Pre-1830s
Nomadic Indian tribes, primarily the Arapahoe and Cheyenne, inhabited the confluence of the Cache la Poudre and South Platte Rivers. They utilized native plants and animals to survive and did not change the river's natural flow.
1830-1850
During the 1830s, fur trappers arrived. By 1850, miners had settled here, living in crude cabins along the river.
1860
The Yeager was the first ditch built on the Poudre River. Located above Fort Collins, it diverted water to irrigate hayfields along the river's flood plains.
1861-1866
With shovels and sweat, farmers etched irrigation ditches into the landscape. In 1861, farmers dug the Watrous, Whedbee, Seconda and Dry Ditches. In 1866, workers built the (Robert) Boyd/Freeman Pioneer Ditch near Greeley.
1869
Nathan Meeker, the agricultural editor of the New York Tribune, visited Colorado and told Horace Greeley, editor of the Tribune, of his idea to start a colony there. The Tribune announced that people could purchase a parcel of land in the new settlement for a $150 membership fee.
1870
The Number 3 Ditch began operation in June of 1870 and was the first completed ditch in the Greeley area. It is a 13-mile ditch that starts west of 71st Avenue and ends just south of the Weld County Airport at Fern Avenue.
1870-1872
B.H. Eaton's promise of assistance with the ditch construction hastened the arrival of Meeker and the Union Colonists. In 1872, the banks of Ditch No. 2 failed to hold. After this experience, colonists realized the importance of competent water engineers. The canal was 35 miles long and irrigated 2,000 acres. Colonists spent $87,000 over the next several years to enlarge the ditch and dam the river.
1874
Colonist farmers defended their rights to water. When those upstream broke their promises and used more than their share, threats of violence arose. Luckily, heavy rainfall cooled tempers.
1876
Colorado adopted the Doctrine of Prior Appropriation for water as part of its constitution. The prior appropriation system is based on the principle, "first in time, first in right."
1878
The legislator divided the state into water districts and selected water commissioners for each one. David Boyd became the first commissioner to represent Greeley.
1879
Workers completed the Eaton Ditch. David Boyd, who had previously criticized early engineers, now said they had learned the "true way" to build canals.
1886
Greeley's early settlers constructed a series of infiltration wells for the city's first water system. The well water quality diminished as nutrients from surrounding farms flowed into the wells. The water continued to degrade until 1900 when the citizens sought a new source.
1890
Workers constructed the first trans-mountain diversions—SkyLine, Michigan, and Grand River Ditches—to bring water to the Poudre Basin from the Western Slope.
1895
By the 1890s, so many canals and ditches drained water from the rivers that little was left. Reservoirs were needed to store the water and allow the towns and irrigators to have a more reliable supply. Leaders recognized this need and helped secure the construction of some of the state's largest reservoirs in northern Colorado.
1904
Greeley bought a farm at the Poudre River's mouth in Bellvue, 35 miles northwest of town. The farm contained a very senior water right. Greeley combined this right with another senior water right and established a water supply that would satisfy the City for the next 40 years. The two rights still form the base of Greeley's water system.
1905
Water storage begins in Boyd Lake.
1907
Greeley finished constructing its Bellvue Treatment Facility, consisting of 2.5 acres of slow sand filters. Workers completed the original municipal gravity water system in 1907. Thirty-six miles of 20-inch diameter wooden pipeline stretched past irrigated lands near the foothills to bring Poudre River water to Greeley. Until then, Greeley residents relied on infiltration wells built into the gravel bed of the river, a short distance from the center of town, to provide water to their homes.
1921
The Barnes Meadow Reservoir was built, providing 5.5 million gallons of storage.
1927-1933
The collapse of agricultural markets accompanied a severe drought. By 1933, erosion was visible and billowing clouds of airborne topsoil became part of the "Dust Bowl" that stretched from the Dakotas to Texas. The Great Depression was nationwide, and northern Colorado farmers were some of the hardest hit.
1937 -1957
After being denied water from the North Platte River in a 1933 Supreme Court decision, residents looked to the "Last Water Hole in the West," the Colorado River, to alleviate their thirst. They needed water, and they needed jobs. In 1937, President Roosevelt appropriated $900,000 to begin the construction of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project. It took 19 years to complete and delivered 13.4 million gallons of water daily to Eastern Slope communities. The project financed the construction of the 13.1-mile-long Alva B. Adams Tunnel, 10 reservoirs, 13 dams, six power plants, three pumping plants, and numerous canals and waterways. The final cost of the internationally acclaimed project would be $164 million. The Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District oversaw the project.
1940-1945
The City of Greeley built the Milton Seaman Dam and Reservoir. In 1945, Greeley finished the construction of Milton Seaman Reservoir on the north fork of the Poudre River upstream from the Bellvue Treatment Plant. The reservoir captured spring runoff and released it later in the summer when demand exceeded the two senior direct flow rights.
