormon) settlers from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah in the mid 1800's. These dairies provide insight into everyday life during this time period as well as numerous tales of life during the trek westward. Also included in the collection are U.S. Army maps which were used to navigate during the trek.
Southern Nevada and Las Vegas History in Maps
Contributed by the University of Nevada at Las Vegas
The maps selected for this digital project document the cartographic history and context of this region. Examples of water-related maps include: the municipal water system of Las Vegas, the Boulder Canyon project, surveys of John Fremont, and the Southern Nevada Water Project.
Stewart L. Udall Papers on the Mexican Water Treaty and the Colorado River
Contributed by the University of Arizona
Stewart Lee Udall served in the House of Representatives from 1955-1960 and as U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1961-1968. The collection is comprised of Udall's professional and public papers pertaining to the Colorado River and the Mexican Water Treaty. The correspondence, reports, memos, and telegrams in these files represent significant solutions to long-standing challenges to the use of Colorado River water. The Mexican Water Treaty addressed Mexico's needs and rights to current and future claims upon the river.
Signature Collections
Colorado's Waters Digital Archive
Current selections focus on the Colorado, Platte, and Rio Grande river basins and feature studies on water resources development and water supply. These reports and accompanying maps define water concerns and issues of the past that are valuable to informing present and future water management. Subsequent additions to the Digital Archive will relate to various aspects of water in Colorado and contributions made by Coloradoans to water activities and may include additional reports, correspondence, diaries, photographs, case files, and other materials.
Galloway-Stone River Expedition, 1909
Documentation of the three-month river expedition river expedition of Nathanial Galloway, Julius Stone and Raymond Cogswell, generally considered by historians of the Colorado River to be the first river trip undertaken purely for pleasure. The collection consists of diaries, photographs, and a short history.
Documentation of the three-month river expedition river expedition of Nathanial Galloway, Julius Stone and Raymond Cogswell, generally considered by historians of the Colorado River to be the first river trip undertaken purely for pleasure. The collection consists of diaries, photographs, and a short history. http://westernwaters.org/index.php/browse/bySet/4
Hoover Dam
After years of surveys and countless hours of planning, the United States government announced the Boulder Canyon Project. Consisting of a dam in the Black Canyon area and a canal to irrigate the Imperial Valley, the Boulder Canyon Project was the first of its kind in US history. The arid southwest would finally be made farmable and productive for the US economy. The Bureau of Reclamation had constructed previous dams throughout the American West, but none of this magnitude. The dam was to be built directly in the path of the powerful Colorado.
John Muir Papers
Muir was instrumental in the establishment of Yosemite, Sequoia, Grand Canyon, Mt. Rainier. Approximately 75% of the extant papers of Muir are housed at the University of the Pacific, Holt-Atherton Special Collections.
Karl Bodmer
During the years 1832 to 1834, the German naturalist Prince Maximilian zu Wied led an expedition to the Upper Missouri region of North America. The description of this journey, Travels in the Interior of North America, published after his return to Europe, provided one of the most significant collections of ethnological information available concerning the nineteenth-century American Plains Indian.
Powell's Exploration of Colorado River
During his expeditions John Wesley Powell compiled data and a number of sketches describing the landscape. This collection contains various writings and geographical publications to which Powell contributed.
Audio Video Collections
Water is for Fightin' [full record]
Contributed by The University of Utah
In Utah and the arid West, life revolves around water. Land use decisions, land development, law, politics, and economic growth have all been shaped by water or the lack thereof. As demand for land and water increases, Westerners must not only be able to determine and protect rights to water, but also to preserve the sanctity of their rivers, lakes, and streams. Water is for Fightin' offers the perspectives and insights of nine experts who are working to protect our waters.
Water: Lifeblood of the Southwest [full record]
Contributed by the Southwest Waters Committee of the Sierra Club
"Population growth, dams, and irrigation projects have dramatically transformed the waters of the Southwest. Alterations along the Colorado, the area’s biggest river, have been severe and numerous, but all waters of the Southwest will be increasingly impaired unless we change our ways. This video provides an overview of the impacts and challenges. Some actions and tools are suggested to ensure that our limited waters are used more wisely."
Soaking the Desert: The Story of Water in Utah [full record]
Contributed by KUER at The University of Utah
KUER reporters set to find out whether Utah truly needs the Bear River Dam, or whether conservation could be the answer. What they found was another story entirely……..the story of a water system bloated with inefficiency and waste, that unnecessarily costs taxpayers millions of dollars and forces them to pay for the water use of everyone else on the system…..The state's conservation plan deliberately bypasses many proven conservation techniques other Western states adopted two decades ago. And tax subsidies hide layer upon layer of a vast water bureaucracy from public view. No activist nor state official really knows how much money and water could be saved if the system functioned efficiently. And no one who has the power to change it is committed to doing so. This is the story you'll hear in this three part series.
