South Platte: Denver Gage to Greeley
How this page was built
Rebuilt 2026-10-11 12:57 UTC from 55,958 input files: two runs agree (output 094436769fd80227…); matches the analysis served here. The receipt
South Platte: Denver Gage to Greeley on the ground — the ditches, wells, reservoirs and gages of Water District 2 · clicktap anything for its record
The well-permit cells in view, as a table
Each row is one ~1-mile cell (0.02°) with the permits the file spots inside it, split into water-supply permits and monitoring holes (DWR’s two monitoring categories: drilled to look at the water, not to pump it). These are permits, not wells: a permit is a piece of paper, and the file does not say which were drilled. Spotting is the file’s own, about a mile at best, which is why the cells are no finer.
| Lat | Lon | Water-supply permits | Monitoring holes |
|---|
Browse this district’s ditches, gages, reservoirs, wells and springs as a list.
The South Platte River is well below normal for late September -- 48% of normal flow. 1 call stands against it right now; the most senior right calling dates to 1871. DWR's statements do not settle whether 6 more calls reach it.
Schematic
Historical
Evolution of the network
Trends
Source Our computation, no independent reference · computed here from the screened DWR record Source Our computation, no independent reference · no independent reference; see /methods
This year, in context
In the weeks around 2026-10-02 (the newest reading on file), flows at the 152 ranked gages are running at a median 89% of their own long-term norm for this window — 88 below a typical year, 64 at or above. Driest relative to its record: NEW BRANTNER RETURN TO BIG DRY CRK, ranking 1st lowest of 5 years.
How this comparison is made
Each gage's mean flow over the 3 days either side of 2026-10-02, compared with the same window in every year of its own record — so a gage is only ever measured against itself, and gages with no record in the window are counted out rather than guessed.
Gage flow trend & changepoints
What counts as a trend here
Computed 2026-10-11 19:39 from 271 gage(s) with cached period-of-record data. The series is each gage's annual mean flow in cfsCubic feet per second, a rate of flow. One cfs running for a day is about 2 acre-feet. (years with ≥300 days of record). Mann-Kendall (trend, with the Hamed–Rao correction for serial correlation — persistence can otherwise fake significance) and Pettitt (changepoint) both require at least 8 years spanning at least 10 years of record. A gage below that reports no signal — which is not the same as “no change.” The %-per-decade figure is the same Sen slope divided by the gage's median annual flow, for comparing across streams of very different size; it is omitted for near-ephemeral channels where the median is too small to divide by honestly.
Of the 271 gages with enough record, 17 are trending down and 13 up, and 20 carry a detected shift. The clearest is Cherry Creek at Denver, its annual mean flow changing +3.60 cfs per decade (+13.6% of its median annual flow) over 68 years (p<0.0001). The other 236 show no clear signal either way. 1 transbasin gage meters imported or exported water — marked ⇆ below and kept out of these counts, because that flow is an operator's decision, not the basin's hydrology (all transbasin diversions).
Drought history, cost, and the four-century context moved to the Drought tab.
| Gage | Trend | Change / decade cfs · % of median annual flow | Significance | Years | Changepoint |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
▸
Cherry Creek at Denver CHEDENCO |
↑ increasing | +3.60 cfs +13.6% | p<0.001 | 68 | ~1982 |
|
▸
⚠️
First Cr below Buckley Rd, at Rocky Mountain Arsenal FIRBUCCO |
↑ increasing | +1.12 cfs +61.6% | p<0.001 | 33 | ~2012 |
|
▸
North Fork South Platte River below Geneva Creek, at Grant NORGENCO |
↑ increasing | +12.23 cfs +11.5% | p<0.001 | 60 | ~1974 |
|
▸
South Platte River near Lake George PLAGEOCO |
↑ increasing | +6.88 cfs +7.3% | p<0.001 | 96 | ~1983 |
|
▸
South Platte River at Waterton PLAWATCO |
↓ decreasing | -9.16 cfs -7.3% | p<0.001 | 100 | ~1987 |
|
▸
South Platte River above Elevenmile Reservoir PLAHARCO |
↑ increasing | +6.96 cfs +7.3% | p<0.001 | 87 | ~1983 |
|
▸
⚠️
Cherry Creek below Cherry Creek Lake CHEBELCO |
↑ increasing | +3.38 cfs +45.0% | p<0.001 | 73 | ~1982 |
|
▸
Gardener Ditch to Cherokee Power Plant GDRDITCO |
↓ decreasing | -0.69 cfs | p<0.001 | 13 | ~2018 |
|
▸
Platteville Ditch Diversion PLADITCO |
↓ decreasing | -6.13 cfs -23.8% | p<0.001 | 17 | — |
|
▸
Sand Creek at Mouth near Commerce City SANCOMCO |
↓ decreasing | -8.93 cfs -20.1% | p<0.001 | 32 | ~2009 |
|
▸
Aurora Homestake Pipeline to Spinney Mountain Reservoir (Relief Valve) HOMSPRCO |
↑ increasing | +0.38 cfs | p=0.002 | 11 | ~2017 |
|
▸
Cherokee Power Plant Return to South Platte River CHERTNCO |
↓ decreasing | -1.00 cfs -74.8% | p=0.002 | 13 | — |
|
▸
⇆
Roberts Tunnel at East Portal near Grant ROBTUNCO |
↑ increasing | +10.24 cfs +13.6% | p=0.002 | 62 | ~1988 |
|
▸
South Platte River at Henderson PLAHENCO |
↑ increasing | +18.27 cfs +4.6% | p=0.003 | 100 | ~1968 |
|
▸
South Platte River at Fort Lupton PLALUPCO |
↑ increasing | +22.13 cfs +5.9% | p=0.003 | 87 | ~1968 |
|
▸
Jay Thomas Ditch JAYTOMCO |
↓ decreasing | -1.67 cfs | p=0.003 | 11 | — |
|
▸
Plum Creek near Louviers PLULOUCO |
↑ increasing | +9.49 cfs +34.1% | p=0.004 | 44 | — |
|
▸
Lower Latham Augmentation Bypass LLABYPCO |
↓ decreasing | -118.04 cfs -221.0% | p=0.004 | 13 | ~2017 |
|
▸
Lower Latham Ditch LLADIVCO |
↑ increasing | +10.65 cfs +16.6% | p=0.009 | 17 | — |
|
▸
South Platte River below Strontia Springs PLASTRCO |
↓ decreasing | -24.10 cfs -14.0% | p=0.015 | 43 | — |
|
▸
South Platte Supply Canal below Sand Lake near F SPSCFLCO |
↓ decreasing | -1.58 cfs -21.7% | p=0.018 | 41 | ~1981 |
|
▸
Ft. Saint Vrain Power Plant Return to St. Vrain Creek SVPPRTCO |
↓ decreasing | -0.77 cfs -52.7% | p=0.020 | 11 | — |
|
▸
Meadow Island No 1 Ditch MEDIS1CO |
↓ decreasing | -2.15 cfs -24.0% | p=0.029 | 15 | — |
|
▸
⚠️
Cherry Creek near Melvin CHEMELCO |
↓ decreasing | -6.13 cfs -74.3% | p=0.032 | 29 | ~1949 |
|
▸
Farmers Independent Ditch FRMDITCO |
↓ decreasing | -2.43 cfs -6.9% | p=0.034 | 18 | — |
|
▸
Uvalda Intercept Bl 56th Av at Rocky Mountain Ars RMAUVACO |
↑ increasing | +0.22 cfs +29.8% | p=0.036 | 19 | — |
|
▸
South Platte River at Englewood PLAENGCO |
↓ decreasing | -28.86 cfs -16.9% | p=0.043 | 43 | — |
|
▸
⚠️
Sand Hill Lake Lm Outlet SHLLMOCO |
↓ decreasing | -0.25 cfs | p=0.044 | 17 | ~2015 |
|
▸
Cherry Creek near Parker CHERRYCO |
↑ increasing | +1.74 cfs +16.8% | p=0.044 | 34 | — |
|
▸
South Platte River at 64th Ave. Commerce City PLASIXCO |
↓ decreasing | -19.98 cfs -16.5% | p=0.044 | 44 | — |
|
▸
Burlington-Wellington Canal BURCANCO |
↓ decreasing | -12.32 cfs -7.6% | p=0.047 | 34 | — |
|
▸
South Platte River at Denver PLADENCO |
no clear trend | -7.56 cfs -2.6% | p=0.058 | 131 | ~1949 |
|
▸
South Platte River at South Platte PLASPLCO |
no clear trend | +5.90 cfs +1.4% | p=0.101 | 127 | ~1978 |
|
▸
South Platte River below Cheesman Reservoir PLACHECO |
no clear trend | +3.19 cfs +1.8% | p=0.204 | 101 | ~1981 |
|
▸
⚠️
Boreas Pass Ditch at Boreas Pass BORDITCO |
no clear trend | -0.00 cfs | p=0.642 | 84 | ~1962 |
⚠️ 7 gages flagged: their records may have quietly shifted against their neighbours, so treat their trends with caution.
How drift is detected
Every gage's annual flows are compared against each neighbour's as a double-mass curve (Searcy & Hardison, USGS WSP 1541-B); a Pettitt step test looks for a break in the ratio. A gage is flagged only when the breaks AGREE across its references, and a break against an already-suspect gage is never counted against a healthy one. A double-mass break means the ratio between two gages changed, not that either gage is faulty: a new diversion, a reservoir, or an import changes that ratio exactly as a rating shift does. Screening aid for expert review, never a measurement verdict.
236 other gage(s) show no significant trend or changepoint (not shown).
3 of those show a significant trend once extended backwards from a retired neighbour's record: So. Platte River below Brush Cr. near Trumbull (102 yr, increasing); North Fork South Platte River at Grant (87 yr, increasing); South Platte River below Union Ave, at Englewood,C (40 yr, decreasing). Those are reconstructions, not measurements — each gage's page shows both.
How the measurement network itself changed
This basin was not always measured the way it is today — the API-era record is dense and recent, the early record sparse. 198 gage(s) and 691 structure(s) report in 2026, but structure reporting only reached half its modern level around ~1973. Every historical claim below is checked against this: long-term shifts that co-move with the growth of the network carry an explicit measurement-evolution caution, and abandonment screens whose idleness begins before the modern reporting era are flagged †.
| Decade | Gages with data (median yr) | Structures reporting (median yr) |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | 2 | 0 |
| 1900s | 2 | 0 |
| 1910s | 7 | 0 |
| 1920s | 8 | 0 |
| 1930s | 12 | 0 |
| 1940s | 17 | 0 |
| 1950s | 20 | 174 |
| 1960s | 21 | 82 |
| 1970s | 22 | 368 |
| 1980s | 32 | 358 |
| 1990s | 62 | 338 |
| 2000s | 72 | 307 |
| 2010s | 104 | 494 |
| 2020s | 195 | 691 |
Mass-balance (network closure) trend
Structure divrec-history backfill coverage as of the last check: 4% of 10276 schematic-relevant structures. 0 year(s) clear the 30% coverage gate so far -- the trend activates automatically once qualifying years span a full decade. No action needed; the nightly backfill keeps extending the record.
