Welcome to the Western Waters Digital Library!
The Western Waters Digital Library (WWDL) is dedicated to providing access to water-related resources regarding the Trans-Mississippi region of North America. The currently available resources include classic water literature, government reports, legal transcripts, water project records, personal papers, photographic collections, and audio/video materials associated with the major river basins of the Western United States.
The Western Waters Digital library (WWDL) began as a collaborative regional project created by twelve university libraries from eight western states under auspice of the Greater Western Library Alliance ( GWLA). The initial phase of the project was funded through a two-year National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The original proposal for the WWDL project stated that, “The Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA) proposes to build a digital library of water resources information for the Western United States. The West is affected by a natural aridity, which limits water in the region. Coupled with the highest current population growth in the nation, that factor makes knowledge of the region’s history requisite for effective planning. The Western Waters Digital Library (WWDL) will create a much-needed information resource by bringing together digital collections from a geographically dispersed consortium of 30 major universities.” (GWLA now has 32 institution members.)
“All through that region, much of which is now arid and not populated, will be a population as dense as the Aztecs ever had in their palmist days in Mexico and Central America. Irrigation is the magic wand which is to bring about these great changes.” –John W. Noble, Secretary of the Interior, 1893