1944
Crews from the eastern and western slopes drilled through the Continental Divide Tunnel, now known as the Alva B. Adams Tunnel. NBC Radio live-broadcasted the event nationally.
1947
The City of Greeley purchased high mountain reservoirs consisting of 11 water supply structures in the Poudre Basin, providing 561,000 gallons of water. Also, the first water passed through the Adams Tunnel, taking nearly three hours to complete its journey to the Eastern Slope.
1952
Greeley adds additional transmission lines from the Bellvue Treatment Plant to Greeley.
1958
The newly formed Greeley Water Board manages Greeley's water system.
1961
Greeley began accepting shares of the Greeley-Loveland Irrigation System, comprised of three interrelated companies: Greeley Loveland Irrigation Company (Boyd Lake), Loveland and Greeley Reservoir Company (Lake Loveland), and Seven Lakes Reservoir Company (Horseshoe Reservoir).
1969
Greeley completed the construction of the Boyd Lake Water Treatment Plant, allowing the city to use Big Thompson River water diverted by the Greeley-Loveland Irrigation Company.
1969 -1987
Greeley and six other Front Range municipalities jointly developed the Windy Gap Project. This is a trans basin diversion project that delivers water from the Colorado River to the Eastern Slope using the Colorado-Big Thompson system. Windy Gap supplies are wholly consumable, allowing Greeley to reuse Windy Gap water more than once.
1972
Congress passed the Clean Water Act to clean the nation's waterways.
1976
Greeley and northern Colorado experienced two disasters: drought and a flash flood on the Big Thompson River that killed 145 people.
1991
Greeley obtained 3.2 billion gallons of water supplies and supported local agriculture by buying water from local farmers, then renting it back to them for 20 years.
1995
The Greeley Water and Sewer Board adopted a water conservation implementation plan to address Greeley's growing water needs as the population exceeded 60,000.
1999
Greeley started to develop a Water Master Plan for the next 20-50 years.
2000-2003
Greeley was the nation's fastest-growing metro area between April 1, 2000, and July 1, 2003, according to "Population Change in Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas: 1990-2003," a report by the U. S. Census Bureau. The Census Bureau reported growth in the Greeley metro area at 16.8 percent between 2000 and 2003. The population of Greeley was 84,519 in 2003.
2002
The drought of 2000-2004 was more severe than anyone expected. According to tree ring studies, 2002 was the worst year in the last 300 years. This year also recorded meager statewide snowpack and stream flows. Low annual precipitation (12-14 inches on average vs. 8.4 inches in 2002) and very high temperatures intensified this effect. The third-hottest July in history was in 2002. Greeley had to draw from its water storage for the first time in 50 years.
2003
The City of Greeley completed its Water Master Plan to define specific steps to provide a reliable water supply for Greeley to 2020.
2004
Construction began on a new, 60-inch transmission pipeline to transport drinking water from the Bellvue Water Treatment Plant northwest of Fort Collins. The pipeline’s water travels to the Gold Hill Reservoir and water tower in west Greeley. The pipeline added capacity to Greeley's existing area lines built between 1907 and 1952.
2006
Greeley purchase shares in the Windsor Reservoir and Canal Company, giving the city the rights to a portion of the water diverted from the Laramie River by the Tunnel Water Company.
2007
The City of Greeley celebrated the 100th anniversary of its treated water system. Events and tours helped mark the milestone.
2009
The Colorado Water Conservation Board approved Greeley's Water Conservation Plan. Greeley's conservation plan predicted a more than eight percent reduction in Greeley's water demand over the next 20 years.
2014-2017
Greeley developed a rate program for a structured water budget. It was the most accurate and equitable way of addressing community water needs. Greeley's population continued to rise at a rapid rate; in 2015, the city reached 100,000 residents.
2017
At the American Water Works Association's 13th annual "Best of the Best" Water Taste Test held in Philadelphia, a sample of Greeley's tap water was named the best tasting in North America and won the People's Choice award. It was the first time a city claimed both titles in a year.
2019
The 29-mile transmission pipeline project that began in 2003 is closer to completion. Staff worked on the last segment of the project, which includes easement acquisition and final design.
2021
On March 2, 2021, the Greeley City Council unanimously approved an ordinance that authorized the city to purchase the Terry Ranch aquifer. The aquifer stores 1.2 million acre-feet of groundwater. This purchase helped secure water to support the 260,000 people expected to live in the city by 2065. The council also allowed the city to issue water credits for the Terry Ranch water to developers who planned to build in Greeley. With the approval, the city could drop its plans to enlarge Milton Seaman Reservoir, which had been languishing for several years with little hope for approval.