Hydrohistorian
North Fork of South Platte
Who may take water from the North Fork of South Platte, who is calling for it today, and how it is running, compiled from Colorado Division of Water Resources records. Click anything on the map for its record.
North Fork of South Platte on the ground — the ditches, wells, reservoirs and gages of Water District 80 · 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 critically low for late September -- 14% of normal flow. 1 call stands against it right now; the most senior right calling dates to 1863. DWR's statements do not settle whether 7 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 2026-09-27 (the newest reading on file), flows at the 13 ranked gages are running at a median 43% of their own long-term norm for this window — 10 below a typical year, 3 at or above. Driest relative to its record: LAKE DITCH, ranking 1st lowest of 4 years.
How this comparison is made
Each gage's mean flow over the 3 days either side of 2026-09-27, 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 19:49 from 30 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 30 gages with enough record, 0 are trending down and 1 up, and 2 carry a detected shift. The clearest is North Fork South Platte River below Geneva Creek, at Grant, its annual mean flow changing +12.23 cfs per decade (+11.5% of its median annual flow) over 60 years (p<0.0001). The other 27 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
▸
North Fork South Platte River below Geneva Creek, at Grant NORGENCO |
↑ increasing | +12.23 cfs +11.5% | p<0.001 | 60 | ~1974 |
|
▸
⇆
Roberts Tunnel at East Portal near Grant ROBTUNCO |
↑ increasing | +10.24 cfs +13.6% | p=0.002 | 62 | ~1988 |
|
▸
South Platte River below Cheesman Reservoir PLACHECO |
no clear trend | +3.19 cfs +1.8% | p=0.204 | 101 | ~1981 |
⚠️ 1 gage 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.
27 other gage(s) show no significant trend or changepoint (not shown).
1 of those show a significant trend once extended backwards from a retired neighbour's record: North Fork South Platte River at Grant (87 yr, increasing). 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. 18 gage(s) and 72 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) |
|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 2 | 0 |
| 1910s | 3 | 0 |
| 1920s | 4 | 0 |
| 1930s | 4 | 0 |
| 1940s | 4 | 0 |
| 1950s | 4 | 0 |
| 1960s | 5 | 0 |
| 1970s | 5 | 66 |
| 1980s | 4 | 77 |
| 1990s | 6 | 71 |
| 2000s | 7 | 58 |
| 2010s | 6 | 74 |
| 2020s | 18 | 62 |
Mass-balance (network closure) trend
Structure divrec-history backfill coverage as of the last check: 16% of 225 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.
Groundwater now has its own tab: 23 monitored well(s), water-table trends, stream corridors, and the advisory depletion screen.
Reservoirs now has its own tab: 12 reservoir(s), end-of-year storage back to 1958, click-to-chart histories.
Cross-gage pattern fingerprint
Over the 42-year window with full coverage (1985–2026), the dominant shared pattern across 3 gage(s) explains 69% 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.
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 14 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 | 16% of schematic structures have data |
30 gage(s) / 244,830 daily values (1908-07-01–2026-09-27); 158 structure(s) with diversion records; 1261 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 ↗
132 water-level measurements across 23 monitored well(s) — 3 alluvial, 0 bedrock — plus 0 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 3 well(s) with enough record for a trend test: 2 declining, 0 rising.
| Fastest-declining wells | Setting | ft / decade | Span | p |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ▸ SC00607013CCC | unknown | -3.41 | 10 yr | 0.0195 |
| ▸ SC00607125DAA | unknown | -2.17 | 10 yr | 0.0195 |
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.
