Edwin C. Johnson

Collection Overview

Creator: Johnson, Edwin C.

Title: Edwin C. Johnson Collection

Inclusive Dates: 1949-1969

Size: 9 linear ft.

Processed By: Marcia Kehl, 2003

Edwin C. Johnson enjoyed a long career as a Colorado politician. He served as Governor from 1933 to 1937, and again from 1955 to 1957. During the intervening years, from 1937 to 1955, he represented Colorado in the United States Senate. After leaving the Governor’s office in 1957, he was appointed as the Colorado Commissioner to the Upper Colorado River Commission. The Commission was made up of members from the “Upper Basin” States of Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico.

One of the main tasks of the Upper Colorado River Commission was to protect the rights of states to a fair share of the water from the Colorado River. Opposed to the Upper Basin states were the water-hungry “Lower Basin” States of Arizona, California, and Nevada. The battles were waged in the U. S. Congress and in the courts.

Scope and Content

The Edwin C. Johnson Collection at the University of Denver consists primarily of material related to Johnson’s work on the Upper Colorado River Commission. Associated closely with the Commission was the Colorado Water Conservation Board, which spearheaded much of the research and lobbying initiatives on behalf of Colorado water. The collection has extensive, but not complete, minutes and memoranda of the Colorado Water Conservation Board. The Colorado River Storage Project served as a vehicle for both water conservation and water allocation. The projects that were funded, determined in large part, which areas of the country would receive the most water from the Colorado River. Johnson worked closely with the Colorado Congressional delegation, and the collection is sprinkled with correspondence from Senators Gordon Allott and Peter Dominick as well as Representatives Byron Rogers and Wayne Aspinall.