Hydrohistorian
Arkansas: Salida to Portland
Arkansas: Salida to Portland on the ground — the ditches, wells, reservoirs and gages of Water District 12 · clicktap anything for its record
Snowpack — no snow on the ground at 1 SNOTEL site — normal for the date; the snow year begins in October and typically peaks around April 18. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hayden Pass | 10700 | 0.2 | 0.0 | — | April 18 (16.3 in) |
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.
Topology cross-check: 7 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 35 streams, 28 agree. Know this water? Tell us →
| Stream | This site routes it to | DWR routes it to |
|---|---|---|
| Currant Creek | the mainstem | Tallahassee Creek |
| West Fourmile Creek | the mainstem | Fourmile Creek |
| Cottonwood Creek | the mainstem | West Fourmile Creek |
| Slater Creek | the mainstem | West Fourmile Creek |
| Middle Tallahassee Creek | the mainstem | Tallahassee Creek |
| Cottonwood Creek | the mainstem | Currant Creek |
| Fourmile Creek | the mainstem | Hardscrabble Creek |
Sizable streams DWR maps here that this network does not carry:
Grape Creek (59 mi) · Carrol Creek (16 mi) · Copper Gulch (16 mi) · Sixmile Creek (15 mi) · Coal Creek (13 mi) · Chandler Creek (13 mi) · Brush Hollow Creek (11 mi) · Bernard Creek (9 mi)
Schematic
Historical
Evolution of the network
Trends
This year, in context
In the weeks around 2026-08-19 (the newest reading on file), flows at the 1 ranked gage are running at a median 100% of their own long-term norm for this window — 0 below a typical year, 1 at or above. Driest relative to its record: CANON CITY & OIL CREEK, ranking 1st lowest of 1 years.
How this comparison is made
Each gage's mean flow over the 3 days either side of 2026-08-19, 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 2026-08-30 19:29 from 22 gage(s) with cached period-of-record data. The series is each gage's annual mean flow in cfs (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 22 gages with enough record, 0 are trending down and 1 up, and 1 carries a detected shift. The clearest is Fourmile Creek near Canon City, its annual mean flow changing +4.37 cfs per decade (+21.7% of its median annual flow) over 30 years (p=0.0204). The other 21 show no clear signal either way.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
▸
Fourmile Creek near Canon City FMCCANCO |
↑ increasing | +4.37 cfs +21.7% | p=0.020 | 30 | ~1979 |
21 other gage(s) show no significant trend or changepoint (not shown).
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. 15 gage(s) and 278 structure(s) report in 2026, but structure reporting only reached half its modern level around ~1970. 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) |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 1 | 0 |
| 1890s | 1 | 1 |
| 1900s | 1 | 0 |
| 1910s | 1 | 104 |
| 1920s | 1 | 121 |
| 1930s | 1 | 150 |
| 1940s | 2 | 120 |
| 1950s | 2 | 98 |
| 1960s | 2 | 92 |
| 1970s | 5 | 163 |
| 1980s | 6 | 212 |
| 1990s | 9 | 146 |
| 2000s | 6 | 138 |
| 2010s | 9 | 135 |
| 2020s | 14 | 270 |
Mass-balance (network closure) trend
Structure divrec-history backfill coverage as of the last check: 4% of 5004 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 (1052 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.
- BEAVER CREEK NEAR PORTLAND, CO.: reach shifted from -812 cfs to -1599 cfs summer mean (more losing, p=0.012, 18 yr) [sedimentary plains/foothills: moderate groundwater connectivity -- gain/loss shifts can be real aquifer response; corroborate with nearby well records] [2 alluvial wells within 2 mi of the gage; pooled water table +1.9 ft (1973–1994, no_trend)]
- BADGER CREEK, LOWER STATION, NEAR HOWARD, CO.: reach shifted from +9 cfs to +8 cfs summer mean (more losing, p=0.034, 18 yr) [sedimentary plains/foothills: moderate groundwater connectivity -- gain/loss shifts can be real aquifer response; corroborate with nearby well records] [2 alluvial wells within 2 mi of the gage; pooled water table -3.2 ft (1980–1990, no_trend)]
Groundwater now has its own tab: 187 monitored well(s), water-table trends, stream corridors, and the advisory depletion screen.
