National Water Resources Association (U.S.)

The National Water Resources Association (NWRA) is comprised of the water users of seventeen western states. It was known as the National Reclamation Association from 1932 until 1970. J. R. "Bob" Barkley served as the Colorado Director of the NWRA from 1966 to 1974, when he became its president. The collection includes papers from the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy Board and the personal files of Barkley while he served on the National Reclamation Association (1934-1969), the NWRA (1970-1974), the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy Board (1937-1942) and other water related committees.

The National Water Resources Association is comprised of the water users of seventeen western states. It was known as the National Reclamation Association from 1932 until 1970. The Association currently publishes a biennial National Water Resources Association Directory, a monthly magazine National Waterline, and a biweekly Water Report .

The National Reclamation Association published the Proceedings starting in 1932. Its title has varied slightly through the years, being called the Proceedings of the Annual Meeting and Proceedings of the Annual Convention and Compendium .

Water Life, the monthly publication of the Association, was issued under several titles including Reclamation Facts in 1936; Reclamation News from 1937 to October 1969 (also called Bulletin of News Bulletin 1937-Aug 1951); National Reclamation Association Bulletin until 1969; Reclamation News, in 1969; Water Resources News in 1969-1970; became National Waterlife in 1976; and is continued by National Water Line .

According to Thomas F. Donnelly, current Executive Vice President of the National Water Resources Association, the Association keeps past issues of its publications, but does not maintain an archive of historical information. The Association's offices are located at 3800 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 4, Arlington, Virginia 22203.

J. R. "Bob" Barkley was born in Denver, Colorado, on January 4, 1910. He obtained his B.S. in Civil and Irrigation Engineering from Colorado State University (CSU) in 1932 and became a Registered Professional Engineer in the state of Colorado. In 1974 he received an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy from his Alma Mater. He has been associated with water conservation efforts in Colorado for many years. He guided the Colorado-Big Thompson Project construction from its early stages to completion and full operation.

Mr. Barkley played an important role in the development of allotment contract procedures, rules, and policies regarding water use today. For example, he helped implement a system of water allocation based on exchanges among users for the Colorado-Big Thompson project water.

Barkley has been a leader in the field of water resources on the national level. He served as the Colorado Director of the National Water Resources Association from 1966 to 1974. In 1974, he became the President of the National Water Resources Association. As Chairman of the Colorado River Advisory Committee, he negotiated the Colorado River Storage Project Act. This Act eventually resulted in the Glen Canyon Dam, Lake Powell, Curecanti Dam, Blue Mesa Reservoir, Flaming Gorge Reservoir, and the Dolores Project.

He was one of the organizers and a past chair of the Colorado Water Congress. He is a past President of the Four-States Irrigation Council. In 1974 the Council awarded him its Headgate Award.

A long-standing relationship between the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District and Colorado State University was established because of Barkley's close association with CSU president Dr. Charles Lory.