Reach gain/loss shifts (1950–2025)
Mass-balance kinks computed for every summer month back to 1950 (1323 reach-snapshots) — which reaches gain or lose water, and how that has shifted across decades. Each shift is cross-checked against the observation record above: as more diversions became metered, "unaccounted" water shrinks mechanically, which can masquerade as a hydrologic shift.
- SOUTH PLATTE RIVER AT FORT LUPTON, CO.: reach shifted from +86 cfs to +539 cfs summer mean (more gaining, p=0.000, 70 yr) [sedimentary plains/foothills: moderate groundwater connectivity -- gain/loss shifts can be real aquifer response; corroborate with nearby well records] [measurement-evolution caution: this shift co-moves with the growth of the gage/metering network (rho=0.6) -- part of it may be unaccounted water becoming accounted, not hydrologic change] [76 alluvial wells within 2 mi of the gage; pooled water table +1.1 ft (1929–2025, no_trend)]
- FIRST CR BEL BUCKLEY RD, AT ROCKY MTN ARSENAL, CO: reach shifted from -30 cfs to -16 cfs summer mean (more gaining, p=0.049, 14 yr) [sedimentary plains/foothills: moderate groundwater connectivity -- gain/loss shifts can be real aquifer response; corroborate with nearby well records] [measurement-evolution caution: this shift co-moves with the growth of the gage/metering network (rho=0.67) -- part of it may be unaccounted water becoming accounted, not hydrologic change]
Groundwater now has its own tab: 8967 monitored well(s), water-table trends, stream corridors, and the advisory depletion screen.
Reservoirs now has its own tab: 283 reservoir(s), end-of-year storage back to 1950, click-to-chart histories.
Cross-gage pattern fingerprint
Over the 102-year window with full coverage (1925–2026), the dominant shared pattern across 3 gage(s) explains 82% of year-to-year variance (almost certainly a basin-wide climate/snowpack driver).
All gages in this window move with the shared pattern -- no localized outlier.
Structures most implicated by reconciliation (as of 2026-09-01)
Which structures' data absorbed the most correction when the current mass-balance snapshot was reconciled -- see the Historical tab for the full picture on any date.
- CHEROKEE EXCHANGE PIPELINE (diversion): -131.0 cfs (83% of that reach's correction)
- TWO FORKS RES (diversion): -118.3 cfs (31% of that reach's correction)
- AURORA INLET PL (diversion): -118.3 cfs (31% of that reach's correction)
- AURORA PL (diversion): -118.3 cfs (31% of that reach's correction)
- COLEMAN PL (diversion): -72.3 cfs (33% of that reach's correction)
- WILLRICH SPRING (return): -72.3 cfs (33% of that reach's correction)
- LUCKY JACK SPRING (return): -72.3 cfs (33% of that reach's correction)
- LUPTON BOTTOM D WEST LATERAL AUG RETURN (return): +64.3 cfs (33% of that reach's correction)
- AURORA EVERIST RESERVOIR 1 (diversion): +64.3 cfs (33% of that reach's correction)
- PLATTEVILLE D CENTRAL AUG RT (return): +64.3 cfs (33% of that reach's correction)
Data provenance & quality
Where these numbers come from and how far they can be trusted. Grade C (3/6 points) — the components below are the finding; the letter alone is not. Sources: DWR HydroBase snapshot HydroBase_CO_20260928 (imported 2026-10-04) for history, plus the CDSS REST API for current conditions.
| Check | State | What was measured |
|---|---|---|
| gage freshness | stale | newest gage reading is 9 day(s) old (target 7) |
| diversion record | expected-lag | newest diversion record is 346 day(s) old (DWR publishes ~1 year in arrears) |
| structure coverage | sparse | 4% of schematic structures have data |
Independent check: PASS — 100.0000% agreement across 53,853 stored values re-checked against DWR's authoritative record (HydroBase_CO_20260707), over 20 structures. 0 disagreement(s) beyond a 0.01 cfs tolerance. Checked 2026-08-19; a rotating sample covers the whole basin across successive runs, and the structures this report cites are checked every time.
Federal cross-check: PASS — 95.69% day-level agreement with USGS's own published records for the same gages, across 76 co-listed station(s) and 693,915 overlapping days (within max(2%, 0.5 cfs) daily). Pre-1950 records at some gages carry known between-agency day-stamp and transcription differences — scored at each year's best ±1-day alignment; residual disagreement is real historical divergence, flagged for review.
Upstream revisions: DWR's HydroBase_CO_20260707 image changed 70 previously-published historical value(s) across 2 structure(s) in this basin. The revised record now governs; every change is logged, none swapped silently.
271 gage(s) / 1,760,716 daily values (1895-07-01–2026-10-02); 1753 structure(s) with diversion records; 21886 with decreed rights. Methodology has not yet had independent expert review — treat every figure as an advisory screen, not an administrative or legal conclusion.
Groundwater
Source DWR administrative record · verify at DWR groundwater wells ↗ Source DWR administrative record · verify at DWR well permits ↗
176,540 water-level measurements across 8967 monitored well(s) — 3558 alluvial, 2848 bedrock — plus 215 administered well(s) reporting metered pumping.
What is being counted
Observation wells and pumping wells are different populations and are never conflated: water levels come from monitored observation wells, and metered pumping comes from administered wells reporting through diversion records. Click any well to chart its own record.
Well map
3D aquifer x-ray
Every aquifer unit as its own head surface, animated through time.
How the surfaces are built, and what they are not
Alluvial water table on top, Denver Basin members (Dawson, Denver, Arapahoe, Laramie–Fox Hills) stacked beneath where measured, interpolated from measured water levels. Units are never mixed; a surface exists only inside its own unit's well coverage, with no extrapolation; thin epochs are suppressed and say why. Vertical scale is exaggerated for readability and z is head elevation in feet. These are measured heads, not a calibrated groundwater model.
Water-table trends
Of 390 well(s) with enough record for a trend test: 158 declining, 53 rising.
| Fastest-declining wells | Setting | ft / decade | Span | p |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ▸ CASTLE PINES A-1 | bedrock | -307.81 | 28 yr | 0.0 |
| ▸ DB-106 CPNMD A-2 | bedrock | -266.68 | 32 yr | 0.0 |
| ▸ DB-106 CPNMD A-3 | bedrock | -258.69 | 32 yr | 0.0 |
| ▸ DB-113 DEN TECH CNTR, SOUTH | bedrock | -256.67 | 31 yr | 0.0 |
| ▸ JORDAN WELL | bedrock | -255.88 | 21 yr | 0.0375 |
| ▸ DB-118 CASTLE ROCK WELL 14 | bedrock | -253.52 | 35 yr | 0.0003 |
| ▸ SC00606624ADA1 | unknown | -251.12 | 22 yr | 0.0006 |
| ▸ DB-113 DEN TECH CNTR, NORTH | bedrock | -235.24 | 31 yr | 0.0002 |
Stream corridors — the surface connection
Where a reach's gain or loss has shifted, the wells within two miles of its anchoring gage and what their water table did over the same era.
How the corridor is assembled
For each reach whose gain/loss has shifted (Trends tab): the wells within 2 miles of its anchoring gage, their pooled water-table history over the same era, and an advisory Glover screen of lagged stream depletion from nearby metered pumping. v1 proximity = distance to the reach's anchoring gage; segment-based reach join is a flagged upgrade.
SOUTH PLATTE RIVER AT FORT LUPTON, CO.: 76 alluvial well(s) nearby; pooled water table +1.1 ft (1929–2025, no_trend, p=0.257). Glover screen: 2.4 cfs of nearby metered alluvial pumping → est. lagged depletion 2.1–2.4 cfs (uncalibrated T/S ranges; flagged for SPDSS calibration, AWAS cross-check, and expert review — DWR's AWAS is the authority).
FIRST CR BEL BUCKLEY RD, AT ROCKY MTN ARSENAL, CO: 62 alluvial well(s) nearby
Wells labeled by administrative world before anything else is said about them: tributary alluvium participates in the priority system; designated-basin and Denver Basin bedrock aquifers are governed differently and are excluded from stream-connection reasoning. Read bedrock declines differently too: deep bedrock aquifers recharge negligibly on human timescales, so a falling bedrock level is storage mining — effectively permanent — not a drought response that a wet year undoes. All screens advisory.
53% are constructed wells; 10% tie to a decreed structure. A permit is permission to drill, not a water right; most here are exempt household wells. More in three things called “well”, or turn on the Well permits chip on the map above to see where they sit.
Permits issued here, by year
16,890 located water-supply permits with an issue date, 1905 to 2026; half of them had been issued by 1991, and the busiest year was 1972 with 664. The district’s 15,880 monitoring holes are counted apart: they are drilled to look, not to pump. A permit is not a well, and the year is the date the paper was issued, not a drilling date. The 44,849 above counts every permit on file here; 12,079 of them have no usable location or no issue date and are not in this chart.
water-supply permits issued that year monitoring holes, when shown 7 issued before 1950 are in the table, not the bars
The counts by year, as a table
| Year | Issued | Monitoring holes | Water-supply | Issued through that year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1905 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1908 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 1912 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 1926 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 1934 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 1936 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 1944 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 1952 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 1953 | 27 | 0 | 27 | 35 |
| 1954 | 138 | 0 | 138 | 173 |
| 1955 | 271 | 0 | 271 | 444 |
| 1956 | 177 | 0 | 177 | 621 |
| 1957 | 139 | 0 | 139 | 760 |
| 1958 | 228 | 0 | 228 | 988 |
| 1959 | 325 | 0 | 325 | 1,313 |
| 1960 | 661 | 0 | 661 | 1,974 |
| 1961 | 71 | 0 | 71 | 2,045 |
| 1962 | 88 | 0 | 88 | 2,133 |
| 1963 | 149 | 0 | 149 | 2,282 |
| 1964 | 133 | 0 | 133 | 2,415 |
| 1965 | 85 | 0 | 85 | 2,500 |
| 1966 | 123 | 0 | 123 | 2,623 |
| 1967 | 75 | 0 | 75 | 2,698 |
| 1968 | 117 | 0 | 117 | 2,815 |
| 1969 | 95 | 0 | 95 | 2,910 |
| 1970 | 111 | 0 | 111 | 3,021 |
| 1971 | 167 | 0 | 167 | 3,188 |
| 1972 | 664 | 0 | 664 | 3,852 |
| 1973 | 314 | 0 | 314 | 4,166 |
| 1974 | 151 | 0 | 151 | 4,317 |
| 1975 | 150 | 0 | 150 | 4,467 |
| 1976 | 163 | 0 | 163 | 4,630 |
| 1977 | 262 | 0 | 262 | 4,892 |
| 1978 | 454 | 0 | 454 | 5,346 |
| 1979 | 348 | 0 | 348 | 5,694 |
| 1980 | 234 | 0 | 234 | 5,928 |
| 1981 | 231 | 6 | 225 | 6,159 |
| 1982 | 268 | 1 | 267 | 6,427 |
| 1983 | 218 | 2 | 216 | 6,645 |
| 1984 | 235 | 8 | 227 | 6,880 |
| 1985 | 327 | 72 | 255 | 7,207 |
| 1986 | 379 | 92 | 287 | 7,586 |
| 1987 | 382 | 109 | 273 | 7,968 |
| 1988 | 383 | 131 | 252 | 8,351 |
| 1989 | 446 | 236 | 210 | 8,797 |
| 1990 | 490 | 240 | 250 | 9,287 |
| 1991 | 669 | 373 | 296 | 9,956 |
| 1992 | 713 | 440 | 273 | 10,669 |
| 1993 | 520 | 254 | 266 | 11,189 |
| 1994 | 1,100 | 648 | 452 | 12,289 |
| 1995 | 888 | 444 | 444 | 13,177 |
| 1996 | 628 | 224 | 404 | 13,805 |
| 1997 | 539 | 175 | 364 | 14,344 |
| 1998 | 841 | 495 | 346 | 15,185 |
| 1999 | 496 | 171 | 325 | 15,681 |
| 2000 | 610 | 240 | 370 | 16,291 |
| 2001 | 589 | 269 | 320 | 16,880 |
| 2002 | 725 | 365 | 360 | 17,605 |
| 2003 | 923 | 570 | 353 | 18,528 |
| 2004 | 939 | 691 | 248 | 19,467 |
| 2005 | 886 | 648 | 238 | 20,353 |
| 2006 | 700 | 460 | 240 | 21,053 |
| 2007 | 393 | 195 | 198 | 21,446 |
| 2008 | 411 | 241 | 170 | 21,857 |
| 2009 | 317 | 200 | 117 | 22,174 |
| 2010 | 384 | 234 | 150 | 22,558 |
| 2011 | 405 | 277 | 128 | 22,963 |
| 2012 | 522 | 326 | 196 | 23,485 |
| 2013 | 794 | 643 | 151 | 24,279 |
| 2014 | 586 | 426 | 160 | 24,865 |
| 2015 | 427 | 312 | 115 | 25,292 |
| 2016 | 687 | 531 | 156 | 25,979 |
| 2017 | 523 | 326 | 197 | 26,502 |
| 2018 | 565 | 378 | 187 | 27,067 |
| 2019 | 694 | 494 | 200 | 27,761 |
| 2020 | 662 | 477 | 185 | 28,423 |
| 2021 | 769 | 607 | 162 | 29,192 |
| 2022 | 754 | 601 | 153 | 29,946 |
| 2023 | 488 | 353 | 135 | 30,434 |
| 2024 | 696 | 575 | 121 | 31,130 |
| 2025 | 1,034 | 870 | 164 | 32,164 |
| 2026 | 606 | 447 | 159 | 32,770 |
Every district in the file on one scale · the whole file, one year at a time · Plate 4 of the Driller’s Atlas.