Reservoirs now has its own tab: 28 reservoir(s), end-of-year storage back to 1950, click-to-chart histories.
Cross-gage pattern fingerprint
Over the 34-year window with full coverage (1993–2026), 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 2026-07-06)
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.
- 1213404 (diversion): +1.7 cfs (3% of that reach's correction)
- CC ROYAL GORGE INTAKE (diversion): +1.7 cfs (3% of that reach's correction)
- ROYAL GORGE PUMP PLANT (diversion): +1.7 cfs (3% of that reach's correction)
- 1213326 (diversion): +1.7 cfs (3% of that reach's correction)
- WEBSTER PARK SPRING NO 1 (return): +1.7 cfs (3% of that reach's correction)
- VOLCANO SPRING (return): +1.7 cfs (3% of that reach's correction)
- SODA SPRING NO 2 (return): +1.7 cfs (3% of that reach's correction)
- ROYAL GORGE SPRING (return): +1.7 cfs (3% of that reach's correction)
- SOUTH CANON DITCH (diversion): +1.7 cfs (3% of that reach's correction)
- CANON CITY HYDRAULIC (diversion): +1.7 cfs (3% 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_20260707 (imported 2026-08-19) for history, plus the CDSS REST API for current conditions.
| Check | State | What was measured |
|---|---|---|
| gage freshness | stale | newest gage reading is 11 day(s) old (target 7) |
| diversion record | expected-lag | newest diversion record is 304 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 673,673 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 — 99.86% day-level agreement with USGS's own published records for the same gages, across 11 co-listed station(s) and 140,364 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.
22 gage(s) / 182,827 daily values (1888-10-01–2026-08-19); 484 structure(s) with diversion records; 1967 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
1,346 water-level measurements across 187 monitored well(s) — 128 alluvial, 0 bedrock — plus 14 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 14 well(s) with enough record for a trend test: 3 declining, 3 rising.
| Fastest-declining wells | Setting | ft / decade | Span | p |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ▸ NA04801011BAC | alluvial | -0.68 | 45 yr | 0.0001 |
| ▸ NA04901019BDD | alluvial | -0.32 | 48 yr | 0.0011 |
| ▸ NA04801231BBD | alluvial | -0.28 | 47 yr | 0.0237 |
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.
BEAVER CREEK NEAR PORTLAND, CO.: 2 alluvial well(s) nearby; pooled water table +1.9 ft (1973–1994, no_trend, p=0.0501)
BADGER CREEK, LOWER STATION, NEAR HOWARD, CO.: 2 alluvial well(s) nearby; pooled water table -3.2 ft (1980–1990, no_trend, p=0.2758). 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).
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.
Reservoirs
28 reservoir(s) with 50,282 storage measurement(s), 1950–2026. Basin storage as of 2025-10-31 (the record's own end — reservoir records publish ~annually): 12,167 AF across 24 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) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ▸ BRUSH HOLLOW RESERVOIR (1203779) | 2,959 | 2025-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ ROSEMONT RESERVOIR (1203820) | 2,541 | 2025-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ ROOSEVELT RESERVOIR (1203698) | 2,523 | 1991-12-04 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ SKAGUAY RESERVIOR (1203511) | 1,978 | 2025-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ PLEASANT VALLEY DITCH (1200500) | 1,814 | 2011-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ MT PISGAH RESERVOIR (1203505) | 1,568 | 2025-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ SADDLE MTN RESERVOIR 4 (1203515) | 1,271 | 2007-05-26 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ BISON PARK RESERVOIR (1203913) | 895 | 2025-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
Snow and runoff
Snow-water equivalent, WY2026
No snow on the ground — normal for the date; the snow year begins in October. The chart shows the full water year just ending.
| SNOTEL site | Elev (ft) | SWE (in) | Median (in) | % of median | Typical peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hayden Pass | 10700 | 0.2 | 0.0 | — | April 18 (16.3 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 (2008–2026)
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 6 of the last 19 winters the snow never came — the pack peaked below 80% of its median. In 1 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. This year was one of the dry ones: the pack peaked at 44% of median.
The snow never came: 2011, 2018, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026. The snow left early: 2020.
Computed by this site from 1 SNOTEL site’ full daily records (NRCS AWDB, back to 2008). 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.
