Computed 2026-08-20 08:28 from 44 gage(s) with cached period-of-record data. Statistical tests (Mann-Kendall trend, Pettitt changepoint) require at least 8 years spanning at least 10 years of record -- gages below that report no signal, not "no change."

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_20260707 (imported 2026-08-19) for history, plus the CDSS REST API for current conditions.

Independent check: PASS — 100.0000% agreement across 395,345 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 — 99.80% day-level agreement with USGS's own published records for the same gages, across 6 co-listed station(s) and 83,637 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.

44 gage(s) / 367,809 daily values (1902-04-01–2026-08-16); 546 structure(s) with diversion records; 2052 with decreed rights. Methodology has not yet had independent expert review — treat every figure as an advisory screen, not an administrative or legal conclusion.

Read this first: the measurement network itself evolved

This basin was not always measured the way it is today — the API-era record is dense and recent, the early record sparse. 36 gage(s) and 299 structure(s) report in 2026, but structure reporting only reached half its modern level around ~2007. 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 †.

Gage flow trend & changepoints

Every located gage with a period of record — dot size scales with the strength of its flow trend (|Sen slope| in %/decade, the same statistic as the table below), color with direction. An amber ring marks a detected Pettitt changepoint. Click a gage to chart its trend and shift.

36 other gage(s) show no significant trend or changepoint (not shown).

Mass-balance (network closure) trend

Structure divrec-history backfill coverage as of the last check: 7% of 2910 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 (1950–2026)

Mass-balance kinks computed for every summer month back to 1950 (2708 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.

• STATELINE DITCH AUG. RETURN TO SOUTH PLATTE: reach shifted from +9 cfs to -394 cfs summer mean (more losing, p=0.028, 25 yr) [alluvial valley: real alluvial aquifer -- a decades-long shift toward losing is the classic signature of alluvial pumping and urbanization] [37 alluvial wells within 2 mi of the gage; pooled water table +1.0 ft (1947–2026, no_trend)]
• SOUTH PLATTE RIVER AT JULESBURG (RIGHT CHAN. #2): reach shifted from -150 cfs to +97 cfs summer mean (more gaining, p=0.000, 42 yr) [alluvial valley: real alluvial aquifer -- a decades-long shift toward losing is the classic signature of alluvial pumping and urbanization] [measurement-evolution caution: this shift co-moves with the growth of the gage/metering network (rho=0.54) -- part of it may be unaccounted water becoming accounted, not hydrologic change] [34 alluvial wells within 2 mi of the gage; pooled water table +0.5 ft (1947–2026, no_trend)]
• LEWIS CREEK DIVERSION: reach shifted from +27 cfs to -7 cfs summer mean (more losing, p=0.000, 20 yr) [alluvial valley: real alluvial aquifer -- a decades-long shift toward losing is the classic signature of alluvial pumping and urbanization] [13 alluvial wells within 2 mi of the gage; pooled water table -0.5 ft (1966–1984, no_trend)]
• POWELL BLAIR DITCH: reach shifted from -48 cfs to -30 cfs summer mean (more gaining, p=0.005, 20 yr) [alluvial valley: real alluvial aquifer -- a decades-long shift toward losing is the classic signature of alluvial pumping and urbanization]
• BRAVO DITCH: reach shifted from -37 cfs to -13 cfs summer mean (more gaining, p=0.014, 19 yr) [alluvial valley: real alluvial aquifer -- a decades-long shift toward losing is the classic signature of alluvial pumping and urbanization] [17 alluvial wells within 2 mi of the gage; pooled water table -0.4 ft (1947–2025, no_trend)]
• SOUTH RESERVATION DITCH: reach shifted from -26 cfs to -14 cfs summer mean (more gaining, p=0.025, 20 yr) [alluvial valley: real alluvial aquifer -- a decades-long shift toward losing is the classic signature of alluvial pumping and urbanization] [17 alluvial wells within 2 mi of the gage; pooled water table +2.5 ft (1962–2013, no_trend)]

Groundwater now has its own tab: 1116 monitored well(s), water-table trends, stream corridors, and the advisory depletion screen.

Reservoirs now has its own tab: 4 reservoir(s), end-of-year storage back to 1950, click-to-chart histories.

Cross-gage pattern fingerprint

Over the 32-year window with full coverage (1995–2026), the dominant shared pattern across 3 gage(s) explains 55% 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 2026-08-16)

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.

