Page 5 Berthoud Weekly Surveyor March 6, 2014
A LOOK AT BERTHOUD
Handy & Home Supply ditch companies solved 1894 farm crisis
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arge tracts of farmland in the Little Thompson Valley are irrigated with water from the Big Thompson River. Two dams located near the mouth of the Big Thompson Canyon divert water from the river into systems Then & Now Surveyor of canals and Columnist ditches that irrigate hundreds of farms. The dam nearest the mouth of the Big Thompson Canyon, the Handy Ditch Company’s “Little Dam,” Mark delivers water French to an area on the north slope of the Little Thompson Valley that extends from the base of the foothills to farms four or five miles east of Berthoud. The Consolidated Home Supply Ditch & Reservoir Company’s “Big Dam” is located a short distance downstream from the Handy’s “Little Dam.” It diverts water for use in a sprawling area that takes in farms further east of Berthoud near Highway I-25 and Twin Mounds. Both ditch companies were at the hub of the area’s agricultural development beginning in the late 1870s and early ‘80s. Both the big and little dams were
originally log and rock structures. In June 1894 the highest water in many years undermined the big dam and tore it out from the bottom. A standpipe located behind the dam supplied drinking water to Loveland, and when a man was sent to see why the town had no water, he discovered that the dam had completely washed away. Residents of the valley mitigated further damage by cutting channels in ditch banks to return water to the river but, when all was done, nearly all the crops on the river bottom had been destroyed. The Fort Collins Courier reported that the flood waters formed a lake at the railroad crossing over the Big Thompson River that was one-half mile wide. The “little dam” of the Handy Ditch Company that was located about three-quarters of a mile upstream from the “big dam,” survived the flood. After the flood swept away the big dam, the Home Supply had no way to divert water from the Big Thompson. For that reason the company forged an arrangement with the Handy to take water out of the river at the Handy’s little dam and move it through the Handy Ditch before discharging it into the Home Supply ditch. The maneuver supplied a minimal amount of water to farms located on the upper reaches of the Home Supply system. Crops on the farms on the lower reaches of the Home
Supply canal survived on water that had been stored in the Lone Tree reservoir. In September 1894 a contract for the construction of a new Home Supply dam on the Big Thompson River was awarded to G.C. Kelly of Fort Collins. The concrete dam was over 50 feet tall, nearly 100 feet long, and rested on bedrock. Designed by engineer John H. Nelson at a cost of $11,000, the dam was quickly recognized as an engineering landmark. The Handy Ditch Company did not construct a new dam until 1921 when they paid Berthoud contractor John Bell $7,100 to build the structure, along with a 220-foot cement flume. In the aftermath of the great flood of September 2013, area ditch companies have scrambled to replace or repair dams as well as reconstruct and rehabilitate ditches. The work had to be completed during the winter months in order to capture the 2014 spring runoff and to be ready for the 2014 irrigation season. Cooperation between ditch companies has been necessary to speed progress in the same manner it did following the flood of May 1894. Forecasts for an above-average spring runoff promise to test all the repairs made by local ditch companies in the coming months. Every farmer who draws a drop of irrigation water hopes nothing newsworthy occurs this spring when the rivers rise.
The “Big Dam” of the Home Supply Ditch & Reservoir Company was constructed in 1895 after a flood destroyed the original log and rock diversion structure built in 1881-82. Water from the Home Supply canal irrigates a wide area including farms east of Berthoud near Highway I-25.