Drought
Right now
This is the 1st-driest week 27 in 137 years of record at ARKANSAS RIVER AT CANON CITY (as of 2026-06-29; this week’s flow sits at the 1st percentile for the date). On this week’s US Drought Monitor, Fremont County is 73% in D3 extreme drought (2026-08-25). The law agrees: the most senior active call leaves 100% of this district’s decreed flow rights junior to the calling right this week.
Every year since 1888, week by week
Each thin row is a year at ARKANSAS RIVER AT CANON CITY; 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.
The Drought Monitor’s view since 2000
Mean share of area in each class across Fremont, Pueblo, Teller 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 2005 — 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 (1012 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 | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the 2020-22 drought | 2021-06-28 → 2022-03-14 | 37 | 24th (2021-10-11) | 3 weeks |
| the 2020-22 drought | 2020-09-21 → 2021-02-22 | 22 | 28th (2020-11-30) | 58 weeks |
| the 2018 drought | 2018-08-20 → 2019-05-06 | 37 | 9th (2018-11-26) | 0 weeks |
| the 2012-13 drought | 2012-07-30 → 2013-12-23 | 73 | 5th (2013-01-14) | 9 weeks |
| the 2002 drought | 2004-08-30 → 2005-04-18 | 33 | 20th (2004-10-25) | 44 weeks |
| the 2002 drought | 2002-07-08 → 2004-03-01 | 86 | 1st (2002-11-18) | 103 weeks |
| unnamed dry spell | 1990-04-30 → 1990-12-03 | 31 | 26th (1990-05-28) | 4 weeks |
| the 1981 drought | 1981-06-15 → 1982-01-11 | 30 | 17th (1981-08-24) | 5 weeks |
| unnamed dry spell | 1978-12-18 → 1979-07-30 | 32 | 10th (1979-02-26) | 0 weeks |
| the 1977 drought | 1977-05-02 → 1978-09-18 | 72 | 3rd (1977-11-07) | 43 weeks |
| unnamed dry spell | 1974-11-25 → 1975-07-28 | 35 | 13th (1975-03-10) | 0 weeks |
| unnamed dry spell | 1973-01-08 → 1973-08-06 | 30 | 22nd (1973-03-05) | 1 week |
| unnamed dry spell | 1969-03-03 → 1969-09-08 | 27 | 22nd (1969-04-21) | 0 weeks |
| unnamed dry spell | 1966-11-07 → 1967-10-30 | 51 | 14th (1967-05-08) | 42 weeks |
Detected mechanically: the 26-week smoothed percentile below the 30th for at least 20 weeks; recovered on regaining the 50th. 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 $3,076,450 in drought-caused claims across Fremont, Pueblo, Teller counties — 6.4% of all insured crop losses there. The worst year was 2012 ($356,114).
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 (1,827 rights across 138 years of shared record), colored by that year’s wetness from the barcode above. Here the correlation is -0.1 — 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
Decreed rights on this network run from 1860-05-01 to 2023-12-28. Of the 20 structures with a yield estimate, the median one’s senior right was in priority 70% of a median irrigation season and 13% in a dry one. 25 abandonment screens and 163 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: 2503 across 1967 structure(s); 337 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 2003–2025, administration on this district has been tightening: 3 of 3 measures (days under call, calls set, seniority 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 (23 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 | 365 | 419 | 1866-05-01 |
| 2015 | 365 | 222 | 1865-10-07 |
| 2016 | 366 | 355 | 1862-04-30 |
| 2017 | 365 | 260 | 1866-10-31 |
| 2018 | 365 | 401 | 1862-04-30 |
| 2019 | 365 | 389 | 1862-03-20 |
| 2020 | 366 | 340 | 1861-05-31 |
| 2021 | 365 | 362 | 1862-04-30 |
| 2022 | 365 | 370 | 1862-11-15 |
| 2023 | 365 | 369 | 1862-04-30 |
| 2024 | 366 | 359 | 1862-04-30 |
| 2025 | 365 | 384 | 1862-04-30 |
Why diversions stopped — call-based explanations
Sustained diversion stops matched to senior administrative calls.