64% are constructed wells; 5% 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
10,111 located water-supply permits with an issue date, 1939 to 2026; half of them had been issued by 1991, and the busiest year was 1972 with 745. The district’s 285 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 12,063 above counts every permit on file here; 1,667 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 1 issued before 1950 is in the table, not the bars
The counts by year, as a table
| Year | Issued | Monitoring holes | Water-supply | Issued through that year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1953 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 1954 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 9 |
| 1955 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 21 |
| 1956 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 36 |
| 1957 | 22 | 0 | 22 | 58 |
| 1958 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 64 |
| 1959 | 19 | 0 | 19 | 83 |
| 1960 | 16 | 0 | 16 | 99 |
| 1961 | 32 | 0 | 32 | 131 |
| 1962 | 25 | 0 | 25 | 156 |
| 1963 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 168 |
| 1964 | 22 | 0 | 22 | 190 |
| 1965 | 23 | 0 | 23 | 213 |
| 1966 | 31 | 0 | 31 | 244 |
| 1967 | 35 | 0 | 35 | 279 |
| 1968 | 66 | 0 | 66 | 345 |
| 1969 | 47 | 0 | 47 | 392 |
| 1970 | 45 | 0 | 45 | 437 |
| 1971 | 88 | 0 | 88 | 525 |
| 1972 | 745 | 0 | 745 | 1,270 |
| 1973 | 212 | 0 | 212 | 1,482 |
| 1974 | 83 | 0 | 83 | 1,565 |
| 1975 | 59 | 0 | 59 | 1,624 |
| 1976 | 137 | 0 | 137 | 1,761 |
| 1977 | 228 | 0 | 228 | 1,989 |
| 1978 | 594 | 0 | 594 | 2,583 |
| 1979 | 496 | 0 | 496 | 3,079 |
| 1980 | 160 | 0 | 160 | 3,239 |
| 1981 | 193 | 0 | 193 | 3,432 |
| 1982 | 194 | 0 | 194 | 3,626 |
| 1983 | 236 | 0 | 236 | 3,862 |
| 1984 | 204 | 0 | 204 | 4,066 |
| 1985 | 199 | 0 | 199 | 4,265 |
| 1986 | 181 | 1 | 180 | 4,446 |
| 1987 | 122 | 0 | 122 | 4,568 |
| 1988 | 82 | 0 | 82 | 4,650 |
| 1989 | 126 | 1 | 125 | 4,776 |
| 1990 | 136 | 1 | 135 | 4,912 |
| 1991 | 189 | 3 | 186 | 5,101 |
| 1992 | 214 | 3 | 211 | 5,315 |
| 1993 | 396 | 8 | 388 | 5,711 |
| 1994 | 550 | 15 | 535 | 6,261 |
| 1995 | 427 | 10 | 417 | 6,688 |
| 1996 | 397 | 20 | 377 | 7,085 |
| 1997 | 288 | 24 | 264 | 7,373 |
| 1998 | 296 | 27 | 269 | 7,669 |
| 1999 | 268 | 24 | 244 | 7,937 |
| 2000 | 238 | 9 | 229 | 8,175 |
| 2001 | 194 | 8 | 186 | 8,369 |
| 2002 | 223 | 2 | 221 | 8,592 |
| 2003 | 160 | 26 | 134 | 8,752 |
| 2004 | 132 | 16 | 116 | 8,884 |
| 2005 | 136 | 9 | 127 | 9,020 |
| 2006 | 96 | 8 | 88 | 9,116 |
| 2007 | 72 | 2 | 70 | 9,188 |
| 2008 | 53 | 2 | 51 | 9,241 |
| 2009 | 44 | 5 | 39 | 9,285 |
| 2010 | 39 | 2 | 37 | 9,324 |
| 2011 | 31 | 2 | 29 | 9,355 |
| 2012 | 57 | 0 | 57 | 9,412 |
| 2013 | 53 | 0 | 53 | 9,465 |
| 2014 | 70 | 2 | 68 | 9,535 |
| 2015 | 79 | 2 | 77 | 9,614 |
| 2016 | 79 | 4 | 75 | 9,693 |
| 2017 | 100 | 14 | 86 | 9,793 |
| 2018 | 92 | 2 | 90 | 9,885 |
| 2019 | 80 | 10 | 70 | 9,965 |
| 2020 | 76 | 3 | 73 | 10,041 |
| 2021 | 108 | 16 | 92 | 10,149 |
| 2022 | 65 | 2 | 63 | 10,214 |
| 2023 | 58 | 1 | 57 | 10,272 |
| 2024 | 48 | 1 | 47 | 10,320 |
| 2025 | 43 | 0 | 43 | 10,363 |
| 2026 | 33 | 0 | 33 | 10,396 |
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
15 PLSS townships here where at least 5 water-supply permits naming the same aquifer filed a depth (7,207 permits in all). Each column is one township, six miles square, on one scale to 1,200 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. 9 of these townships straddle a district line and are filed here because most of their permits are.
