E-Newsletter

Preserving the Source
An e-newsletter from the Water Resources Archive
at Colorado State University

June 2006
Issue IV

Days Gone By: Celebrating the Water Resources Archive's Five-Year Anniversary

Think back to June 2001. Colorado had yet to experience the worst of ongoing drought, groundwater wells were not recognized as a critical issue, and interbasin roundtables had not entered the state's water planning efforts. And, the Water Resources Archive did not yet exist. Much has changed in the past five years, especially with the Water Resources Archive, which has made significant contributions toward saving and promoting Colorado's water history.

For the Archive, formally begun on July 1, 2001, gone are the days of empty shelves. We started from scratch and have grown to encompass forty collections of documents from water organizations and individuals. (Imagine just over 900 boxes lined up for nearly a quarter-mile!) From our cornerstone collection, the Papers of Delph E. Carpenter and Family, to lesser-known collections such as the Records of the Rocky Mountain Hydrologic Research Center, much of the information in the Archive is available nowhere else.

Gone also are the days when we could count on one hand the numbers of researchers served annually. The Carpenter Papers alone, in the eight months it has been open, has had more than a dozen in-person research visits. A variety of people find value in the Archive's materials, including a graduate student who became ecstatic over unique groundwater data and a water lawyer who discovered historical statements to help strengthen a court case.

Gone are the days when the Archive's website consisted of just four pages. In addition to now having 23 finding aids online, we also have three virtual exhibits as well as the Colorado's Waters Digital Archive, containing hundreds of digitally scanned pages. All of this enables people around the world to access the Archive right at their desks.

Water Resources Archive boxes on shelves

Also gone are the days of staying in the office. Archive staff have attended dozens of conferences and meetings, most as either speakers or exhibitors. We have also given instruction sessions for university classes and met individually with numerous people around the state. Beyond that, we have held our own events, including the grand opening of the Delph Carpenter Papers and our first annual Water Tables fundraiser, each of which attracted approximately 100 people.

Most significantly, though, is that gone are the days when few knew or cared about Colorado's water history. Thousands have been reached through the Archive's publicity efforts, whether through exhibits, brochures, newsletters, newspaper articles or other venues. We have received tremendous support and positive feedback from the water community, telling us we are doing something of value. A great sense of community goodwill and support propels us onward to the next five years and beyond.

Photo at right: Boxes on shelves in the Water Resources Archive.

Archive Update: Spring Progress

Spring saw significant progress for the Water Resources Archive. Not only did we exhibit at the American Water Resources Association annual symposium this April in Golden and make a presentation to the Water Section of the Colorado Bar Association this May in Denver, we saw increasing numbers of researchers back on campus. We also acquired one new collection-the Records of the Godfrey Ditch Company-and additions to two others-the Records of the Colorado Water Resources Research Institute and the Ival V. Goslin Water Resources Collection.

Our student, Gayle Sharp, efficiently worked on three collections before she left for the summer, so new finding aids are online for the Papers of Vujica M. Yevjevich, the David McComb Big Thompson Flood Collection, and the Papers of Edwin W. Mogren. We also added a new research feature to our site by linking directly to digital objects from within a finding aid. See how it works in the Goslin finding aid.

Looking Forward: New Students Helping in the Archive

The Water Resources Archive is lucky to have two students join us for the summer. One, Ruth Williamson, an undergraduate, helped out last summer on the Delph Carpenter Papers, and we are glad to have her back! The other, Nick Kryloff, joins us for a year as he works on his master's in history (for which he will be writing a thesis on a Western water topic). Ruth and Nick will mainly be working on collections to improve preservation and access. Watch for new finding aids coming out all summer long!

Support the Archive: Libraries Welcomes New Development Director

In June, the Libraries welcomed Andrea Lapsley as the new Director of Development. Previously, Andrea worked as the Assistant Director, Marketing and Development, at the Houston Public Library where she managed development, marketing, and public relations activities along with the Print Shop. Her extensive experience in raising private support through grants, partnerships, in-kind gifts, and special events will help the Archive develop in the coming years. If you would like to learn more about Archive development, our new Development Director, or would like to support the Archive today, please visit our online giving page.

Virtual Visit: The Woman Behind the Man-Celebrating Dot Carpenter

Best known for identifying the compact clause in the U.S. Constitution as a means to settle water disputes throughout the West, Delph Carpenter's contributions to the water community hold undisputed significance, especially in today's water-scarce climate. With careful examination of his papers in the Water Resources Archive, the important contributions of his wife, Dot Carpenter, have risen to the surface and are explored in a new online exhibit "Dot Carpenter: The Woman Behind the Man." The virtual exhibit explores Dot's significant contributions to her husband's career through her loving support of his work, her service in taking dictation when he could no longer write, and her care of Carpenter in his many years of declining health. The Water Resources Archive invites you to visit this exhibit to explore photographs, documents and objects that tell the story of the important legacy of Dot Carpenter: The Woman Behind the Man.

This quarterly electronic newsletter is designed to keep you informed on the developments with the Water Resources Archive. If you would prefer not to receive further updates, or if you know someone else who would like to receive this, just drop a line to us at development@library.colostate.edu.

This e-newsletter is created by Patty Rettig with the assistance of Judea Franck.