- O'BRIEN DITCH (4 MILE) (1200528) DWR↗ stopped 2025-10-08 (22+ days) — call at CANON HEIGHTS DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- PLEASANT VALLEY DITCH (1200500) DWR↗ stopped 2025-09-30 (31+ days) — call at MARTIN DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- ROSEMONT RES PIPELINE (1200538) DWR↗ stopped 2025-08-26 (7+ days) — call at CHILILI DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-partial]
- TITSWORTH DITCH (1200531) DWR↗ stopped 2025-08-15 (8+ days) — call at HARDSCRABBLE DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- WAFFORD DITCH (1200532) DWR↗ stopped 2025-07-10 (5+ days) — call at LEWELLING-MCCORMICK curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- O'BRIEN DITCH (4 MILE) (1200528) DWR↗ stopped 2025-07-06 (59+ days) — call at LEWELLING-MCCORMICK curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- ADAMS DITCH (4 MILE CRK) (1200527) DWR↗ stopped 2025-07-02 (63+ days) — call at TITSWORTH DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- WATSON DITCH NO 1 (1200520) DWR↗ stopped 2025-06-23 (71+ days) — call at HOEHNE DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- MARCOTT DITCH (1200522) DWR↗ stopped 2025-06-22 (71+ days) — call at HOEHNE DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- HOLE IN THE GROUND DITCH (1200526) DWR↗ stopped 2025-06-22 (72+ days) — call at HOEHNE DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- A L SMITH DITCH (1200556) DWR↗ stopped 2025-06-22 (60+ days) — call at HOEHNE DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- GARDEN PARK DITCH (1200529) DWR↗ stopped 2025-06-17 (79+ days) — call at PULASKI DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MINNEQUA CANAL (1200511) DWR↗ | 1861-07-22 | 96.7% / 44.4% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| BEAVER PARK DITCH (1200537) DWR↗ | 1861-04-15 | 97.7% / 50.9% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| CANON CITY HYDRAULIC (1200505) DWR↗ | 1863-12-30 | 70.1% / 15.4% | 53.3% / 2.8% |
| COLO LIGHT & POWER P/L (1200506) DWR↗ | 1869-06-12 | 0.5% / 0.0% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| SOUTH CANON DITCH (1200504) DWR↗ | 1862-05-01 | 84.1% / 24.8% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| UNION DITCH (1200835) DWR↗ | 1861-11-30 | 96.7% / 44.4% | 96.7% / 44.4% |
| CANON HEIGHTS DITCH (1200530) DWR↗ | 1861-04-01 | 97.7% / 58.9% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| DEWEESE DYE DITCH (1200672) DWR↗ | 1866-02-28 | 34.6% / 1.4% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| ARK VALLEY RW L & P P/L (1200962) DWR↗ | 1894-05-21 | 0.0% / 0.0% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| CANON CITY & OIL CREEK (1200509) DWR↗ | 1864-05-31 | 69.2% / 10.7% | 9.3% / 0.0% |
| WILSON CREEK DITCH (1200777) DWR↗ | 1896-06-13 | 0.0% / 0.0% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| CC ROYAL GORGE INTAKE (1200928) DWR↗ | 1863-12-30 | 70.1% / 15.4% | 53.3% / 2.8% |
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 ~1970 — idleness that begins before then may be unreported use, not nonuse (flagged † below).
- 1200674 DWR↗ (1908-06-15, 1.5 cfs decreed): last active 1916 — 109 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~1970) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
- FIRST LEON DITCH (1200524) DWR↗ (1874-06-14, 1.2 cfs decreed): last active 1927 — 98 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~1970) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
- PAUL WALTON DITCH (1200837) DWR↗ (1911-04-01, 2.7 cfs decreed): last active 1939 — 86 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~1970) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
- HILLTOP DITCH (1201045) DWR↗ (1937-10-31, 4.1 cfs decreed): last active 1943 — 82 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~1970) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
- STATE DITCH NO 1 (1200559) DWR↗ (1930-06-01, 2.0 cfs decreed): last active 1958 — 67 years idle † predates modern reporting era — last recorded activity predates this basin's modern reporting era (~1970) -- early absence of record is weak evidence of nonuse
- KENNEDY DITCH NO 1 (1200775) DWR↗ (1912-04-13, 4.0 cfs decreed): last active 1970 — 55 years idle
- PHELPS DITCH (1200507) DWR↗ (1882-05-31, 2.0 cfs decreed): last active 1972 — 53 years idle
- FIBERBOARD PROD WELL 1 (1205000) DWR↗ (1870-05-31, 0.3 cfs decreed): last active 1972 — 53 years idle
- UETLEY DITCH (1200629) DWR↗ (1871-10-01, 0.5 cfs decreed): last active 1973 — 52 years idle
- GRAVESTOCK DITCH (1200668) DWR↗ (1874-04-01, 1.0 cfs decreed): last active 1973 — 52 years idle
Compliance screens (163 advisory flags)
Screened 269 of 1967 structures with rights (313 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.
