11 
The district is, moreover, practically independent of others in its 
claims to water. There is no district above, but below the Big 
Thompson empties into the Platte River and is subject to the priorities 
on that stream. However, it is found in practice that tin 1 priorities 
on the Bio- Thompson arc, generally speaking, older than those on the 
Platte At such times as there might be a conflict there is an abun- 
dance of water. Above the Big Thompson the St. Vrain discharges 
into the Platte River a reliable How late in the season, and this, 
together with a considerable inflow of seepage water, supplies :ill the 
old priorities on the Platte below Platteville. The return seepage 
water in the Big Thompson furnishes all the very old priorities on 
that stream at its lower end and sends some water into the Platte. 
The last, but one of the most important, of the reasons for selecting 
this stream is that it presents clearly the extreme to which litigation 
over rights to water may be carried. 
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 
Water district No. 4, or the Thompson district, lies in the South 
Platte division, or division No. 1, and wholly within the State of Col- 
orado. It embraces portions of Boulder, Larimer, and Weld counties, 
extending from the continental divide, on the west, eastward to the 
South Platte River, with elevations varying from 5,000 to 1-1,000 feet, 
the entire western boundary being above timber line, which in this 
latitude is about 11,000 feet. The mountains, especially the northern 
slopes, are a region'blessed with perpetual snow, from which the late 
water is almost entirely derived. Below timber line the slopes of the 
mountains are fairly well covered with timber. Fire has not yet 
caused its entire destruction, and over the burned areas a new growth 
is spreading rapidly, aiding in the conservation of the water supply by 
retarding the melting of the snow. 
The district may properly be divided into three divisions. The first 
of these is the mountain region, where both the Little and Big 
Thompson rivers flow in places through deep ravines and in others 
traverse open parks of greater or less area. In these parks a few 
ditches have been taken out for the purpose of irrigating hay meadows. 
Never far away from the streams, flowing over porous, shallow soil 
underlaid by solid rock, most of the water soon finds its way back to 
the river. As these ditches are small and are not included in the 
adjudication of rights by the court, they are not considered in the dis- 
tribution of the water of the district, nor will they be considered in this 
discussion. 
The second division includes the lands irrigated by the waters of the 
Little Thompson. The Little and Big Thompson rivers unite at a 
point so near the entrance of the Big Thompson to the Platte that the 
distribution of the water of each is practically independent of the other. 