3,202
1,289
1,123
916
189
110 · 94% here
102 · 75% here
95 · 66% here
74 · 94% here
37 · 92% here
32
14 · 94% here
13 · 83% here
6 · 86% here
5 · 80% here
unnamed fractured crystalline 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T7S R72W 6th PM | 96% | unnamed | 3,172 | 110 / 300 / 699 | 40 / 185 / 480 | 135 / 305 / 680 |
| T7S R72W 6th PM | 96% | fractured crystalline | 28 | 370 / 800 / 1,122 | 224 / 386 / 696 | 437 / 850 / 1,077 |
| T6S R73W 6th PM | 96% | unnamed | 1,273 | 80 / 260 / 518 | 29 / 160 / 387 | 100 / 280 / 520 |
| T6S R73W 6th PM | 96% | fractured crystalline | 15 | 270 / 375 / 632 | 180 / 230 / 300 | 280 / 355 / 642 |
| T7S R71W 6th PM | 95% | unnamed | 1,101 | 90 / 400 / 802 | 47 / 242 / 520 | 156 / 425 / 804 |
| T7S R71W 6th PM | 95% | fractured crystalline | 19 | 442 / 850 / 1,115 | 220 / 322 / 640 | 480 / 810 / 1,112 |
| T6S R72W 6th PM | 96% | unnamed | 911 | 103 / 283 / 600 | 23 / 150 / 427 | 105 / 280 / 580 |
| T6S R72W 6th PM | 96% | fractured crystalline | 5 | 370 / 752 / 1,113 | — | — |
| T7S R73W 6th PM | 96% | unnamed | 184 | 30 / 275 / 648 | 20 / 175 / 480 | 103 / 301 / 651 |
| T7S R74W 6th PM | 94% | unnamed | 108 | 19 / 351 / 719 | 40 / 245 / 550 | 100 / 480 / 765 |
| T8S R70W 6th PM | 75% | unnamed | 102 | 12 / 289 / 645 | 44 / 180 / 480 | 155 / 380 / 650 |
| T7S R75W 6th PM | 66% | unnamed | 95 | 22 / 120 / 390 | 21 / 90 / 205 | 77 / 200 / 411 |
| T8S R72W 6th PM | 94% | unnamed | 71 | 40 / 170 / 602 | 29 / 200 / 482 | 61 / 300 / 645 |
| T8S R71W 6th PM | 92% | unnamed | 36 | 21 / 156 / 400 | 32 / 90 / 278 | 94 / 235 / 508 |
| T6S R75W 6th PM | 95% | unnamed | 32 | 35 / 106 / 236 | 25 / 60 / 130 | 40 / 110 / 210 |
| T9S R71W 6th PM | 94% | unnamed | 14 | 128 / 346 / 911 | 154 / 240 / 412 | 254 / 406 / 686 |
| T6S R74W 6th PM | 83% | unnamed | 12 | 23 / 44 / 96 | — | — |
| T10S R71W 6th PM | 86% | unnamed | 5 | 45 / 100 / 212 | — | — |
| T8S R73W 6th PM | 80% | unnamed | 5 | 39 / 75 / 300 | — | — |
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 ↗
12 reservoir(s) with 2,322 storage measurement(s), 1958–2026. Basin storage as of 2025-10-31 (the record's own end — reservoir records publish ~annually): 70,983 AF across 11 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) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ▸ CHEESMAN RES (8003550) | 68,135 | 2025-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ WELLINGTON RES (8003829) | 2,264 | 2025-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ ROYL LAKE (8003659) | 673 | 1976-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ LININGER RES (8003658) | 494 | 2025-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ MADDOX RES (8003929) | 56 | 2025-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ PINE VALLEY RANCH RES (8003505) | 12 | 2025-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ STAUNTON RESERVOIR 1 (8003928) | 11 | 2025-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ STAUNTON RESERVOIR 2 (8003927) | 5 | 2025-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
Snow and runoff
Source Independent agency measurement · fetched 2026-10-14 · verify at NRCS report generator ↗ Source Our computation, scored against a reference · NRCS forecast, graded here against the gage record
Snow-water equivalent, WY2027
| SNOTEL site | Elev (ft) | SWE (in) | Median (in) | % of median | Typical peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackwhacker Gulch | 11030 | 0.1 | 0.2 | — | April 25 (14.4 in) |
NRCS SNOTEL, daily. Sites are assigned to the district whose boundary contains them — the snow that feeds this district can also sit in a neighboring headwater district.
