Cottonwood #2 Ditch

Established: April 15 1863

Priority Number: 6

Acres under ditch: 3000 originally

Water Source: South Boulder Creek via New Dry Creek Carrier

Cottonwood #2 was actually built before Cottonwood #1, and is sometimes referred to as the Original Cottonwood. Cottonwood #1 has since been combined with the Leyner ditch, and is now known as the Leyner-Cottonwood.

"It was now time for me, 12 years old and large for my age, to take a hand at irrigating in the fields. The water rights of Cottonwood Ditch were among the earliest and most valuable in the state and we and our neighbors who owned it were never in need of water for irrigation."

--Ernest Mondell Pease, ca 1871

This photo of the Cottonwood #2 gauge house is an art piece by Bob Crifasi, showing as a part of the Ditch Project.