• PAWNEE DITCH CITY OF STERLING AUG RT (return): +138.8 cfs (100% of that reach's correction)
• SOUTH PLATTE DITCH RT (return): -109.3 cfs (100% of that reach's correction)
• SCHNEIDER DITCH RT (return): +90.5 cfs (100% of that reach's correction)
• STERLING IRR CO D SAND CHUTE RT (return): -43.7 cfs (50% of that reach's correction)
• STERLING IRR CO D PIONEER AUG RT (return): -43.7 cfs (50% of that reach's correction)
• PAWNEE RIDGE DEWATERING RETURN (return): +21.3 cfs (100% of that reach's correction)
• LOWLINE DITCH RT (return): -16.7 cfs (100% of that reach's correction)
• LEWIS CREEK RT (return): -16.4 cfs (100% of that reach's correction)
• JULESBURG TOWN OF AUG RT (return): -15.4 cfs (100% of that reach's correction)
• TETSEL SOUTH DITCH RETURN (return): -6.9 cfs (50% of that reach's correction)

The basin's aquifer story, from 171,347 water-level measurements across 1116 monitored well(s) (871 alluvial, 9 bedrock, rest unclassified) — plus 141 administered well(s) reporting metered pumping through diversion records. Observation wells and pumping wells are different populations and are never conflated. Click a well to chart its record.

Well map

Every monitored well with a location — hover for identity, click to chart its water-level record below. ● alluvial   ● bedrock / confined (Denver Basin, High Plains, etc. — one-way, no human-timescale recharge)   ● unclassified — marker size scales with the strength of the well's water-level trend (|Sen slope| in ft/decade — the same Mann-Kendall/Sen statistic as the trends table below); the smallest, faintest dots have too little record to test.

3D aquifer x-ray

Every aquifer unit as its own 3D head surface — alluvial water table on top, Denver Basin members (Dawson, Denver, Arapahoe, Laramie–Fox Hills) stacked beneath where measured — interpolated from measured water levels and animated through time. Units are never mixed; surfaces exist only inside each unit's well coverage (no extrapolation); thin epochs are suppressed with their reason shown. Vertical scale exaggerated for readability; z is head elevation in feet. Advisory — measured heads, not a calibrated model.

Water-table trends

Of 122 well(s) with enough record for a trend test: 33 declining, 23 rising.

Stream corridors — the surface connection

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.

STATELINE DITCH AUG. RETURN TO SOUTH PLATTE: 37 alluvial well(s) nearby; pooled water table +1.0 ft (1947–2026, no_trend, p=0.3626). Glover screen: 0.9 cfs of nearby metered alluvial pumping → est. lagged depletion 0.7–0.9 cfs (uncalibrated T/S ranges; flagged for SPDSS calibration, AWAS cross-check, and expert review — DWR's AWAS is the authority).

SOUTH PLATTE RIVER AT JULESBURG (RIGHT CHAN. #2): 34 alluvial well(s) nearby; pooled water table +0.5 ft (1947–2026, no_trend, p=0.6761). Glover screen: 0.5 cfs of nearby metered alluvial pumping → est. lagged depletion 0.3–0.4 cfs (uncalibrated T/S ranges; flagged for SPDSS calibration, AWAS cross-check, and expert review — DWR's AWAS is the authority).

LEWIS CREEK DIVERSION: 13 alluvial well(s) nearby; pooled water table -0.5 ft (1966–1984, no_trend, p=0.0689). Glover screen: 12.4 cfs of nearby metered alluvial pumping → est. lagged depletion 7.2–11.3 cfs (uncalibrated T/S ranges; flagged for SPDSS calibration, AWAS cross-check, and expert review — DWR's AWAS is the authority).

POWELL BLAIR DITCH: 20 alluvial well(s) nearby. Glover screen: 14.3 cfs of nearby metered alluvial pumping → est. lagged depletion 8.9–13.2 cfs (uncalibrated T/S ranges; flagged for SPDSS calibration, AWAS cross-check, and expert review — DWR's AWAS is the authority).

BRAVO DITCH: 17 alluvial well(s) nearby; pooled water table -0.4 ft (1947–2025, no_trend, p=0.1588). Glover screen: 0.0 cfs of nearby metered alluvial pumping → est. lagged depletion 0.0–0.0 cfs (uncalibrated T/S ranges; flagged for SPDSS calibration, AWAS cross-check, and expert review — DWR's AWAS is the authority).