Two ways a snow year goes wrong (1999–2026)
A bad snow year here comes in two flavors (both called snow droughtA winter that shorts the snowpack. It happens two ways: a dry one, where the snow never comes, and a warm one, where near-normal snow falls but melts off weeks early -- and the river feels them differently.), and the river feels them differently. In 7 of the last 28 winters the snow never came — the pack peaked below 80% of its median. In 0 more, the snow came but left early — a near-normal peak melted out two weeks or more ahead of its usual date, sending the water down before the season needed it.
The snow never came: 2002, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2012, 2022, 2026.
Computed by this site from 1 SNOTEL site’ full daily records (NRCS AWDB, back to 1999). Each year is measured against each site’s own multi-decade median — not the 1991–2020 normal the chart above uses — so the 1980s grade against a fair baseline. Peak and melt-out need 85% of the season’s days on the record; thin years are dropped, not guessed. Derived from snow measurements alone — it cannot tell dry-from-warm causes apart, only what the snowpack did.
Runoff outlook — Cheesman Lake Inflow
NRCS's final issue (2026-06-01) calls it even odds that at least 31 kAF arrives over 06-01 to 09-30 — 40% of a normal season; almost certainly at least 16, probably not more than 45. New forecasts begin in January. How to read these numbers →
| 90% chance of at least | 70% chance of at least | 50% chance of at least | 30% chance of at least | 10% chance of at least | Normal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 26 | 31 | 37 | 45 | 78 |
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 14th-driest week 39 in 102 years of record at SOUTH PLATTE RIVER BELOW CHEESMAN RESERVOIR (as of 2026-09-21; this week’s flow sits at the 14th 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, Park County is 34% in D4 exceptional drought (2026-10-06). The law agrees: the most senior active call leaves 98% of this district’s decreed flow rights junior to the calling right this week.
Every year since 1924, week by week
Each thin row is a year at SOUTH PLATTE RIVER BELOW CHEESMAN RESERVOIR; 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 39 weeks recorded so far, 2026’s weekly trace most resembles 1972 (mean gap 14.7 percentile points; next closest 2023 (14.8), 2012 (16.4)). 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 Douglas, Jefferson, Park 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 1950 — 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 (929 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.
1685–1987: this river before anyone measured it
Tree rings record wet and dry years centuries before the first gage. This is the published reconstruction of annual flow at North Fork of South Platte River at South Platte — 303 years, with its uncertainty band drawn, not implied. A reconstruction is an estimate, not a measurement: it answers “is this decade unusual in four centuries?”, and nothing in this site’s statistics uses it.