- KITTRIDGE DITCH NO 1 (1200521) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 763.0 cfs (max 763.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 4.3 cfs across 12702 recorded day(s).
- ST JOHNS TUNNEL (1200539) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 257.1 cfs (max 411.5) exceeds total decreed absolute 6.4 cfs across 30981 recorded day(s).
- CANON CITY HYDRAULIC (1200505) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 79.4 cfs (max 548.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 77.0 cfs across 66241 recorded day(s).
- COLO LIGHT & POWER P/L (1200506) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 64.0 cfs (max 168.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 54.4 cfs across 60365 recorded day(s).
- BURROUGHS DITCH (1200651) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 51.0 cfs (max 75.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 1.0 cfs across 18002 recorded day(s).
- UNION DITCH (1200835) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 48.0 cfs (max 78.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 46.8 cfs across 68902 recorded day(s).
- CANON CITY & OIL CREEK (1200509) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 31.3 cfs (max 807.1) exceeds total decreed absolute 24.7 cfs across 77633 recorded day(s).
- DAVIS DITCH (1200656) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 22.0 cfs (max 22.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 2.2 cfs across 15978 recorded day(s).
- CANON CITY WATER WORKS (1200503) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 21.5 cfs (max 39.2) exceeds total decreed absolute 4.7 cfs across 69395 recorded day(s).
- FREMONT COUNTY DITCH (1200510) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 20.1 cfs (max 62.5) exceeds total decreed absolute 17.0 cfs across 57735 recorded day(s).
Seniority (top structures by decreed rate)
| Structure | Senior priority date | Rights | Decreed abs (cfs) | Decreed abs (AF) | Conditional? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MINNEQUA CANAL (1200511) DWR↗ | 1861-07-22 | 8 | 227.3 | 0 | — |
| BEAVER PARK DITCH (1200537) DWR↗ | 1861-04-15 | 38 | 161.1 | 0 | — |
| CANON CITY HYDRAULIC (1200505) DWR↗ | 1863-12-30 | 2 | 77.0 | 0 | — |
| COLO LIGHT & POWER P/L (1200506) DWR↗ | 1869-06-12 | 3 | 54.4 | 0 | — |
| SOUTH CANON DITCH (1200504) DWR↗ | 1862-05-01 | 7 | 48.5 | 0 | — |
| UNION DITCH (1200835) DWR↗ | 1861-11-30 | 1 | 46.8 | 0 | — |
| CANON HEIGHTS DITCH (1200530) DWR↗ | 1861-04-01 | 28 | 33.0 | 0 | — |
| DEWEESE DYE DITCH (1200672) DWR↗ | 1866-02-28 | 14 | 31.8 | 0 | — |
| ARK VALLEY RW L & P P/L (1200962) DWR↗ | 1894-05-21 | 1 | 27.0 | 0 | — |
| CANON CITY & OIL CREEK (1200509) DWR↗ | 1864-05-31 | 2 | 24.7 | 0 | — |
| WILSON CREEK DITCH (1200777) DWR↗ | 1896-06-13 | 1 | 24.0 | 0 | — |
| CC ROYAL GORGE INTAKE (1200928) DWR↗ | 1863-12-30 | 2 | 22.5 | 0 | — |
| PERCIVAL DITCH (1200620) DWR↗ | 1871-06-01 | 3 | 20.7 | 0 | — |
| IDEAL CEMENT PUMP PLANT (1200631) DWR↗ | 1861-05-01 | 11 | 20.7 | 0 | — |
| GIEM DITCH NO 1 (1200693) DWR↗ | 1930-04-01 | 2 | 20.0 | 0 | — |
No inventory or legal-document changes detected since the daily watch began.