What drillers reached, township by township
25 PLSS townships here where at least 5 water-supply permits naming the same aquifer filed a depth (14,339 permits in all; the 24 most-drilled are drawn, every one is in the table). Each column is one township, six miles square, on one scale to 2,100 ft below ground: a faint lane spans the 10th to 90th percentile of where the permits naming that aquifer stopped, the solid band their screens, the tick the median. This is the permit file’s view of the ground — the aquifer is the name the driller wrote, the band is where those holes ended — not a geologic map, and a township is as fine as it gets. Monitoring holes are left out. 13 of these townships straddle a district line and are filed here because most of their permits are.
1,426
1,112
1,078
998
853 · 61% here
714 · 86% here
711 · 51% here
700
692 · 76% here
659 · 80% here
616
510
487
470 · 80% here
424
413 · 74% here
398 · 68% here
383
354 · 71% here
310
289 · 92% here
272 · 86% here
205
198 · 71% here
unnamed alluvium Dawson Denver Arapahoe Laramie-Fox Hills other named faint = where the permits naming it stopped (10th–90th pct) · solid = their screens · tick = median · ft below ground as filed
Every township here, as a table
| Township | Share of its permits in this district | Aquifer named | Permits with a depth | Drilled depth p10 / p50 / p90, ft | Screen top p10 / p50 / p90, ft | Screen bottom p10 / p50 / p90, ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1N R66W 6th PM | 98% | alluvium | 79 | 32 / 40 / 54 | 13 / 18 / 37 | 23 / 31 / 54 |
| T1N R66W 6th PM | 98% | unnamed | 786 | 30 / 50 / 382 | 17 / 32 / 666 | 34 / 56 / 825 |
| T1N R66W 6th PM | 98% | Arapahoe | 196 | 108 / 301 / 488 | 59 / 178 / 328 | 139 / 310 / 494 |
| T1N R66W 6th PM | 98% | other named | 5 | 96 / 500 / 568 | — | — |
| T1N R66W 6th PM | 98% | Laramie-Fox Hills | 355 | 800 / 960 / 1,200 | 650 / 820 / 1,020 | 803 / 977 / 1,220 |
| T1S R66W 6th PM | 99% | unnamed | 838 | 35 / 65 / 500 | 20 / 40 / 347 | 37 / 64 / 519 |
| T1S R66W 6th PM | 99% | alluvium | 34 | 40 / 72 / 85 | 16 / 24 / 34 | 30 / 38 / 50 |
| T1S R66W 6th PM | 99% | Denver | 5 | 70 / 178 / 390 | — | — |
| T1S R66W 6th PM | 99% | Arapahoe | 206 | 298 / 518 / 760 | 200 / 340 / 550 | 340 / 520 / 760 |
| T1S R66W 6th PM | 99% | Laramie-Fox Hills | 24 | 673 / 1,172 / 1,298 | 826 / 1,008 / 1,121 | 984 / 1,170 / 1,306 |
| T2S R67W 6th PM | 99% | alluvium | 16 | 36 / 46 / 110 | — | — |
| T2S R67W 6th PM | 99% | unnamed | 778 | 29 / 50 / 404 | 14 / 32 / 325 | 29 / 50 / 523 |
| T2S R67W 6th PM | 99% | Dawson | 8 | 324 / 440 / 509 | 172 / 260 / 344 | 347 / 460 / 2,122 |
| T2S R67W 6th PM | 99% | Arapahoe | 264 | 286 / 474 / 625 | 228 / 340 / 422 | 349 / 500 / 620 |
| T2S R67W 6th PM | 99% | Denver | 10 | 156 / 555 / 601 | 115 / 354 / 443 | 148 / 565 / 603 |
| T1S R67W 6th PM | 99% | alluvium | 13 | 27 / 33 / 58 | — | — |
| T1S R67W 6th PM | 99% | unnamed | 658 | 26 / 50 / 455 | 13 / 34 / 327 | 30 / 53 / 477 |
| T1S R67W 6th PM | 99% | Arapahoe | 199 | 345 / 440 / 556 | 157 / 240 / 400 | 345 / 440 / 555 |
| T1S R67W 6th PM | 99% | Laramie-Fox Hills | 122 | 900 / 1,050 / 1,179 | 652 / 835 / 959 | 909 / 1,050 / 1,176 |
| T5N R65W 6th PM | 61% | unnamed | 811 | 25 / 50 / 95 | 11 / 30 / 57 | 30 / 50 / 87 |
| T5N R65W 6th PM | 61% | alluvium | 34 | 40 / 58 / 78 | 20 / 30 / 49 | 40 / 54 / 70 |
| T5N R65W 6th PM | 61% | Laramie-Fox Hills | 6 | 58 / 88 / 220 | — | — |
| T1S R68W 6th PM | 86% | unnamed | 472 | 55 / 338 / 900 | 28 / 160 / 745 | 76 / 375 / 902 |
| T1S R68W 6th PM | 86% | Arapahoe | 70 | 200 / 345 / 411 | 94 / 150 / 234 | 205 / 340 / 416 |
| T1S R68W 6th PM | 86% | Laramie-Fox Hills | 166 | 790 / 915 / 998 | 606 / 740 / 780 | 800 / 905 / 985 |
| T2S R69W 6th PM | 51% | unnamed | 592 | 30 / 170 / 446 | 19 / 100 / 295 | 39 / 250 / 440 |
| T2S R69W 6th PM | 51% | Dawson | 5 | 239 / 275 / 389 | 48 / 190 / 257 | 210 / 275 / 377 |
| T2S R69W 6th PM | 51% | Arapahoe | 77 | 150 / 325 / 456 | 56 / 180 / 306 | 148 / 325 / 468 |
| T2S R69W 6th PM | 51% | Laramie-Fox Hills | 31 | 400 / 1,100 / 1,180 | 237 / 882 / 992 | 400 / 1,055 / 1,162 |
| T4N R66W 6th PM | 95% | unnamed | 649 | 37 / 65 / 98 | 13 / 40 / 67 | 32 / 63 / 97 |
| T4N R66W 6th PM | 95% | alluvium | 30 | 55 / 74 / 100 | 20 / 40 / 69 | 46 / 67 / 92 |
| T4N R66W 6th PM | 95% | Laramie-Fox Hills | 18 | 73 / 270 / 395 | 35 / 138 / 197 | 72 / 300 / 415 |
| T1N R65W 6th PM | 76% | alluvium | 19 | 40 / 60 / 80 | 19 / 26 / 50 | 41 / 60 / 80 |
| T1N R65W 6th PM | 76% | unnamed | 405 | 40 / 64 / 235 | 12 / 40 / 309 | 32 / 66 / 465 |
| T1N R65W 6th PM | 76% | Arapahoe | 161 | 160 / 325 / 570 | 80 / 200 / 390 | 180 / 330 / 585 |
| T1N R65W 6th PM | 76% | Laramie-Fox Hills | 103 | 751 / 901 / 1,082 | 646 / 748 / 940 | 750 / 870 / 1,082 |
| T3S R67W 6th PM | 80% | unnamed | 639 | 21 / 46 / 103 | 12 / 30 / 67 | 21 / 44 / 84 |
| T3S R67W 6th PM | 80% | other named | 8 | 48 / 51 / 55 | 32 / 40 / 43 | 48 / 50 / 53 |
| T2N R66W 6th PM | 98% | alluvium | 13 | 43 / 50 / 59 | 10 / 22 / 33 | 39 / 50 / 56 |
| T2N R66W 6th PM | 98% | unnamed | 349 | 30 / 52 / 645 | 13 / 30 / 528 | 30 / 53 / 642 |
| T2N R66W 6th PM | 98% | Arapahoe | 65 | 230 / 265 / 285 | 40 / 55 / 80 | 230 / 265 / 290 |
| T2N R66W 6th PM | 98% | other named | 6 | 44 / 350 / 590 | — | — |
| T2N R66W 6th PM | 98% | Laramie-Fox Hills | 181 | 575 / 705 / 870 | 380 / 544 / 712 | 575 / 700 / 870 |
| T4N R65W 6th PM | 97% | unnamed | 449 | 12 / 61 / 142 | 2 / 28 / 73 | 11 / 45 / 120 |
| T4N R65W 6th PM | 97% | alluvium | 17 | 26 / 65 / 90 | 12 / 42 / 52 | 36 / 71 / 100 |
| T4N R65W 6th PM | 97% | Laramie-Fox Hills | 42 | 150 / 300 / 447 | 66 / 173 / 268 | 100 / 280 / 376 |
| T1N R67W 6th PM | 99% | unnamed | 225 | 15 / 40 / 702 | 10 / 20 / 578 | 26 / 42 / 734 |
| T1N R67W 6th PM | 99% | alluvium | 41 | 39 / 51 / 58 | 20 / 31 / 40 | 31 / 40 / 46 |
| T1N R67W 6th PM | 99% | Arapahoe | 10 | 84 / 260 / 807 | 20 / 260 / 597 | 90 / 360 / 828 |
| T1N R67W 6th PM | 99% | Laramie-Fox Hills | 202 | 660 / 740 / 870 | 475 / 540 / 661 | 675 / 740 / 870 |
| T2N R67W 6th PM | 80% | alluvium | 10 | 27 / 44 / 80 | 12 / 20 / 26 | 34 / 45 / 68 |
| T2N R67W 6th PM | 80% | unnamed | 346 | 28 / 63 / 442 | 14 / 40 / 299 | 29 / 60 / 414 |
| T2N R67W 6th PM | 80% | Laramie-Fox Hills | 110 | 270 / 513 / 610 | 162 / 360 / 445 | 310 / 519 / 619 |
| T3S R66W 6th PM | 98% | alluvium | 6 | 19 / 32 / 40 | — | — |
| T3S R66W 6th PM | 98% | unnamed | 400 | 23 / 43 / 542 | 9 / 25 / 510 | 27 / 48 / 597 |
| T3S R66W 6th PM | 98% | Arapahoe | 11 | 896 / 1,100 / 1,245 | 684 / 873 / 1,049 | 872 / 1,150 / 1,226 |
| T2S R68W 6th PM | 74% | unnamed | 384 | 21 / 55 / 702 | 10 / 22 / 486 | 24 / 40 / 750 |
| T2S R68W 6th PM | 74% | Arapahoe | 19 | 460 / 620 / 761 | 342 / 412 / 526 | 460 / 616 / 759 |
| T2S R68W 6th PM | 74% | Laramie-Fox Hills | 9 | 1,409 / 1,425 / 1,615 | 1,085 / 1,137 / 1,286 | 1,388 / 1,431 / 1,580 |
| T2N R65W 6th PM | 68% | unnamed | 265 | 40 / 64 / 612 | 21 / 41 / 534 | 41 / 64 / 641 |
| T2N R65W 6th PM | 68% | alluvium | 17 | 53 / 64 / 84 | 20 / 40 / 56 | 51 / 65 / 82 |
| T2N R65W 6th PM | 68% | Laramie-Fox Hills | 110 | 519 / 646 / 810 | 400 / 480 / 634 | 520 / 640 / 795 |
| T3N R66W 6th PM | 98% | alluvium | 9 | 51 / 58 / 66 | — | — |
| T3N R66W 6th PM | 98% | unnamed | 271 | 40 / 60 / 405 | 25 / 40 / 314 | 50 / 60 / 440 |
| T3N R66W 6th PM | 98% | Laramie-Fox Hills | 100 | 250 / 380 / 500 | 140 / 220 / 360 | 250 / 378 / 500 |
| T3N R67W 6th PM | 71% | unnamed | 318 | 27 / 51 / 84 | 11 / 28 / 50 | 30 / 50 / 80 |
| T3N R67W 6th PM | 71% | alluvium | 16 | 36 / 58 / 88 | 19 / 29 / 61 | 39 / 58 / 91 |
| T3N R67W 6th PM | 71% | Laramie-Fox Hills | 18 | 130 / 240 / 306 | 31 / 130 / 156 | 98 / 240 / 279 |
| T2S R66W 6th PM | 99% | Denver | 9 | 43 / 120 / 368 | 50 / 158 / 270 | 82 / 287 / 380 |