Woodhouse, C.A. and J.J. Lukas (2006), Multi-century tree-ring reconstructions of Colorado streamflow for water resource planning, Climatic Change 78; data via NOAA NCEI World Data Service for Paleoclimatology / TreeFlow. Source data ↗
This basin’s droughts, by its own record
| Drought | Span | Weeks | Trough percentile | Flows recovered | Water table back |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| the 2020-22 drought | 2021-07-19 → 2021-12-06 | 20 | 27th (2021-09-20) | 2 weeks | — |
| the 2012-13 drought | 2013-07-29 → 2014-01-06 | 23 | 24th (2013-09-09) | 0 weeks | — |
| the 2002 drought | 2003-07-21 → 2004-02-02 | 28 | 18th (2003-08-25) | 45 weeks | — |
| the 1981 drought | 1981-06-22 → 1982-04-19 | 43 | 23rd (1981-11-02) | 17 weeks | — |
| the 1977 drought | 1978-05-08 → 1979-05-28 | 55 | 10th (1978-10-30) | 43 weeks | — |
| the 1977 drought | 1977-08-29 → 1978-05-01 | 35 | 14th (1977-12-12) | 99 weeks | — |
| unnamed dry spell | 1969-02-10 → 1969-09-22 | 32 | 10th (1969-06-02) | 3 weeks | — |
| unnamed dry spell | 1966-10-31 → 1968-10-07 | 101 | 6th (1968-03-25) | 53 weeks | — |
| the 1963-64 drought | 1964-11-09 → 1965-09-06 | 43 | 5th (1965-02-22) | 43 weeks | — |
| unnamed dry spell | 1960-11-07 → 1961-08-28 | 42 | 9th (1961-01-30) | 14 weeks | — |
| unnamed dry spell | 1959-12-21 → 1960-09-05 | 37 | 8th (1960-03-28) | 65 weeks | — |
| unnamed dry spell | 1958-12-08 → 1959-11-02 | 47 | 5th (1959-05-04) | 109 weeks | — |
| the 1950s drought | 1955-11-07 → 1957-10-21 | 102 | 6th (1957-06-10) | 3 weeks | — |
| unnamed dry spell | 1944-04-10 → 1944-10-09 | 26 | 20th (1944-05-08) | 63 weeks | — |
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 1996, federal crop insurance has paid $1,316 in drought-caused claims across Douglas, Jefferson, Park counties — 0.4% of all insured crop losses there. The worst year was 1996 ($1,113).
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 (1,096 rights across 103 years of shared record), colored by that year’s wetness from the barcode above. Here the correlation is -0.25 — this basin tended to claim water in dry times, under scarcity pressure. 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 ↗
5 systems touch this district (5 community systems reporting 2,932 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MOUNTAIN WSD | 1,941 | Groundwater under the influence of surface water | 100% of its area |
| BAILEY WSD 3 open health-based | 483 | Surface water | 100% of its area |
| WILL O WISP METRO DISTRICT | 300 | Groundwater | 100% of its area |
| BUFFALO CREEK WD | 125 | Surface water | 100% of its area |
| RIVER-DALE RANCH | 83 | Surface water | 100% of its area |
Instream-flow rights held by the state
Source Register of another agency · fetched 2026-10-11 · verify at CWCB instream flow program ↗
28 reaches over 175.2 miles and 2 natural lake levels, held by the Colorado Water Conservation Board so that water stays in the stream. Every reach, with its schedule and case →
- Elk Creek, 20.6 mi: 5 (1/1 - 12/31) cfs (appropriated 1984, 84CW0646) · dossier
- Craig Creek, 12.2 mi: 8 (1/1 - 12/31) cfs (appropriated 1980, 80CW0209) · dossier
- Wigwam Creek, 12.2 mi: 3 (1/1 - 12/31) cfs (appropriated 1980, 80CW0214) · dossier
- Geneva Creek, 10.8 mi: 2.5 (1/1 - 12/31) cfs (appropriated 1984, 84CW0640) · dossier
- Goose Creek, 10.8 mi: 6 (10/1 - 4/30), 10 (5/1 - 9/30) cfs (appropriated 1980, 80CW0215) · dossier
- Scott Gomer Creek, 10.0 mi: 4 (1/1 - 12/31) cfs (appropriated 1978, 78W9373) · dossier
and 24 more on the district's instream-flow page.
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 1860-12-28 to 2023-02-28. Of the 20 structures with a yield estimate, the median one’s senior right was in priority 8% of a median irrigation season and 0% in a dry one. 25 abandonment screens and 60 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: 1390 across 1261 structure(s); 0 structure(s) carry 0 court-case references. Advisory reading aids on public DWR data — not administrative or legal conclusions.
Is the river getting harder to divert from?
Over 1951–2025, administration on this district has been tightening: 2 of 3 measures (days under callA senior water right demanding its water, which requires everyone junior on that stream to stop diverting until it is satisfied., calls set, seniorityColorado shares water by date: the earlier the right, the stronger its claim when the river runs short. "First in time, first in right." of the controlling call) are moving toward more administration, none the other way.