Water-court filings this month (division-wide)
6 applications in the 2026-07 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 2026-09-30 (30 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 6 filings, with excerpts
| Case | What it asks | County | Excerpt |
|---|---|---|---|
2026CW3032
|
— | — | CASE NO. 2026CW3032; Previous Case Nos. 20CW3003, 13CW3008, 97CW83 – EMPIRE LODGE HOMEOWNER’S ASSOCIATION, INC. c/o Tim Ratterman, President, 585 Empire Valley Drive, Leadville, CO 80461 (Please address all pleadings and inquiries regarding this matter to Appl… |
2026CW3033
1205090 1205091 |
reasonable diligence | — | CASE NO. 2026CW3033; Previous Case No. 2019CW3032 – SANGRE DE CRISTO RANCH, LLC c/o Stephanie Stolba, 44301 E Iliff Trail, Bennett, CO 80102 (Please address all pleadings and inquiries regarding this matter to Applicant’s attorney: Jennifer M. DiLalla, #40319,… |
2026CW3034
|
— | HUERFANO | CASE NO. 2026CW 3034; (2017CW3075); CUCHARAS SANITATION & WATER DISTRICT, 16925 Highway 12, Cucharas, Colorado 81055 (“CSWD”); Huerfano County Water Conservancy District, c/o/ Administrator, P.O. Pox 442, La Veta, Colorado 81055 (“Huerfano”); Town of La Veta, … |
2026CW3035
|
plan for augmentation | — | CASE NO. 2026CW3035; GUM FAMILY TRUST AND JACOB GUM, TRUSTEE AND INDIVIDUALLY, 8580 Forest Line Point, Colorado Springs, CO, 80908 (Please address all pleadings a nd inquiries regarding this matter to Applicant’s attorney s: Philip E. Lopez, Eric K. Trout, Fai… |
2026CW3036
1406622 1406637 1406670 |
plan for augmentation | — | CASE NO. 2026CW3036; Previous Case No. 2017CW3009 – SILOAM WELL ASSOCIATION, 46 Glenroyal Dr., Pueblo, CO 81005 (Please address all pleadings and inquiries regarding this matter to Applicant’s attorney: Steven L. Jasnssen, Esq., 1937 Juniper St., Longmont, CO … |
2026CW7
|
— | — | CASE NO. 2026CW7; COLORADO DIVISION OF PARKS AND WILDLIFE AND THE PARKS AND WILDLIFE COMMISSION (“CPW”), Attn: Pete Conovitz, Water Rights Program Administrator, 6060 Broadway, Denver, Colorado 80216 (Please address all pleadings and inquiries regarding this m… |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GRISENTI FARMS PIT | 37-90-137(11) GRAVEL PIT PLAN | Approved | 2026-12-31 | 1207856 | plan file |
| CRIPPLE CREEK & VICTOR - GRASSY CREEK WELL FIELD | 37-92-308(4) PLAN PENDING COURT APPLICATION | Approved | 2027-06-30 | 1207040 | plan file |
| MARTIN MARIETTA RED CANYON MINE | 37-90-137(11) GRAVEL PIT PLAN | Approved | — | 1207865 | plan file |
| 3 ROCKS RANCH TAILWATER POND | 37-92-308(5) PLANS LESS THAN 5 YEARS | Pending | — | 1207049 | plan file |
| PARKDALE PROJECT GRAVEL PIT | 37-90-137(11) GRAVEL PIT PLAN | Pending | — | 1207022 | plan file |
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.
Each row shows a streamgage where the upstream walk (headwater seed ± diversions ± returns ± tributaries) disagrees with the gage reading. Possible reasons include ungaged diversions/returns, channel losses, or structures with stale telemetry.
