Colorado Water Resources Research Institute

The Colorado Water Resources Research Institute (CWRRI) was created in 1965 on the Colorado State University campus as a result of the Water Resources Research Act passed by Congress in 1964 to better coordinate the nation's water research programs at a time when water management, especially in the West, was challenged by increasing agricultural, municipal and industrial use. CWRRI was designed to identify and prioritize water problems for research, to plan and manage research projects in the state's universities, to disseminate new technology and information, and to act as a liaison between the state and the federal departments that administer research funding. It was initially established as a division within CSU's newly created Natural Resources Center (NRC).The name of the Natural Resources Center changed by 1970 to the Environmental Resources Center (ERC); however, CWRRI functions remained the primary focus of the center. In 1974, the ERC, and therefore CWRRI, was affiliated with the Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station at CSU. In 1978-1979, CWRRI was separated from the ERC and the Experiment Station and made a separate agency on the CSU campus. The Colorado General Assembly officially recognized this division in 1981. ln the early 1980s, CWRRI was typically known within its own organizational files in this collection as the ERC. Throughout the collection, NRC, ERC and CWRRI alternately appear on material although they refer to the same organization, today known as CWRRI. In 1967 Norman A. Evans became director of the Natural Resources Center, replacing Stephen C. Smith who served from 1965-1967. The water resources research program that created CWRRI originally overseen by the Office of Water Resources Research (OWRR), was later renamed the Office of Water Research and Technology (OWRT), both part of the Department of the Interior. After passage of a new Water Resources Research Act in 1984, the program was reassigned to the Water Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey and authorized by Colorado's legislature to operate as an official entity of Colorado State University.

From the description of Records of the Colorado Water Resources Research Institute, 1949-1987. (Poudre River Public Library District). WorldCat record id: 61250904

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