The three measures, year by year
One row per whole calendar year inside the call record's coverage (75 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 | 329 | 144 | 1870-06-01 |
| 2016 | 366 | 168 | 1875-06-30 |
| 2017 | 365 | 245 | 1881-02-01 |
| 2018 | 365 | 265 | 1876-05-10 |
| 2019 | 365 | 273 | 1881-02-01 |
| 2020 | 366 | 204 | 1867-04-15 |
| 2021 | 365 | 185 | 1867-04-15 |
| 2022 | 365 | 227 | 1867-04-15 |
| 2023 | 333 | 220 | 1869-04-01 |
| 2024 | 366 | 190 | 1881-02-01 |
| 2025 | 365 | 327 | 1881-02-01 |
Why diversions stopped — call-based explanations
Sustained diversion stops matched to senior administrative calls.
- MACK DITCH 1 (8000662) DWR↗ stopped 2025-07-27 (21+ days) — call at PIONEER UNION DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- LININGER DITCH (8000707) DWR↗ stopped 2025-07-25 (14+ days) — call at WESTERN MUTUAL DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-partial, district-confirmed]
- NORTH SIDE DITCH (8000668) DWR↗ stopped 2025-07-17 (15+ days) — call at WARD DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- SOUTH SIDE DITCH (8000667) DWR↗ stopped 2025-07-11 (14+ days) — call at WARD DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- KENOSHA DITCH (8000713) DWR↗ stopped 2025-07-07 (9+ days) — call at WESTERN MUTUAL DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong, district-confirmed]
- CRAIG PARK GULCH DITCH (8000732) DWR↗ stopped 2024-10-21 (205+ days) — call at BOULDER WELD CTY DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- LININGER DITCH (8000707) DWR↗ stopped 2024-09-19 (274+ days) — call at WESTERN MUTUAL DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-partial, district-confirmed]
- CASSEL CREEK DITCH (8000728) DWR↗ stopped 2024-09-19 (233+ days) — call at LEE STEWART ESKINS DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- CASSEL DITCH 1 (8000729) DWR↗ stopped 2024-09-19 (233+ days) — call at LEE STEWART ESKINS DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- HEPBURN DITCH 2 (8000657) DWR↗ stopped 2024-08-31 (242+ days) — call at JONES DONNELLY DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- LININGER DITCH (8000707) DWR↗ stopped 2024-07-31 (19+ days) — call at WESTERN MUTUAL DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-partial, district-confirmed]
- KENOSHA DITCH (8000713) DWR↗ stopped 2024-07-30 (59+ days) — call at WESTERN MUTUAL 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MENDENHALL FEEDER DITCH (8000864) DWR↗ | 1892-09-03 | 7.9% / 0.0% | 7.9% / 0.0% |
| HICKS CRK FDR D (8000862) DWR↗ | 1921-12-31 | 7.9% / 0.0% | 7.9% / 0.0% |
| WALKER TROUT RANCH DITCH (8000924) DWR↗ | 1880-04-01 | 46.3% / 7.9% | 5.1% / 0.0% |
| LININGER DITCH (8000707) DWR↗ | 1863-05-01 | 100.0% / 49.1% | 5.1% / 0.0% |
| GENEVA CREEK MIN FLOW (8002103) DWR↗ | 1978-07-11 | 5.1% / 0.0% | 5.1% / 0.0% |
| LAKE DITCH (8000656) DWR↗ | 1892-05-30 | 7.9% / 0.0% | 5.1% / 0.0% |
| GOOSE CR MIN FLOW (8002123) DWR↗ | 1980-05-07 | 5.1% / 0.0% | 5.1% / 0.0% |
| CRAIG CREEK MIN FLOW (8002101) DWR↗ | 1980-05-07 | 5.1% / 0.0% | 5.1% / 0.0% |
| CRYSTAL LAKE PL (8000672) DWR↗ | 1903-12-31 | 7.5% / 0.0% | 7.5% / 0.0% |
| ALPEN BACH (8000904) DWR↗ | 1880-06-01 | 5.1% / 0.0% | 5.1% / 0.0% |
| BRAINERD GULCH DITCH (8000714) DWR↗ | 1910-12-31 | 7.5% / 0.0% | 7.5% / 0.0% |
| ELK CR MIN FLOW (8002111) DWR↗ | 1984-01-06 | 5.1% / 0.0% | 5.1% / 0.0% |
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).