| T2S R66W 6th PM | 99% | unnamed | 239 | 42 / 400 / 610 | 20 / 260 / 452 | 42 / 450 / 639 |
| T2S R66W 6th PM | 99% | Arapahoe | 55 | 400 / 510 / 750 | 240 / 340 / 560 | 400 / 500 / 720 |
| T2S R66W 6th PM | 99% | Laramie-Fox Hills | 5 | 1,340 / 1,360 / 1,452 | — | — |
| T4S R65W 6th PM | 92% | unnamed | 90 | 28 / 348 / 801 | 10 / 410 / 650 | 28 / 620 / 819 |
| T4S R65W 6th PM | 92% | Dawson | 5 | 390 / 505 / 630 | — | — |
| T4S R65W 6th PM | 92% | Denver | 79 | 509 / 670 / 852 | 355 / 502 / 711 | 574 / 682 / 890 |
| T4S R65W 6th PM | 92% | Arapahoe | 112 | 735 / 1,060 / 1,160 | 534 / 920 / 990 | 716 / 1,057 / 1,310 |
| T3N R65W 6th PM | 86% | Denver | 11 | 26 / 26 / 26 | — | — |
| T3N R65W 6th PM | 86% | unnamed | 132 | 16 / 72 / 339 | 6 / 46 / 252 | 16 / 68 / 340 |
| T3N R65W 6th PM | 86% | Laramie-Fox Hills | 125 | 295 / 380 / 518 | 220 / 260 / 314 | 300 / 385 / 514 |
| T4S R66W 6th PM | 97% | unnamed | 145 | 29 / 220 / 1,009 | 12 / 38 / 716 | 17 / 84 / 764 |
| T4S R66W 6th PM | 97% | Denver | 40 | 100 / 330 / 741 | 141 / 300 / 552 | 200 / 480 / 724 |
| T4S R66W 6th PM | 97% | Arapahoe | 15 | 606 / 1,020 / 1,443 | 420 / 858 / 953 | 582 / 1,010 / 1,343 |
| T5S R65W 6th PM | 71% | unnamed | 44 | 41 / 350 / 665 | 17 / 260 / 563 | 40 / 420 / 663 |
| T5S R65W 6th PM | 71% | Dawson | 48 | 229 / 403 / 476 | 192 / 305 / 380 | 320 / 415 / 479 |
| T5S R65W 6th PM | 71% | Denver | 78 | 416 / 568 / 817 | 260 / 370 / 575 | 408 / 570 / 838 |
| T5S R65W 6th PM | 71% | Arapahoe | 26 | 1,378 / 1,739 / 2,006 | 1,009 / 1,226 / 1,381 | 1,344 / 1,664 / 1,810 |
| T2S R65W 6th PM | 62% | unnamed | 63 | 48 / 64 / 272 | 30 / 42 / 220 | 48 / 68 / 305 |
These columns on the map · Plate 6 of the Driller’s Atlas.
The Driller’s Atlas · Plate 2 A cross-section nobody surveyed
Every permitted well within a few miles of the line, drawn from the ground to its drilled depth as the driller filed it. The bright part of each stroke is the perforated casing — where the well actually takes water — coloured by the aquifer named on the permit. Nobody arranged these; the aquifers arrange themselves.
The ground each well hangs from is a 1-km elevation model sampled at the point the permit was spotted, so the profile is real topography smoothed to about a kilometre — peaks are shaved, valleys filled a little — and the depths are the driller’s, measured down from that ground.
Hover or arrow through the strokes to read a well.
The same corridor as a table
| Miles from A | Wells drawn | Median depth (ft) | With a screen | Most-named aquifer | No depth filed | Ground, ft above sea level (median) |
|---|
Bins run from end A to end B of the line. “Most-named aquifer” is the family most often named on permits in the bin, with its count; permits naming no aquifer are the majority of the file and are not a family.
Reservoirs
Source DWR administrative record · verify at DWR structure records ↗
283 reservoir(s) with 273,566 storage measurement(s), 1950–2026. Basin storage as of 2025-10-31 (the record's own end — reservoir records publish ~annually): 424,400 AF across 83 reservoir(s).
Why storage matters to the flow network
Storage change is real water the mass balance must credit — a losing reach beside a filling reservoir isn't losing water, it's banking it.
Reservoir map — how full is each vessel?
What “full” is measured against
Bubble size is proportional to a reservoir's record-high storage. Fill is its last recorded storage as a share of its surveyed capacity (USACE National Inventory of Dams) where a confident NID match exists — the tooltip names the matched dam — and as a share of its own record high otherwise. A wrong capacity would be worse than an honest record high, so only confident joins upgrade.
A dashed teal ring marks reservoirs reporting live DWR telemetry: their fill reflects yesterday's storage, is drawn as a dotted tail on charts, and is treated as provisional until the next verified HydroBase snapshot supersedes it.
A dashed red ring marks a dam under an active storage restriction from DWR's Dam Safety branch — the State Engineer has limited how much it may legally store, so a low fill can be an order, not a drought. Hazard class and inspection condition come from the same record, joined only where the dam carries this reservoir's WDID or a confident NID match — a wrong dam's restriction would be worse than none shown.
Basin storage, end of each water year
End-of-water-year totals; per-year reservoir counts shown because reporting coverage varies -- a total is only comparable to years with similar counts.
Largest reservoirs on record
Click a row to chart its full storage history, or open its dossier for rights, documents and dam-safety facts.
| Reservoir | Last recorded storage (AF) | As of | Full | Dam (DWR Dam Safety) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ▸ ELEVEN MILE RES (2303965) | 100,140 | 2025-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ CHEESMAN RES (8003550) | 68,135 | 2025-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ STANDLEY RES (0203903) | 38,598 | 2025-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ CHATFIELD RESERVOIR (0803514) | 31,629 | 2025-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ AURORA RES (0203379) | 27,960 | 2025-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ SPINNEY MTN RESERVOIR (2304013) | 23,202 | 2025-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ ANTERO RES (2303904) | 18,272 | 2025-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ BECHTOLD RES (0803601) | 16,977 | 1958-06-01 | — | — | dossier → |
Drought
Source Our computation, no independent reference · computed here from the screened DWR record Source Independent agency measurement · fetched 2026-10-06 · verify at U.S. Drought Monitor ↗
Right now
This is the 63rd-driest week 40 in 132 years of record at SOUTH PLATTE RIVER AT DENVER (as of 2026-09-28; this week’s flow sits at the 48th percentileRank against the record: a river at its 5th percentile is lower than it was in 95 of the past 100 years on this same date. for the date). On this week’s US Drought Monitor, Boulder County is 24% in D4 exceptional drought (2026-10-06). The law agrees: the most senior active call leaves 0% of this district’s decreed flow rights junior to the calling right this week.
Every year since 1895, week by week
Each thin row is a year at SOUTH PLATTE RIVER AT DENVER; each cell is one week’s flow ranked against the same calendar week of every other year — warm means dry for the date, blue wet, so seasonality cancels and droughts appear as warm bands. Gaps are missing record, never a dry river. Click a year to reconstruct it on the Historical tab.
This year against its analogs
Over the 40 weeks recorded so far, 2026’s weekly trace most resembles 2002 (mean gap 11.2 percentile points; next closest 1908 (13.1), 2012 (15.9)). The analog’s remainder is drawn as context — its ending is what happened to it, not a forecast for this year.
The Drought Monitor’s view since 2000
Mean share of area in each class across Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson, Logan, Morgan, Park, Pueblo, Sedgwick, Washington, Weld counties — the counties this district’s gages sit in, which overlap the district imperfectly. The Drought Monitor weighs soils, vegetation and local reports; it is CONTEXT beside the river’s own record above, not the water-rights picture.
The law’s own drought gauge
When water runs short, administration answers: calls reach further back in time, and more decreed rights go junior to the calling right. This is that response, weekly since 2011 — the share of this district’s decreed flow rights junior to the most senior active call. Watch it spike in the named droughts below, and linger after the river recovers.