SOUTH RESERVATION DITCH: 17 alluvial well(s) nearby; pooled water table +2.5 ft (1962–2013, no_trend, p=0.0632). Glover screen: 0.2 cfs of nearby metered alluvial pumping → est. lagged depletion 0.1–0.2 cfs (uncalibrated T/S ranges; flagged for SPDSS calibration, AWAS cross-check, and expert review — DWR's AWAS is the authority).

RAMSEY DITCH: 32 alluvial well(s) nearby; pooled water table -0.1 ft (1967–1984, no_trend, p=1.0). Glover screen: 11.7 cfs of nearby metered alluvial pumping → est. lagged depletion 8.8–11.1 cfs (uncalibrated T/S ranges; flagged for SPDSS calibration, AWAS cross-check, and expert review — DWR's AWAS is the authority).

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.

4 reservoir(s) with 11,495 storage measurement(s), 1950–2025. Basin storage as of 2024-10-31 (the record's own end — reservoir records publish ~annually): 44,646 AF across 3 reservoir(s). 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?

Each reservoir drawn as a vessel: bubble size ∝ its record-high storage, fill level = 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 of its own record high otherwise (a wrong capacity would be worse than an honest record high, so only confident joins upgrade). Hover for numbers, click to chart its history below the map. A dashed teal ring marks reservoirs reporting live DWR telemetry — their fill reflects yesterday's storage, drawn as a dotted tail on charts and treated as provisional until the next verified HydroBase snapshot supersedes it. ● <25% ● 25–60% ● 60–90% ● >90%

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 reservoir to chart its full storage history.

Decrees, seniority, and administrative calls connected to this basin's flow network. Advisory reading aids on public DWR data — not administrative or legal conclusions. Rights on file: 2702 across 2052 structure(s); 0 structure(s) carry 0 court-case references.

Why diversions stopped — call-based explanations

Sustained diversion stops matched to senior administrative calls.

• RAMSEY DITCH (6400514)☆ stopped 2024-09-19 (6+ days) — call at STERLING IRR CO DITCH 1 curtailing 50% of its decreed rate [heuristic-partial, district-confirmed]
• BRAVO DITCH (6400522)☆ stopped 2024-09-02 (5+ days) — call at STERLING IRR CO DITCH 1 curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong, district-confirmed]
• LIDDLE DITCH (6400502)☆ stopped 2024-08-27 (8+ days) — call at STERLING IRR CO DITCH 1 curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong, district-confirmed]
• BRAVO DITCH (6400522)☆ stopped 2024-07-13 (7+ days) — call at STERLING IRR CO DITCH 1 curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong, district-confirmed]
• RAMSEY DITCH (6400514)☆ stopped 2024-05-28 (7+ days) — call at NEW CACHE LA POUDRE CO DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
• RAMSEY DITCH (6400514)☆ stopped 2024-04-14 (28+ days) — call at BARNES DITCH curtailing 50% of its decreed rate [heuristic-partial]
• SCHNEIDER DITCH (6400531)☆ stopped 2023-12-07 (131+ days) — call at LITTLETON BOAT CHUTE NO 9 curtailing 52% of its decreed rate [heuristic-partial]
• LOWLINE DITCH (6400524)☆ stopped 2023-12-05 (90+ days) — call at LITTLETON BOAT CHUTE NO 9 curtailing 50% of its decreed rate [heuristic-partial]
• SOUTH PLATTE DITCH (6400535)☆ stopped 2023-12-04 (97+ days) — call at BARNES DITCH curtailing 63% of its decreed rate [heuristic-partial]
• PETERSEN DITCH (6400504)☆ stopped 2023-11-30 (10+ days) — call at BARNES DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
• STERLING IRR CO DITCH 1 (6400528)☆ stopped 2023-11-22 (27+ days) — call at LITTLETON BOAT CHUTE NO 9 curtailing 50% of its decreed rate [heuristic-partial]
• STERLING IRR CO DITCH 1 (6400528)☆ stopped 2023-11-01 (5+ days) — call at COMMUNITY DITCH curtailing 50% of its decreed rate [heuristic-partial]

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.

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 ~2007 — idleness that begins before then may be unreported use, not nonuse (flagged † below).