The quiet river that screamed M
communities and irrigation water to 10 irrigation ditches. It is an untouched river with only a short stretch paralleled by a state highway. The rest of the river runs through forest and farmlands, providing support to many different forms of wildlife. But on the night of Sept. 12, the Little Thompson River screamed. It screamed with a volume of water equivalent to that coming down the Big Thompson. The screaming was heard by homeowners along the river; whose houses were destroyed, damaged, or filled with up to three feet of mud and debris. Drivers trying to get between central and northern Colorado heard the screaming when they found that every pri-
vate and public bridge in the Little Thompson’s path between Big Elk Meadows and Milliken had been damaged or destroyed by the flood and were impassable. Landowners along the river listened and watched in horror as the river’s banks and foliage were ripped away, expanding the riverbed in some places from less than 40 feet wide to 300 yards wide. Even nature itself heard the screaming as hundreds of thousands of trees and bushes that support wildlife were ripped out and sent down the river. Residents of Milliken also heard the screaming as the Little Thompson and Big Thompson flood waters ran down their main street. The only ones that didn’t hear the screaming were the media. You sel-
dom see anything about the Little Thompson in any newspapers or on TV. When you do, the media sometimes assumes the river is just a tributary to the Big Thompson River. It is not. They are separate rivers, each with its own headwaters and watershed. And despite the destruction caused by the river, it didn’t merit a mention in “A Flood to Remember.” And now the river may scream again. Thousands of tons of debris and sediment remain in or near the riverbed. The debris includes logs over four feet in diameter and over 30 feet long. In a heavy spring runoff, or other high flow event, these logs can become unguided torpedoes, attacking random targets on the
ost Coloradans don’t know it exists. Those who have heard of it probably don’t know its location, even though the river has 61 miles of stream bed and its watershed covers 203 square miles. It’s a working river, providing drinking water to three mountain
Little Thompson River restoration meeting scheduled for March 8 By Surveyor Staff The Big Thompson Conservation District is holding a public meeting on Saturday, March 8, at 9 a.m. at the Berthoud Community Center for landowners and associated stakeholders along the entire river, from Elk Meadows to Milliken, to discuss the restoration process after the September 2013 floods. According to Gordon Gilstrap, board president for the Big Thompson Conservation District, the meeting will focus on updating affected resi-
dents on the continuing restoration efforts. “We just want people to be aware of where we are at in the process,” Gilstrap said. The district recently received a $150,000 grant from the Colorado Water Conservation Board, and another $25,000 grant from Larimer County to help cover costs of a Little Thompson River master plan, Gilstrap said. According to the district’s website, all landowners who’ve done restoration work along the riverbank should keep thorough records on exactly how many hours and dollars they, and other volunteers, have completed, including fuel costs and machinery hours. This information will be helpful pursuing additional grant funds. Landowners along the Little Thompson who were affected by the flooding are encouraged to attend.
Photo courtesy of the Berthoud Historical Society
Gordon Gilstrap President of the board of the Big Thompson Conservation District. Supporting the Restoration Coalitions for the Big Thompson and Little Thompson Rivers
1970, but had previously lived in Grand Junction. Lenora was an accomplished seamLenora Strachan stress and enjoyed making ceramics, March 8, 1932 — March 2, 2014 canning and making preserves. She was also active in cub scouts, serving Lenora Strachan, 81, of Berthoud, as a den mother. Colo., died on March 3, 2014, at her She is survived by her husband, home in Berthoud. Richard Strachan and She was born on March son, Stephen Strachan of 8, 1932, in Erick, Okla., Berthoud; brother, Calto Wit Wiley and Beulah vin Warren of Oklahoma (Wells) Warren. City, Okla.; and sister, Lenora graduated from Sandra Dickenson and high school in Porterville, husband Arnold of PackCalif. She married Richwood, Wash. ard D. Strachan on Dec. Cremation has been 23, 1954, in Lubbock, completed. No services Texas. are scheduled at this Lenora worked as a time. homemaker, but also Memorial contribuhad short careers as a tions may be made to the Lenora Strachan telephone operator and McKee Cancer Center in a pharmacy clerk, where care of Kibbey Fishburn she also managed a soda fountain. Funeral Home. She has lived in Berthoud since
OBITUARY
BHS senior named finalist for prestigious award Special to the Surveyor Zoey Petitt, a senior at Berthoud High School, has been named as a finalist for the National Merit Scholarship. Established in 1955,
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river. And the debris and sediment can create new river channels with potentially disastrous results. The Little Thompson Watershed Restoration Coalition is a group of Little Thompson landowners working to make the river a quiet river again. If you would like to help or just find out where the Little Thompson River is located, you can find out more about our work at www.bigthompson.org.
National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) is an independent, not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance. Since its founding, NMSC has recognized three million students and provided approximately 387,000 scholarships worth over $1.5 billion. The honors awarded by NMSC to exceptionally able students are viewed as definitive marks of excellence. Jacob Schwarz of Thompson Valley High School has also been named as a finalist. Zoey and Jacob were selected from a pool of 16,000 semifinalists. The process is scheduled to wrap up in March.