| Stream | Gage | R-mile | Predicted (cfs) | Observed (cfs) | Δ (cfs) | Reach (mi) | Hypothesis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAINSTEM | ARKANSAS RIVER AT PARKDALE, CO. (ARKPARCO) | 67.7 | 0.2 | 262.6 | +262.4 | 0.2 | Unaccounted +262.4 cfs gain over 0.2 mi. No structure clearly responsible — possible ungaged return flow, baseflow from groundwater, or unmodeled tributary inflow. |
| MAINSTEM | CANON CITY & OIL CREEK (1200509A) | 76.5 | 182.0 | 24.0 | -158.0 | 0.3 | Unaccounted -158.0 cfs loss over 0.3 mi. No structure clearly responsible — possible ungaged diversion, channel seepage / phreatophyte loss, or evapotranspiration. |
| MAINSTEM | ARKANSAS RIVER AT CANON CITY (ARKCANCO) | 76.2 | 262.6 | 182.0 | -80.6 | 8.5 | Unaccounted -80.6 cfs loss over 8.5 mi. No structure clearly responsible — possible ungaged diversion, channel seepage / phreatophyte loss, or evapotranspiration. |
| MAINSTEM | MINNEQUA CANAL (MINCANCO) | 82.4 | 24.0 | 90.7 | +66.7 | 5.9 | Unaccounted +66.7 cfs gain over 5.9 mi. No structure clearly responsible — possible ungaged return flow, baseflow from groundwater, or unmodeled tributary inflow. |
| MAINSTEM | ARKANSAS RIVER AT PORTLAND, CO. (ARKPORCO) | 92.2 | 90.7 | 128.7 | +38.0 | 9.9 | Unaccounted +38.0 cfs gain over 9.9 mi. No structure clearly responsible — possible ungaged return flow, baseflow from groundwater, or unmodeled tributary inflow. |
| Gage ⇅ | Station ⇅ | Avg cfs Aug 10–Aug 16 ⇅ |
% Hist Median ⇅ | Rank ⇅ | Δ1wk ⇅ | Δ4wk ⇅ | Yrs ⇅ | Status ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1200509A | CANON CITY & OIL CREEK | 24.0 | 100% | 0 | +4 | +0 | 0.0 | SHORT_RECORD |
| PISOUTCO | MT PISGAH OUTFLOW | 0.6 | 7% | 0 | +0 | -8 | 13.8 | SHORT_RECORD |
| HRUAUGCO | HAYDEN RANCH UPPER AUG STATION | 0.0 | 0% | 0 | +0 | +0 | 5.9 | SHORT_RECORD |
| HRLAUGCO | HAYDEN RANCH LOWER AUG STATION | 0.0 | 0% | 0 | +0 | +0 | 5.9 | SHORT_RECORD |
| HRDIT2CO | HAYDEN DITCH NO 2 | 0.0 | 0% | 0 | +0 | +0 | 5.9 | SHORT_RECORD |
| 1201151A | MIDDLE BEAVER CREEK FLUME | 3.7 | 26% | 0 | -1 | +0 | 1.9 | SHORT_RECORD |
| BEACEMCO | BEAVER CR ABV UPPER BEAVER CEMETERY NR PENROSE, CO | 10.7 | 34% | 16 | -1 | +6 | 23.5 | SHORT_RECORD |
| BVRWP3CO | BEAVER PARK WATER, L STREET WEIR | 13.2 | 59% | 30 | -11 | +8 | 10.1 | SHORT_RECORD |
| SKGOUTCO | SKAGUAY RESERVOIR OUTFLOW | 16.0 | 62% | 34 | -4 | +9 | 5.9 | SHORT_RECORD |
| BEAPENCO | BEAVER CREEK ABOVE HIGHWAY 115 NEAR PENROSE, CO | 2.2 | 321% | 54 | +2 | +2 | 26.6 | SHORT_RECORD |
| MINCANCO | MINNEQUA CANAL | 90.7 | 107% | 72 | +1 | +13 | 19.7 | SHORT_RECORD |
| ARKCANCO | ARKANSAS RIVER AT CANON CITY | 182.0 | 26% | 0 | +23 | +3 | 136.5 | OK |
| FOUVICCO | FOURMILE CREEK BELOW CRIPPLE CREEK NEAR VICTOR, CO | 0.2 | 1% | 0 | +0 | -6 | 33.0 | OK |
| ARKPORCO | ARKANSAS RIVER AT PORTLAND, CO. | 128.7 | 17% | 0 | +38 | +26 | 65.1 | OK |
| ARKPARCO | ARKANSAS RIVER AT PARKDALE, CO. | 262.6 | 32% | 0 | +39 | +29 | 56.1 | OK |
Call details in gantt above
10 alert(s) · 9 warning(s) · 11 info. Each gage contributes at most one flag per category (its single most-severe match), so this list shouldn't multiply-count the same underlying condition.