All of these entities were created in the era of public works investments and economic development under the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration following the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl.
In 2012, Colorado water users marked the 75th anniversary of the River District (as well as Northern Water and the CWCB) and a public education campaign was initiated to raise public awareness about the critical importance of Colorado as a headwaters state and the responsibilities that come with it.
In particular, the unequal distribution of water resources and population across the state and especially across the great continental divide was publicized.
Since that time, drought and increasing competition for limited water resources has led to a critical public policy debate and raised the profile of the River District.
In other words, because of geographical twist of fate, most of the state's precipitation falls (generally as snow) high on the west side of the Continental Divide, and unfortunately the demand for those water resources come from the more populated areas on the drier, east side of the divide.