Computed from DWR’s call record (1512 calls touching this district) against the district’s rights index. Scoping is deliberately coarse — a call’s own district, or districts named in its comments — and this is administration’s RESPONSE, not a per-structure verdict (each dossier’s curtailment card does that, with stream miles). A deepening call can also reflect growing demand, not only shrinking supply.
This basin’s droughts, by its own record
| Drought | Span | Weeks | Trough percentile | Flows recovered | Water table back |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| the 2020-22 drought | 2020-08-24 → 2021-04-26 | 35 | 13th (2020-11-16) | 2 weeks | 4 yr (168 wells, 81 still below) |
| the 2018 drought | 2018-07-16 → 2019-02-04 | 29 | 24th (2018-09-24) | 7 weeks | not yet (122 of 231 wells still below) |
| the 2012-13 drought | 2012-08-13 → 2013-04-22 | 36 | 18th (2012-10-15) | 33 weeks | 2 yr (243 wells, 71 still below) |
| the 2002 drought | 2003-11-24 → 2004-05-31 | 27 | 25th (2003-12-29) | 17 weeks | 7 yr (217 wells, 90 still below) |
| the 2002 drought | 2002-07-15 → 2003-06-30 | 50 | 10th (2002-12-16) | 10 weeks | not yet (133 of 253 wells still below) |
| unnamed dry spell | 1994-10-24 → 1995-03-20 | 21 | 25th (1994-12-19) | 13 weeks | 12 yr (196 wells, 89 still below) |
| the 1981 drought | 1981-08-10 → 1982-02-01 | 25 | 25th (1981-10-05) | 35 weeks | 6 yr (177 wells, 68 still below) |
| the 1977 drought | 1977-07-18 → 1979-05-28 | 97 | 15th (1977-10-31) | 5 weeks | 5 yr (144 wells, 49 still below) |
| unnamed dry spell | 1969-03-03 → 1969-08-04 | 22 | 19th (1969-04-28) | 0 weeks | 1 yr (261 wells, 41 still below) |
| unnamed dry spell | 1966-06-13 → 1967-11-06 | 73 | 16th (1967-05-15) | 90 weeks | 8 yr (100 wells, 29 still below) |
| the 1963-64 drought | 1962-10-15 → 1965-08-16 | 148 | 6th (1965-02-15) | 0 weeks | 12 yr (75 wells, 25 still below) |
| unnamed dry spell | 1960-11-21 → 1961-04-24 | 22 | 24th (1961-01-30) | 19 weeks | 1 yr (71 wells, 16 still below) |
| unnamed dry spell | 1958-11-17 → 1959-08-10 | 38 | 14th (1959-01-12) | 40 weeks | 1 yr (66 wells, 11 still below) |
| the 1950s drought | 1955-11-21 → 1957-08-12 | 90 | 1st (1957-02-18) | 0 weeks | 5 yr (32 wells, 11 still below) |
Detected mechanically: the 26-week smoothed percentile below the 30th for at least 20 weeks; recovered on regaining the 50th. The water-table clock compares each monitoring well against its own pre-drought median (the 3 years before onset) and dates the year the median well got back — the aquifer remembers longest, and “still below” is a finding, not a gap. The knobs are stated because the episode list depends on them — a different reasonable choice merges or splits episodes at the edges. Names are attached where an episode overlaps a drought Colorado already talks about.
What drought has cost here
Since 1991, federal crop insurance has paid $447,890,017 in drought-caused claims across Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson, Logan, Morgan, Park, Pueblo, Sedgwick, Washington, Weld counties — 38.5% of all insured crop losses there. The worst year was 2022 ($122,163,264).
USDA crop-insurance indemnities where the recorded cause of loss is drought, summed over the counties this district's gages sit in. Counties overlap water districts imperfectly, and insured-crop claims are a floor on drought damage, not a total. Source: USDA RMA cause-of-loss files.
When this basin claimed its water
Every bar is a year’s new appropriations (25,471 rights across 132 years of shared record), colored by that year’s wetness from the barcode above. Here the correlation is -0.09 — essentially no wet-dry pattern; here, law and settlement set the pace, not the weather. Across the state both behaviors exist: ephemeral southwest basins file after wet demonstrations, transbasin-source basins under drought — and the biggest statewide filing waves sat in the 1950s drought and after 2002, not in the wet 1980s–90s.
Appropriation dates are the CLAIMED initiation of a right, not the courthouse filing date; the record is survivor-biased (abandoned claims are absent, so failed dry-era scrambles are undercounted); and the big 1960s and 2000s spikes sit on legal events — the pre-1969-Act adjudication era and 2000s legislation — not on weather. A correlation here is a description, never a cause.
New to how a dry winter becomes a call on the river? Anatomy of a drought walks the chain in four minutes — snow to rivers to reservoirs to calls to the water table.
Legal
Who serves it, who protects it
Two registers the site fetches on their own schedules, read for this district. Neither is a DWR record; each links its own page and its agency.
Public water systems here
Source Register of another agency · fetched 2026-10-06 · verify at EPA SDWIS ↗
63 systems touch this district (63 community systems reporting 3,237,629 people served, a figure that counts a wholesaler's customers twice); 1 of them carries an open health-based violation on EPA's record.
| System | Serves | Source | Here |
|---|---|---|---|
| DENVER WATER BOARD | 1,287,000 | Surface water | 34% of its area |
| AURORA CITY OF | 533,407 | Surface water | 81% of its area |
| THORNTON CITY OF | 226,465 | Surface water | 100% of its area |
| WESTMINSTER CITY OF | 202,078 | Surface water | 89% of its area |
| ARVADA CITY OF | 171,610 | Surface water | 11% of its area |
| GREELEY CITY OF | 132,310 | Surface water | 23% of its area |
| BROOMFIELD CITY AND COUNTY OF | 106,153 | Surface water | 62% of its area |
| SOUTH ADAMS COUNTY WSD | 75,559 | Purchased surface water | 86% of its area |
and 55 more; the full directory filters by district.
Instream-flow rights held by the state
Source Register of another agency · fetched 2026-10-11 · verify at CWCB instream flow program ↗
The Board's tabulation lists no instream-flow reach or natural lake level in this district. Statewide →
What the water is like -- USGS sensors right now, where it has been sampled, the impaired-waters list, and how the tap water here stands with EPA -- is on the Water quality tab.
Designated groundwater basins are on their own page.
Source Adjudicated record · verify at DWR water-right transactions ↗ Source Adjudicated record · verify at DWR net amounts ↗
Decreed rights on this network run from 1859-03-01 to 2024-11-18. Of the 20 structures with a yield estimate, the median one’s senior right was in priority 55% of a median irrigation season and 35% in a dry one. 25 abandonment screens and 297 compliance flags are listed below as leads for review — a screen is not an abandonment and a flag is not a violation.
Rights on file: 28338 across 21886 structure(s); 1170 structure(s) carry 1931 court-case references. Advisory reading aids on public DWR data — not administrative or legal conclusions.
Is the river getting harder to divert from?
Over 2012–2025, none of the three measures of administration (days under call, calls set, seniority of the controlling call) shows a significant trend — the river is being administered about as it was.
The three measures, year by year
One row per whole calendar year inside the call record's coverage (14 years); partly-covered years are omitted rather than reported as quiet. Trend is Mann-Kendall with the same significance gate as every other trend on this site. Counted from DWR's published call record, which begins in the early 2000s: earlier years are absent, not quiet. A rise in the number of calls set can also reflect how finely an administrator records one episode, which is why days under call -- insensitive to that -- is the component to read first. Advisory summary of the public record, not an administrative finding.
| Year | Days under call | Calls set | Controlling priority (median) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 309 | 220 | 1873-06-30 |
| 2015 | 330 | 155 | 1870-06-01 |
| 2016 | 366 | 203 | 1875-06-30 |
| 2017 | 365 | 296 | 1881-02-01 |
| 2018 | 365 | 334 | 1876-05-10 |
| 2019 | 365 | 289 | 1881-02-01 |
| 2020 | 366 | 249 | 1869-04-01 |
| 2021 | 349 | 227 | 1867-04-15 |
| 2022 | 365 | 291 | 1867-04-15 |
| 2023 | 331 | 255 | 1869-04-01 |
| 2024 | 366 | 213 | 1881-02-01 |
| 2025 | 365 | 333 | 1881-02-01 |
What the water is for — decade by decade
Of the water this district's structures diverted, the share whose decree includes municipal supply moved from 79% in the 1970s to 86% in the 2020s.
The decades, and how the attribution works
Every structure's recorded diversions, attributed to what its water was decreed FOR in that year. Colorado decrees are usually multi-use (“IRR MUN COM IND…”), so these are shares of water whose decree includes a use — non-exclusive, and they do not sum to 100%. A right that adds municipal use in 1988 counts toward it only after. Decades before this basin's modern reporting era are flagged: their records are thinner, not their rivers drier. Shares of recorded diverted volume, not of water rights or of acreage. A structure's water is attributed only to uses decreed by that year, so a later municipal decree cannot reach back and recolour earlier diversions. Families overlap -- a ditch decreed for irrigation and municipal supply counts in both -- so shares can sum past 100%. Volume the record cannot attribute is reported separately, never distributed.
| Decade | Recorded AF | Structures | Includes municipal | Unattributed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s † | 30 | 1 | 0% | 0% |
| 1910s † | 3,142 | 1 | 100% | 0% |
| 1940s † | 12,702 | 2 | 100% | 0% |
| 1950s † | 4,931,345 | 241 | 73% | 14% |
| 1960s † | 5,749,139 | 209 | 76% | 23% |
| 1970s | 8,483,293 | 675 | 79% | 16% |
| 1980s | 10,661,264 | 608 | 86% | 7% |
| 1990s | 11,616,300 | 404 | 90% | 6% |
| 2000s | 12,256,193 | 422 | 91% | 11% |
| 2010s | 14,578,179 | 868 | 90% | 22% |
| 2020s | 12,161,000 | 817 | 86% | 22% |
Why diversions stopped — call-based explanations
Sustained diversion stops matched to senior administrative calls.
- TCVS-01 (0200525) DWR↗ stopped 2025-10-02 (5+ days) — call at FARMERS IRRIGATION CANAL [heuristic-strong]
- TCVS-01 (0200525) DWR↗ stopped 2025-06-13 (50+ days) — call at NEW CACHE LA POUDRE CO DITCH [heuristic-strong]
- MILLIKEN RESERVOIR PUMP NO 1 (0200582) DWR↗ stopped 2024-11-30 (36+ days) — call at NORTH STERLING CANAL [heuristic-strong, district-confirmed]
- MILLIKEN RESERVOIR PUMP NO 1 (0200582) DWR↗ stopped 2024-08-31 (16+ days) — call at STERLING IRR CO DITCH 1 [heuristic-strong, district-confirmed]
- TCVS-01 (0200525) DWR↗ stopped 2024-08-17 (26+ days) — call at WESTERN MUTUAL DITCH [heuristic-strong, district-confirmed]
- TCVS-01 (0200525) DWR↗ stopped 2024-03-09 (6+ days) — call at BIJOU CANAL [heuristic-strong, district-confirmed]
- WESTERN SEEP DITCH (0200537) DWR↗ stopped 2023-10-15 (16+ days) — call at JACKSON LAKE INLET DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong, district-confirmed]
Right yield — how often could these rights actually divert?