• JUD BRUSH DITCH (6400519)☆ (1895-03-11, 10.0 cfs decreed): last active 1973 — 51 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~2007) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
• RED LION SUPPLY DITCH (6400506)☆ (1895-10-31, 52.0 cfs decreed): last active 1985 — 39 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~2007) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
• DAVIS BROS DITCH (6400532)☆ (1874-04-10, 65.2 cfs decreed): last active 1991 — 33 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~2007) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
• LEBSACK FEED W 2-R5946-R (6405795)☆ (1873-04-10, 5.4 cfs decreed): last active 1993 — 31 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~2007) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
• CHAMBERS DITCH (6400513)☆ (1895-05-04, 30.0 cfs decreed): last active 1995 — 29 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~2007) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
• JULESBURG WELL 3-21160-F-R (6405708)☆ (1942-05-10, 0.8 cfs decreed): last active 1995 — 29 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~2007) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
• STERLING IRR CO DITCH 2 (6400526)☆ (1884-06-07, 43.5 cfs decreed): last active 1998 — 26 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~2007) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
• DEICH WELL 1-185 (6405432)☆ (1954-08-10, 2.2 cfs decreed): last active 2002 — 22 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~2007) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
• FRAKER WELL 1-12965 (6405494)☆ (1956-03-31, 3.9 cfs decreed): last active 2002 — 22 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~2007) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
• REESE WELL 1-4491 (6406127)☆ (1954-08-13, 4.1 cfs decreed): last active 2002 — 22 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~2007) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse

Compliance screens (40 advisory flags)

Screened 148 of 2052 structures with rights (185 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.

• JULESBURG HIGHLINE (6400617)☆: Observed p99 daily rate 163.2 cfs (max 335.5) exceeds total decreed absolute 6.0 cfs across 12257 recorded day(s). Structure holds an Augmentation-use decree -- diversions above the direct-flow decree can be lawful under plan operations; interpret with care.
• ACCOMASSO WELL 1-6671 (6405099)☆: Observed p99 daily rate 56.1 cfs (max 56.1) exceeds total decreed absolute 6.7 cfs across 76 recorded day(s).
• LIDDLE DITCH (6400502)☆: Observed p99 daily rate 21.0 cfs (max 57.8) exceeds total decreed absolute 17.0 cfs across 21211 recorded day(s). Structure holds an Augmentation-use decree -- diversions above the direct-flow decree can be lawful under plan operations; interpret with care.
• STROMBERGER E RCHRG W 6-58705-F (6406656)☆: Observed p99 daily rate 18.5 cfs (max 18.6) exceeds total decreed absolute 8.9 cfs across 4660 recorded day(s). Structure holds an Augmentation-use decree -- diversions above the direct-flow decree can be lawful under plan operations; interpret with care.
• JULESBURG WELL 5-25298-F (6405713)☆: Observed p99 daily rate 14.8 cfs (max 19.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 5.4 cfs across 1118 recorded day(s). Structure holds an Augmentation-use decree -- diversions above the direct-flow decree can be lawful under plan operations; interpret with care.
• STROMBERGER E RCHRG W 5-58704-F (6406655)☆: Observed p99 daily rate 13.8 cfs (max 14.1) exceeds total decreed absolute 8.9 cfs across 4234 recorded day(s). Structure holds an Augmentation-use decree -- diversions above the direct-flow decree can be lawful under plan operations; interpret with care.
• LIBERAL COLO RCHRG W 61270 (6406685)☆: Observed p99 daily rate 11.1 cfs (max 14.4) exceeds total decreed absolute 6.7 cfs across 4378 recorded day(s). Structure holds an Augmentation-use decree -- diversions above the direct-flow decree can be lawful under plan operations; interpret with care.
• JUD BRUSH DITCH (6400519)☆: Observed p99 daily rate 11.0 cfs (max 12.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 10.0 cfs across 410 recorded day(s).
• STIEB RECHARGE WL 2 (6406650)☆: Observed p99 daily rate 10.3 cfs (max 10.3) exceeds total decreed absolute 6.7 cfs across 4596 recorded day(s). Structure holds an Augmentation-use decree -- diversions above the direct-flow decree can be lawful under plan operations; interpret with care.
• SVOBODA AUG WELL 59883F (6406705)☆: Observed p99 daily rate 9.3 cfs (max 9.3) exceeds total decreed absolute 5.6 cfs across 275 recorded day(s). Structure holds an Augmentation-use decree -- diversions above the direct-flow decree can be lawful under plan operations; interpret with care.

Seniority (top structures by decreed rate)

No inventory or legal-document changes detected since the daily watch began.

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.

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.