- LAKE DITCH (8000656) DWR↗ (1892-05-30, 10.2 cfs decreed): last active 1973 — 52 years idle
- CRYSTAL LAKE PL (8000672) DWR↗ (1903-12-31, 6.6 cfs decreed): last active 1973 — 52 years idle
- LODGE RES PL (8000715) DWR↗ (1935-12-31, 2.0 cfs decreed): last active 1973 — 52 years idle
- PROSSER WOODEN PIPELINE (8000791) DWR↗ (1908-06-05, 0.2 cfs decreed): last active 1973 — 52 years idle
- BROGAN DITCH (8000717) DWR↗ (1898-12-31, 1.8 cfs decreed): last active 1974 — 51 years idle
- BRAINERD GULCH DITCH (8000714) DWR↗ (1910-12-31, 5.4 cfs decreed): last active 1975 — 50 years idle
- MEADOW DIVR 1 (8000899) DWR↗ (1978-04-01, 0.6 cfs decreed): last active 1975 — 50 years idle
- MEADOW DIVR 2 (8000900) DWR↗ (1978-04-01, 0.6 cfs decreed): last active 1975 — 50 years idle
- MEADOW DIVR 3 (8000901) DWR↗ (1978-04-01, 0.6 cfs decreed): last active 1975 — 50 years idle
- ASHRAMA DITCH 2 (8000663) DWR↗ (1925-09-20, 2.4 cfs decreed): last active 1976 — 49 years idle
Compliance screens (60 advisory flags)
Screened 120 of 1261 structures with rights (132 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.
- BEAVER CREEK DITCH (8000706) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 7.0 cfs (max 8.6) exceeds total decreed absolute 4.0 cfs across 6874 recorded day(s).
- WONDER DITCH (8000785) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 5.0 cfs (max 5.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 0.5 cfs across 6606 recorded day(s).
- J HIGGINSON DITCH (8000674) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 3.9 cfs (max 3.9) exceeds total decreed absolute 3.9 cfs across 5394 recorded day(s).
- SLAGHT DITCH (8000660) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 3.0 cfs (max 3.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 0.3 cfs across 9106 recorded day(s).
- LOWER KENOSHA DITCH (8000712) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 3.0 cfs (max 3.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 2.4 cfs across 248 recorded day(s).
- ROCKY MTN FUEL DITCH 1 (8000829) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 3.0 cfs (max 3.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 2.5 cfs across 2946 recorded day(s).
- SOUTH MENDENHALL D (8000867) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 3.0 cfs (max 3.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 1.0 cfs across 1698 recorded day(s).
- FLUME DITCH ALT PT PUMP (8000845) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 2.9 cfs (max 2.9) exceeds total decreed absolute 2.9 cfs across 2682 recorded day(s).
- ALKIRE DITCH (8000799) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 2.7 cfs (max 2.7) exceeds total decreed absolute 0.3 cfs across 2889 recorded day(s).
- MCARTHUR DITCH & RETURN (8000759) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 2.5 cfs (max 3.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 1.4 cfs across 14258 recorded day(s).
Seniority (top structures by decreed rate)
| Structure | Senior priority date | Rights | Decreed abs (cfs) | Decreed abs (AF) | Conditional? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HICKS CRK FDR D (8000862) DWR↗ | 1921-12-31 | 1 | 25.0 | 0 | — |
| MENDENHALL FEEDER DITCH (8000864) DWR↗ | 1892-09-03 | 1 | 25.0 | 0 | — |
| WALKER TROUT RANCH DITCH (8000924) DWR↗ | 1880-04-01 | 3 | 13.6 | 0 | — |
| LININGER DITCH (8000707) DWR↗ | 1863-05-01 | 6 | 11.4 | 0 | — |
| GENEVA CREEK MIN FLOW (8002103) DWR↗ | 1978-07-11 | 1 | 11.0 | 0 | — |
| LAKE DITCH (8000656) DWR↗ | 1892-05-30 | 2 | 10.2 | 0 | — |
| GOOSE CR MIN FLOW (8002123) DWR↗ | 1980-05-07 | 1 | 10.0 | 0 | — |
| CRAIG CREEK MIN FLOW (8002101) DWR↗ | 1980-05-07 | 1 | 8.0 | 0 | — |
| CRYSTAL LAKE PL (8000672) DWR↗ | 1903-12-31 | 1 | 6.6 | 0 | — |
| ALPEN BACH (8000904) DWR↗ | 1880-06-01 | 3 | 5.4 | 0 | — |
| BRAINERD GULCH DITCH (8000714) DWR↗ | 1910-12-31 | 1 | 5.4 | 0 | — |