Share of irrigation-season days each structure's rights were not called out, derived from the 22-year district-scoped call record (senior right = floor, junior right = ceiling constraint). Call-record-derived; DWR's own analysis governs where available.
| Structure | Senior priority | Senior right: median / dry yr | Junior right: median / dry yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| BURLINGTON D RIVER HEADGATE (0200802) DWR↗ | 1861-06-29 | 72.5% / 38.3% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| EVANS NO 2 DITCH (0200817) DWR↗ | 1871-10-05 | 35.2% / 20.1% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| UNION DITCH (0200828) DWR↗ | 1873-09-26 | 31.8% / 15.4% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| FULTON DITCH (0200808) DWR↗ | 1863-03-15 | 60.0% / 36.0% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| HIGHLINE CNL (0801004) DWR↗ | 1861-08-30 | 72.5% / 38.3% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| LAKE GEORGE INTAKE (2300693) DWR↗ | 1994-12-21 | 0.0% / 0.0% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| DENVER CONDUIT NO 20 (0801002) DWR↗ | 1860-12-28 | 91.8% / 72.0% | 5.8% / 0.0% |
| DENVER FOOTHILLS PL 26 (0801017) DWR↗ | 1860-12-28 | 91.8% / 72.0% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| LOWER LATHAM DITCH (0200834) DWR↗ | 1869-05-12 | 39.0% / 21.5% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| LACOMBE POWER PLANT (0801016) DWR↗ | 1863-03-15 | 60.0% / 36.0% | 11.4% / 0.0% |
| 0200895 DWR↗ | 1970-05-13 | 0.0% / 0.0% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| BURLINGTON DITCH 3RD (0200866) DWR↗ | 1887-09-15 | 24.8% / 1.4% | 24.8% / 1.4% |
Abandonment radar (25 screens)
Absolute rights with 10+ years of no recorded diversions. Screens only — storage, alternate points, and plan operations can explain nonuse lawfully. And diversion REPORTING itself only reached its modern level ~1973 — idleness that begins before then may be unreported use, not nonuse (flagged † below).
- HUGGINS DITCH (0801129) DWR↗ (1870-03-15, 1.0 cfs decreed): last active 1951 — 74 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~1973) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
- RANDALL D EXT CLAIM (2300988) DWR↗ (1878-08-01, 1.0 cfs decreed): last active 1951 — 74 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~1973) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
- FURMAN WASTE WATER DITCH (2300981) DWR↗ (1882-05-01, 10.0 cfs decreed): last active 1958 — 67 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~1973) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
- KESTER SWEET SPRINGS (2300543) DWR↗ (1876-12-31, 0.2 cfs decreed): last active 1962 — 63 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~1973) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
- 0200902 DWR↗ (1976-08-03, 100.0 cfs decreed): last active 1964 — 61 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~1973) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
- LITTLETON PL (0801462) DWR↗ (1861-08-30, 0.5 cfs decreed): last active 1968 — 57 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~1973) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
- 0200870 DWR↗ (1883-09-15, 13.0 cfs decreed): last active 1970 — 55 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~1973) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
- HAYMAN SPRG STOCK WTR DE (2301504) DWR↗ (1983-07-31, 0.0 cfs decreed): last active 1970 — 55 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~1973) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
- HURST SPRING 1 (2301589) DWR↗ (1932-06-21, 0.1 cfs decreed): last active 1970 — 55 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~1973) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
- TOMS SPRING 1 (2301639) DWR↗ (1961-09-02, 0.1 cfs decreed): last active 1970 — 55 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~1973) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
Compliance screens (297 advisory flags)
Screened 552 of 21886 structures with rights (763 have diversion history on file). A flag is a lead for expert review — augmentation plans, exchanges, and free-river conditions can make over-decree diversions lawful and are deliberately not modeled.
- LORENZ TRUST 4-R12939 (0207026) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 123904.7 cfs (max 123904.7) exceeds total decreed absolute 4.3 cfs across 12 recorded day(s).
- LOWER PLUM CREEK DITCH LEFT IN STREAM (0802922) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 338.8 cfs (max 475.5) exceeds total decreed absolute 5.0 cfs across 5146 recorded day(s).
- MILTON RES (0203876) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 256.0 cfs (max 602.1) exceeds total decreed absolute 50.0 cfs across 34963 recorded day(s).
- ANTERO RES (2303904) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 215.0 cfs (max 462.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 6.0 cfs across 11185 recorded day(s).
- 0200902 DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 141.0 cfs (max 141.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 100.0 cfs across 36 recorded day(s).
- MONTGOMERY RES (2303962) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 110.5 cfs (max 261.5) exceeds total decreed absolute 0.5 cfs across 40688 recorded day(s).
- WHIPPLE DITCH (0200871) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 92.1 cfs (max 143.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 6.0 cfs across 11491 recorded day(s).
- SECTION NO 3 DITCH (0200830) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 58.0 cfs (max 141.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 57.7 cfs across 33792 recorded day(s).
- CANON DITCH (2300694) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 50.0 cfs (max 50.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 35.4 cfs across 2574 recorded day(s).
- NORTH RESERVOIR COMPLEX (0203000) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 49.3 cfs (max 101.4) exceeds total decreed absolute 1.1 cfs across 11281 recorded day(s).
Seniority (top structures by decreed rate)
| Structure | Senior priority date | Rights | Decreed abs (cfs) | Decreed abs (AF) | Conditional? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BURLINGTON D RIVER HEADGATE (0200802) DWR↗ | 1861-06-29 | 54 | 5216.8 | 10000 | yes |
| EVANS NO 2 DITCH (0200817) DWR↗ | 1871-10-05 | 17 | 1008.1 | 6565 | yes |
| UNION DITCH (0200828) DWR↗ | 1873-09-26 | 11 | 744.3 | 620 | yes |
| FULTON DITCH (0200808) DWR↗ | 1863-03-15 | 30 | 719.2 | 0 | yes |
| HIGHLINE CNL (0801004) DWR↗ | 1861-08-30 | 13 | 628.3 | 0 | — |
| LAKE GEORGE INTAKE (2300693) DWR↗ | 1994-12-21 | 1 | 600.0 | 0 | — |
| DENVER CONDUIT NO 20 (0801002) DWR↗ | 1860-12-28 | 27 | 439.8 | 0 | — |
| DENVER FOOTHILLS PL 26 (0801017) DWR↗ | 1860-12-28 | 25 | 413.0 | 0 | yes |
| LOWER LATHAM DITCH (0200834) DWR↗ | 1869-05-12 | 7 | 329.6 | 0 | yes |
| LACOMBE POWER PLANT (0801016) DWR↗ | 1863-03-15 | 3 | 300.0 | 0 | — |
| 0200895 DWR↗ | 1970-05-13 | 1 | 290.0 | 0 | — |
| BURLINGTON DITCH 2ND (0200865) DWR↗ | 1886-11-15 | 1 | 250.0 | 0 | — |
| BURLINGTON DITCH 3RD (0200866) DWR↗ | 1887-09-15 | 1 | 250.0 | 0 | — |
| WESTERN MUTUAL DITCH (0200825) DWR↗ | 1866-05-05 | 8 | 242.3 | 0 | yes |
| AURORA INTAKE (0801001) DWR↗ | 1863-12-30 | 18 | 230.0 | 474 | yes |
Recent inventory & legal-document changes
- 2026-10-10 — call set: SOUTH FLAT DITCH (39707)
- 2026-10-10 — call set: STERLING IRR CO DITCH 1 (39706)
- 2026-10-10 — call released: 39612
- 2026-10-09 — call released: 39680
- 2026-10-09 — call set: SOUTH PLATTE RIVER AT WATERTON (39697)
- 2026-10-09 — call set: CHATFIELD RESERVOIR (39698)
- 2026-10-09 — call released: 39678
- 2026-10-08 — call set: TRUE WEBSTER DITCH (39693)
Water-court filings this month (division-wide)
24 applications in the 2026-08 resume for this basin's division — new rights, changes, augmentation plans — from the water clerk's statutory monthly notice (C.R.S. 37-92-302), the earliest public signal of a new claim. Filings are division-wide, not district-filtered: check the county column. Full resume PDF at the Judicial Branch →
Anyone affected may file a statement of opposition until 2026-10-31 (18 days left). C.R.S. 37-92-302(3): due by the last day of the second month following the filing month — computed, not legal advice; confirm with the water clerk.
All 24 filings, with excerpts
| Case | What it asks | County | Excerpt |
|---|---|---|---|
2026CW3039
|
— | — | CASE NO. 20 26CW3039; STATE ENGINEER AND WATER DIV 2 ENGINEER vs. ANDREW STOREY – Verified Complaint for Injunctive Relief, Penalties, and Costs. This case is being listed in the resume to account for the case number in consecutive order. ---------------------… |
2026CW3040
|
plan for augmentation, new underground right | — | CASE NO. 2026CW3040 , Water Division 2 and CASE NO. 2026CW3135, Water Division 1; JANICE L DUNCAN, 6440 Highline Place, Colorado Springs, CO, 80908 (Please address all pleadings and inquiries regarding this matter to Applicant’s attorney: Philip E. Lopez, Eric… |
2026CW3088
|
plan for augmentation | — | CASE NUMBER 2026CW3088 NORTH RANCH, LLC, c/o Robert L. Myers, 944 Cheyenne Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO 80905; Please direct all correspondence concerning the application to: Ryan W. Farr, Sedona E. Chavez, Monson, Cummins, Shohet & Farr, LLC, 13511 Northgate E… |
2026CW3089
|
— | — | CASE NUMBER 20 26CW3089 ROBERSON LIVING TRUST, c/o Tamara Roberson -George, Rex Roberson, Kevin Roberson, Co-Trustees, 18235 Black Forest Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80908; Please direct all correspondence concerning this application to: David M. Shohet, and Se… |
2026CW3119
|
change of water right, plan for augmentation, new storage right | — | CASE NUMBER 2026CW3119 SHARON AND MARK WEATHERFORD, 12328 S. State Hwy 83, Franktown, CO 80116. (Forward all pleadings and correspondence to Chris D. Cummins and Sedona E. Chavez, Monson, Cummins, Shohet & Farr, LLC, 13511 Northgate Estates Dr., Ste. 250, Colo… |
2026CW3120
4404471 |
reasonable diligence | THE CITY AND | CASE NUMBER 2026CW3120 THE CITY AND COUNTY OF DENVER, ACTING BY AND THROUGH ITS BOARD OF WATER COMMISSIONERS (“Denver Water” or “Applicant”), 1600 West 12th Avenue, Denver, Colorado 80204. Jessica R. Brody, General Counsel, Daniel J. Arnold, James M. Wittler, … |
2026CW3121
|
— | — | CASE NUMBER 2026CW3121 (2018CW3222)… |
2026CW3122
|
plan for augmentation, new underground right | — | CASE NUMBER 2026CW3122 DOUBLE S CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN LLC, ATTN: Scott Berry, 42631 Sager Lane, Parker, CO, 80138. APPLICATION FOR UNDERGROUND WATER RIGHTS FROM NONTRIBUTARY AND NOT-NONTRIBUTARY SOURCES AND APPROVAL OF PLAN FOR AUGMENTATION, IN THE NONTRIBUTAR… |
2026CW3123
|
reasonable diligence | THE CITY AND | CASE NUMBER 2026CW3123 THE CITY AND COUNTY OF DENVER, ACTING BY AND THROUGH ITS BOARD OF WATER COMMISSIONERS (“Denver Water” or “Applicant”), 1600 West 12th Avenue, Denver, Colorado 80204. Jessica R. Brody, General Counsel, Daniel J. Arnold, James M. Wittler, … |
2026CW3124
|
reasonable diligence, make absolute, new underground right | — | CASE NUMBER 2026CW3124 WESTERN EQUIPMENT AND TRUCK, INC. , 2055 1 st Ave., Greeley, CO 80631, 970 -353-6682. P. Andrew Jones, Law Office of P. Andrew Jones, 1213 Founders Circle, Windsor, CO 80550, 970 -297-0570, ajones@pandrewjones.com. APPLICATION TO MAKE CO… |
2026CW3125
0600538 0600565 0600576 |
reasonable diligence | EASONABLE DILIGENCE IN BOULDER | CASE NUMBER 2026CW3125 (90CW108) (99CW125) (12CW72) (20CW3017) APPLICATION FOR FINDING OF REASONABLE DILIGENCE IN BOULDER COUNTY . 1. Name, Mailing Address, Phone Number, and E -mail Address of Applicant . CITY OF LAFAYETTE , c/o Cari Bischoff, Water Resources… |
2026CW3126
0815262 0815263 0815264 |
reasonable diligence, make absolute | — | CASE NUMBER 2026CW3126 MARY GUENZEL CHARITABLE TRUST, P.O. Box 9, Woodland Park, Colorado 80866; Please direct all correspondence concerning this application to: Ryan W. Farr, Monson, Cummins, Shohet & Farr, LLC, 13511 Northgate Estates Drive, Suite 250, Color… |
2026CW3127
|
new underground right | UPPER LARAMIE AQUIFER IN WELD | CASE NUMBER 2026CW3127 THE CITY OF GREELEY, ACTING BY AND THROUGH ITS WATER AND SEWER BOARD, AND THE COLORADO STATE BOARD OF LAND COMMISSIONERS. APPLICATION FOR NONTRIBUTARY UNDERGROUND WATER RIGHTS IN THE UPPER LARAMIE AQUIFER IN WELD COUNTY. I. Name, mailing… |
2026CW3128
|
reasonable diligence, make absolute | — | CASE NUMBER 2026CW3128 Applicant. CHRIS DINSDALE, P.O. Box 1807, Sterling, CO 80751, 970-522-9052 with all correspondence connected herewith being sent to Applicant’s Counsel, David P. Jones, Lawrence Custer Grasmick Jones & Donovan, LLP., 5245 Ronald Regan Bl… |
2026CW3129
|
plan for augmentation, new underground right | PLAN FOR AUGMENTATION IN ELBERT | CASE NUMBER 2026CW3129 VANCE ROBERT ANDRUS & TONI COLLEEN ANDRUS , 6414 Sherman Peak, Castle Rock, Colorado 80108. APPLICATION FOR UNDERGROUND WATER RIGHTS FROM NONTRIBUTARY AND NOT-NONTRIBUTARY SOURCES AND APPROVAL OF PLAN FOR AUGMENTATION IN ELBERT COUNTY . … |
2026CW3130
|
— | — | CASE NUMBER 2026CW 3130 THE CITY OF GREELEY, ACTING BY AND THROUGH ITS WATER AND SEWER BOARD c/o Leah Hubbard, Deputy Director of Water Resources, 1001 – 11th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Greeley, Colorado 80631, leah.hubbard@greeleygov.com, (970) 350-9811. Please send … |
2026CW3131
|
reasonable diligence | — | CASE NUMBER 2026CW3131 CITY OF LOVELAND , Colorado (“Loveland”), c/o Noah Cecil, Assistant City Attorney, 500 East Third Street, #330, Loveland, Colorado 80537, Telephone: (970) 962 - 2434. APPLICATION FOR FINDING OF REASONABLE DILIGENCE IN LARIMER AND WELD CO… |
2026CW3132
|
— | — | CASE NUMBER 2026CW3132 Applicants. THE CENTRAL COLORADO WATER CONSERVANCY DISTRICT AND THE GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT SUBDISTRICT OF THE CENTRAL COLORADO WATER CONSERVANCY DISTRICT , 3209 West 28 th Street, Greeley, Colorado, 80634, 970-330-4540 with all future co… |
2026CW3133
|
reasonable diligence | — | CASE NUMBER 2026CW3133 CHELEY LAND, LLC AND CHELEY COLORADO CAMPS, LLC (f.k.a. Cheley Colorado Camps, Inc.) , 601 Steele Street, P.O. Box 6525, Denver, CO 80206. c/o Karen L. Henderson, Bushong & Holleman PC, 1966 13th Street, Suite 270, Boulder, CO 80302; (30… |
2026CW3139
|
change of water right | — | CASE NUMBER 2026CW3139 ALBERT WENDELL NELSON REVOCABLE TRUST c/o Wendell Nelson, Trustee 5537 N. County Road 9 Fort Collins, CO 80524 303 -921-4750 Sally Jean Nelson Revocable Trust c/o Wendell Nelson, Trustee 5537 N. County Road 9 Fort Collins, CO 80524 303 -… |
2026CW3140
|
plan for augmentation | PLAN FOR AUGMENTATION IN ELBERT | CASE NUMBER 2026CW3140 DAVID JOE KRAXNER III, 754 Highway 86, Elizabeth, CO, 80107. Philip E. Lopez, Eric K. Trout, Fairfield and Woods, P.C., 1801 California St, Suite 2600, Denver, CO, 80202. APPLICATION FOR A PLAN FOR AUGMENTATION IN ELBERT COUNTY. Subject … |
2026CW3141
|
plan for augmentation | — | CASE NUMBER 2026CW3141 KELTY COLORADO FAMILY LLLP, C/o Bruff Shea, P.O. Box 21, Franktown, Colorado 80166. Please direct all pleadings and correspondence to Applicants counsel: Michael A. Kopp, Trout Raley PC, 1120 Lincoln St., Suite 1600, Denver, CO 80203, (3… |
2026CW3142
|
new underground right | — | CASE NUMBER 2026CW3142 1. Name, address, and telephone number of Applicant and Landowner: 1.1. Applicant and Landowner: CAP LAND LLC, a Colorado limited liability company 47 (“CAP Land”) c/o Lena Vander Laan P.O. Box 105 Henderson, CO 80640 Please direct all c… |
2026CW9
|
reasonable diligence, make absolute | LARIMER | CASE NUMBER 2026CW9 SPRING44 DISTILLING, INC. (“Spring44”), 505 West 66th Street, Loveland, Colorado 80538, Telephone: (970) 445 -7109. APPLICATION FOR FINDINGS OF REASONABLE DILIGENCE AND CLAIM TO MAKE CERTAIN AMOUNTS ABSOLUTE IN LARIMER COUNTY. 2. Lindauer S… |
Active substitute water supply plans in this district
Temporary State Engineer approvals to divert out of priority (37-92-308 / 37-90-137). A structure operating under one behaves differently under a call than its decreed rights alone suggest — the priority tables above don't know about these; this list does. Source: DWR’s active-SWSP register, refreshed nightly.
| Plan | Type | Status | Expires | Structure | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CENTRAL COLORADO WATER CONSERVANCY DISTRICT - GMSD - 23CW3086 | 37-92-308(4) PLAN PENDING COURT APPLICATION | Approved | 2026-06-30 | — | plan file |
| GREELEY HAREN RECHARGE POND CREDIT | 37-92-308(5) PLANS LESS THAN 5 YEARS | Approved | 2026-06-30 | — | plan file |
| CENTRAL COLORADO WATER CONSERVANCY DISTRICT - GWMSD - 24CW3078 | 37-92-308(4) PLAN PENDING COURT APPLICATION | Approved | 2026-08-31 | — | plan file |
| CENTRAL COLORADO WATER CONSERVANCY DISTRICT - GWMSD - 25CW3070 | 37-92-308(4) PLAN PENDING COURT APPLICATION | Approved | 2026-08-31 | — | plan file |
| FLYING J RANCH | 37-92-308(7) PLAN EMERGENCY | Approved | 2026-09-09 | — | plan file |
| GSL SAND AND GRAVEL MINE | 37-90-137(11) GRAVEL PIT PLAN | Approved | 2026-10-31 | 0202584 | plan file |
| LUPTON LAKES RESOURCE PIT AKA RIVERBEND EAST (MARTIN MARIETTA) | 37-90-137(11) GRAVEL PIT PLAN | Approved | 2026-10-31 | 0203041 | plan file |
| RIVERBEND OPERATION AKA RIVERBEND WEST | 37-90-137(11) GRAVEL PIT PLAN | Approved | 2026-10-31 | 0203014 | plan file |
| CITY OF ENGLEWOOD CHATFIELD RESERVOIR OUTLET MANIFOLD TEMPORARY CLOSURE | 37-92-308(7) PLAN EMERGENCY | Approved | 2026-11-26 | — | plan file |
| BRIGHTON PIT M77436 -56993-F SEE ALSO 4848 READY MIXED CONCRETE - NORTH TOWER PIT M77436 | 37-90-137(11) GRAVEL PIT PLAN | Approved | 2026-12-31 | — | plan file |
| DPG GRAVEL PIT | 37-90-137(11) GRAVEL PIT PLAN | Approved | 2026-12-31 | 0302587 | plan file |
| DURHAM S&G CO PIT | 37-90-137(11) GRAVEL PIT PLAN | Approved | 2026-12-31 | 0303029 | plan file |
| EWING GRAVEL MINE | 37-90-137(11) GRAVEL PIT PLAN | Approved | 2026-12-31 | — | plan file |
| FULTON LAKES AKA JERONIMUS PIT | 37-90-137(11) GRAVEL PIT PLAN | Approved | 2026-12-31 | — | plan file |
| HAZELTINE PIT | 37-90-137(11) GRAVEL PIT PLAN | Approved | 2026-12-31 | — | plan file |
| INOUYE GRAVEL MINE | 37-90-137(11) GRAVEL PIT PLAN | Approved | 2026-12-31 | — | plan file |
| MORTON LAKES PIT | 37-90-137(11) GRAVEL PIT PLAN | Approved | 2026-12-31 | 0203053 | plan file |
| PLATTE VALLEY PIT | 37-90-137(11) GRAVEL PIT PLAN | Approved | 2026-12-31 | — | plan file |
| SHORES GRAVEL PIT | 37-90-137(11) GRAVEL PIT PLAN | Approved | 2026-12-31 | 0505500 | plan file |
| SPEER MINING RESOURCE | 37-90-137(11) GRAVEL PIT PLAN | Approved | 2026-12-31 | — | plan file |
| TUCSON SOUTH PIT | 37-90-137(11) GRAVEL PIT PLAN | Approved | 2026-12-31 | — | plan file |
| WATTENBERG PIT | 37-90-137(11) GRAVEL PIT PLAN | Approved | 2026-12-31 | — | plan file |
| ADAMS COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS | 37-92-308(5) PLANS LESS THAN 5 YEARS | Approved | 2027-01-31 | — | plan file |
| NORTHERN COLORADO CONSTRUCTORS INC - BENNETT GRAVEL PIT | 37-90-137(11) GRAVEL PIT PLAN | Approved | 2027-02-28 | — | plan file |
| SPILLANE POND | 37-92-308(5) PLANS LESS THAN 5 YEARS | Approved | 2027-02-28 | — | plan file |
Showing 25 of 63 plans — the rest are on DWR’s register.