| ELK CR MIN FLOW (8002111) DWR↗ | 1984-01-06 | 1 | 5.0 | 0 | — |
| LOST CR MIN FLOW (8002122) DWR↗ | 1980-05-07 | 1 | 5.0 | 0 | — |
| BEAVER CREEK DITCH (8000706) DWR↗ | 1883-02-28 | 1 | 4.0 | 0 | — |
| REA DITCH 2 (8000816) DWR↗ | 1888-07-31 | 1 | 4.0 | 0 | — |
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 (17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FLYING J RANCH | 37-92-308(7) PLAN EMERGENCY | Approved | 2026-09-09 | — | plan file |
| ELK CREEK FALLS RESERVOIR AND STAUNTON RESERVOIR NO. 2 | 37-92-308(5) PLANS LESS THAN 5 YEARS | Approved | 2027-04-30 | — | plan file |
| WILL-O-WISP METROPOLITAN DISTRICT | 37-92-308(4) PLAN PENDING COURT APPLICATION | Decreed | 2026-04-30 | 8002521 | plan file |
| MILL-IRON D ESTATES | 37-92-308(5) PLANS LESS THAN 5 YEARS | Pending | — | 8002514 | plan file |
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 2026-10-14 · 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 3,600 sampling stations in this district's watershed (Upper South Platte 10190002), of which 157 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 (69), Colorado River Watch (46), USGS Colorado Water Science Center (28). Most-sampled groups: Inorganics, Major, Metals, Physical, Nutrient, Inorganics, Minor, Metals. 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 ↗
5 community systems touch this district. 1 carries an open health-based violation on EPA's record; 1 is listed by EPA as serious violator. EPA sampled 0 of them for PFAS in 2023–25.
| System | Serves | EPA record | PFAS (UCMR 5) | Lead, latest 90th pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAILEY WSD | 483 | 3 open health-based | not sampled | 0.0 mg/L |
| MOUNTAIN WSD | 1,941 | 5 of 12 quarters with a violation | not sampled | 0.004 mg/L |
| WILL O WISP METRO DISTRICT | 300 | 12 of 12 quarters with a violation | not sampled | 0.0055 mg/L |
| BUFFALO CREEK WD | 125 | 1 of 12 quarters with a violation | not sampled | 0.003 mg/L |
| RIVER-DALE RANCH | 83 | 1 of 12 quarters with a violation | not sampled | 0.0 mg/L |
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.
Impaired waters
Source Register of another agency · verify at EPA ATTAINS ↗
The state's 303(d) impaired-waters list has not been joined to this basin's own watershed boundary yet, so nothing is shown rather than a guess; the basins with a join carry the full list here. Why the join is geometry, not a name match.
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.
This week's diagnostic
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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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Snowpack — 1 SNOTEL site report here. Runoff outlook — Cheesman Lake Inflow: even odds of at least 31 kAF over 06-01 to 09-30 — 40% of a normal season, per NRCS, issued 2026-06-01 — the season’s final; new forecasts begin in January. Full snow & runoff picture — charts, forecast history and how the forecasts have verified →
Sites, exceedance bands and sources
| SNOTEL site | Elev (ft) | SWE (in) | Median (in) | % of median | Typical peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackwhacker Gulch | 11030 | 0.1 | 0.2 | — | April 25 (14.4 in) |
Cheesman Lake Inflow — 06-01 to 09-30 volume, thousand acre-feet (chance the volume is AT LEAST this):
| 90% | 70% | 50% | 30% | 10% | Normal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 26 | 31 | 37 | 45 | 78 |
Snow-water equivalent and medians (1991–2020) from NRCS SNOTEL; seasonal volume forecasts from the NRCS National Water and Climate Center. Sites and forecast points are assigned to the district whose boundary contains them — snowpack that feeds this district can also sit in a neighboring headwater district. Toggle the Snow chip on the map above to see the sites.