Water quality
The water itself, in this district
Four registers, each on its own schedule: what USGS sensors read right now, where samples have been taken, which stretches the state lists as impaired, and how the tap water of the systems here stands with EPA. None is a DWR record; each links its own page.
Right now
Source Provisional telemetry · fetched 2026-10-13 · verify at USGS current conditions ↗
No USGS continuous water-quality sensor reports from inside this district. Statewide sensors →
Where water has been sampled
Source Register of another agency · fetched 2026-10-08 · verify at Water Quality Portal ↗
The portal lists 9,420 sampling stations in this district's watersheds (Middle South Platte-Cherry Creek 10190003; St. Vrain 10190005, 2% of the district), of which 305 reported a sample in the last 5 years on the state and tribal side (USGS activity is in the station count, not in that figure). Most active: Colorado Dept. of Public Health & Environment-WQCD (179), USGS Colorado Water Science Center (42), Metro Water Recovery (formerly Metro Wastewater Reclamation District) (41). Most-sampled groups: Inorganics, Major, Metals, Physical, Nutrient, Organics, Pesticide. Every station as a file ↗
Results themselves are not fetched here; USGS samples added after March 2024 may not be in the portal's legacy profiles yet.
Drinking water
Source Register of another agency · fetched 2026-10-07 · verify at EPA SDWIS ↗
63 community systems touch this district. 1 carries an open health-based violation on EPA's record. EPA sampled 28 of them for PFAS in 2023–25; 4 had PFOA or PFOS at or above the 2024 limit.
| System | Serves | EPA record | PFAS (UCMR 5) | Lead, latest 90th pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRIENDLY VILLAGE OF THE ROCKIES | 1,046 | 1 open health-based | not sampled | 0.0 mg/L |
| THORNTON CITY OF | 226,465 | 2 of 12 quarters with a violation | PFOA, PFOS at or over the limit | 0.0023 mg/L |
| BRIGHTON CITY OF | 56,304 | 1 of 12 quarters with a violation | PFOA, PFOS at or over the limit | 0.002 mg/L |
| LITTLE THOMPSON WD | 25,654 | clean, last 12 quarters | PFOA at or over the limit | — |
| TODD CREEK VILLAGE MD | 7,363 | clean, last 12 quarters | PFOS at or over the limit | 0.0008 mg/L |
| DENVER WATER BOARD | 1,287,000 | 11 of 12 quarters with a violation | none detected | 0.0036 mg/L |
| AURORA CITY OF | 533,407 | clean, last 12 quarters | 4 detected, under the limits | 0.0047 mg/L |
| WESTMINSTER CITY OF | 202,078 | 2 of 12 quarters with a violation | none detected | 0.0013 mg/L |
| ARVADA CITY OF | 171,610 | 2 of 12 quarters with a violation | none detected | 0.0031 mg/L |
| GREELEY CITY OF | 132,310 | 3 of 12 quarters with a violation | none detected | 0.004 mg/L |
and 53 more; the full directory filters by district.
EPA's record carries violations and lead/copper percentiles; nitrate and disinfection by-product results are not in it. UCMR 5 samples are monitoring, not compliance, and the 2024 PFOA/PFOS limits equal its reporting limit, so any detection of those two is at or above them.
Every assessed stretch below is drawn on the district map above: turn on the Impaired waters layer (red is on the list, grey is assessed and attaining; click a stretch for its causes).
Water quality
59 of 110 assessed segments in this basin are on Colorado's impaired-waters list (2024 assessment), most often metals.
Where these stretches are
Tap a stretch for its causes. A named creek appears more than once because CDPHE assesses it in separate units, so the map shows where a finding starts and stops rather than colouring a whole creek at once.
On the impaired-waters list
Each entry is one CDPHE assessment unit — a named, mapped stretch of stream, not the whole creek at once, which is why a single named creek can appear more than once with different findings above and below a tributary or discharge.
- Bear Creek, mainstem
- Bear Creek, mainstem
- Bear Creek, mainstem
- Bear Creek, mainstem
- Bear Creek, mainstem
- Bear creek, mainstem
- Big Dry Creek, mainstem
- Big Dry Creek, mainstem and all tributaries
- Cherry Creek, mainstem
- Cherry Creek, mainstem
- Cherry Creek, mainstem
- Clear Creek, mainstem
- Crow Creek and Box Elder Creek, mainstems
- East Plum Creek, mainstem
- Fourmile Creek
- Geneva Creek, all tributaries.
- Geneva Creek, mainstem.
- Geneva Creek, mainstem.
- Goldsmith Gulch
- Goose Creek
- Gooseberry Creek, tributary
- Horse Creek, mainstem and all tributaries.
- Lone Tree Creek, mainstem
- Mosquito Creek, mainstem
- Mosquito Creek, mainstem
- Mt. Vernon Creek, mainstem and tributaries
- No Name Creek
- North Fork South Platte River, mainstem and all tributaries.
- North Fork South Platte River, mainstem and all tributaries.
- North Fork South Platte River, mainstem and all tributaries.
- North Walnut Creek, mainstem and tributaries
- Pine Creek
- Plum Creek, mainstem
- Sand Creek, mainstem
- Sand Creek, mainstem
- Sand Creek, mainstem
- Snyder Creek, mainstem and all tributaries.
- South Fork South Platte River, mainstem.
- South Mosquito Creek
- South Mosquito Creek
- South Platte River, all tributaries.
- South Platte River, mainstem
- South Platte River, mainstem
- South Platte River, mainstem.
- South Platte River, mainstem.
- South Platte River, mainstem.
- South Platte River, mainstem.
- South Platte River, mainstem.
- South Platte River, mainstem.
- South Platte River, mainstem.
- South Platte River, mainstem.
- South Platte River, mainstem.
- Spring Creek, mainstem and tributaries.
- Trout Creek, mainstem and all tributaries.
- Upper Windmill Creek
- Vance Creek and tributaries.
- West Plum Creek, mainstem
- Willow Creek, mainstem and all tributaries.
- Woman and Walnut Creeks, mainstem and all tributaries
42 segments meeting standards, 9 not yet assessed
- Bear Creek tributaries
- Bear Creek, all tributaries
- Bear Creek, mainstem
- Bear Creek, mainstem
- Bear Creek, mainstem and tributaries
- Bear Creek, mainstem.
- Cherry Creek, all tributaries
- Cook Creek, mainstem.
- Cottonwood Creek, mainstem and all tributaries
- Deer Creek and the North and South Forks, mainstems.
- East Plum Creek, all tributaries.
- Garber Creek and Bear Creek, mainstems.
- Gooseberry Gulch, mainstem and all tributaries.
- Gooseberry Gulch, mainstem and all tributaries.
- Hankins Gulch
- Jackson Creek, mainstem.
- Lakewood Gulch, mainstem.
- Lee Gulch, Little's Creek, Big Dry Creek, and Little Dry Creek, mainstems.
- Marcy Gulch, mainstem.
- McMurdo Gulch
- Middle Fork South Platte River
- North Turkey Creek, mainstem
- North and South Walnut Creek and Walnut Creek
- Salt Creek
- Sawmill, Troublesome and Cold Springs Gulches, and Cub Creek mainstems
- South Fork South Platte River, all tributaries.
- South Platte River, all tributaries
- South Platte River, all tributaries.
- South Platte River, all tributaries.
- South Platte River, all tributaries.
- South Platte River, all tributaries.
- South Platte River, mainstem.
- Sugar Creek
- Swede/Kerr Gulch.
- Trail Creek
- Trail Creek
- Turkey Creek, mainstem
- Turkey Creek, mainstem and tributaries
- Twin Creek
- West Creek
- West Toll Gate Creek and East Toll Gate Creek, mainstems and all tributaries. Toll Gate Creek, mainstem.
- Wigwam Creek
- Barr Lake, tributary.
- Bear Creek, all tributaries.
- East Plum and West Plum Creeks, mainstems and all tributaries.
- Hayesmount Tributaries, Upper Hayesmount Tributary, Lower Hayesmount Tributaries
- Second Creek, mainstem.
- Stark and Grove Creek, mainstems
- Third Creek, mainstem.
- Upper Big Dry Creek and South Upper Big Dry Creek
- West Plum Creek, all tributaries.
Source: EPA ATTAINS (Colorado Regulation 93 / Clean Water Act §303(d) list); state.co.us hosts the same assessment, ATTAINS is EPA's public mirror of it.. A segment being “Not Supporting” means it fails Colorado’s water-quality standard for the stated use (aquatic life, recreation, drinking-water supply...) for the stated cause — a legal, periodic finding, independent of whether any sensor happens to be deployed there right now.
Call cascade
If a call were placed at a given seniority, which structures in this basin would be out of priority, and how much of their decreed rate would be curtailed? Computed from this basin's cached decrees.
What this does and doesn't model. Seniority arithmetic only: every right junior to the call is treated as curtailed. It does not model reach applicability — structures downstream of the calling point are not administered by it — and it applies no futile-call judgment. Read it as “who is junior to this date, and by how much,” not as a prediction of what the Division Engineer would actually order.
Pick a calling right
Real decrees from this basin, ordered by administration number — that is, by actual seniority. The years will look out of order, and that is correct: an administration number encodes the adjudication date as well as the appropriation date, so a right appropriated in 1970 can be administered ahead of one from 1950. A senior call curtails almost everything; a junior one curtails almost nothing.
Or enter an administration number directly
DWR administration numbers encode appropriation and adjudication dates; lower is more senior.
System status
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Active river calls
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Hydrographs vs. historical envelope
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Anomaly flags
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Topology cross-check: 12 parent disagreements, 20 sizable streams not on this network (vs DWR's route framework — under review)
This flow network was built mechanically; DWR's Source Water Route Framework disagrees with it in the places below. Each row is a question a human reviewer has not yet answered — not an error verdict. Checked 36 streams, 24 agree. Know this water? Tell us →
| Stream | This site routes it to | DWR routes it to |
|---|---|---|
| Jarre Creek | the mainstem | Plum Creek |
| Bear Creek | the mainstem | West Plum Creek |
| West Plum Creek | the mainstem | Plum Creek |
| East Plum Creek | the mainstem | Plum Creek |
| West Cherry Creek | the mainstem | Cherry Creek |
| East Cherry Creek | the mainstem | Cherry Creek |
| Elk Creek | the mainstem | West Cherry Creek |
| Fourmile Creek | the mainstem | South Fork South Platte River |
Sizable streams DWR maps here that this network does not carry:
Cache la Poudre River (127 mi) · Box Elder Creek (82 mi) · Big Thompson River (79 mi) · Clear Creek (66 mi) · Big Dry Creek (43 mi) · Saint Vrain Creek (32 mi) · Beebe Draw (30 mi) · Second Creek (25 mi)