Purgatoire River

Evolution of the network

This year, in context

In the weeks around 2026-07-06 (the newest reading on file), flows at the 17 ranked gages are running at a median 4% of their own long-term norm for this window — 17 below a typical year, 0 at or above. Driest relative to its record: CHILILI DITCH, ranking 1st lowest of 19 years.

How this comparison is made

Each gage's mean flow over the 3 days either side of 2026-07-06, 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 19:39 from 35 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 35 gages with enough record, 5 are trending down and 2 up, and 5 carry a detected shift. The clearest is Van Bremer Arroyo near Model, its annual mean flow changing -0.31 cfs per decade (-40.2% of its median annual flow) over 43 years (p=0.0026). The other 27 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
▸ Van Bremer Arroyo near Model☆ VANMODCO	↓ decreasing	-0.31 cfs -40.2%	p=0.003	43	~1988
▸ Purgatoire River at Trinidad☆ PURTRICO	↓ decreasing	-2.68 cfs -3.7%	p=0.006	109	~1949
▸ Purgatoire River at Rock Crossing near Timpas☆ PURRCKCO	↓ decreasing	-12.06 cfs -24.7%	p=0.010	25	~1999
▸ Luning Arroyo near Model☆ LUARMOCO	↑ increasing	+0.90 cfs +41.9%	p=0.012	41	~1983
▸ Long Canyon Creek near Madrid☆ LONMADCO	↑ increasing	+3.45 cfs +85.7%	p=0.023	17	—
▸ Model Canal☆ MODCANCO	↓ decreasing	-7.33 cfs -58.5%	p=0.034	18	—
▸ Purgatoire River near Thatcher☆ PURTHACO	↓ decreasing	-4.33 cfs -10.9%	p=0.048	59	—
▸ Hoehne Ditch☆ HOEDITCO	no clear trend	-0.12 cfs -1.7%	p=0.112	18	~2016

27 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. 18 gage(s) and 103 structure(s) report in 2026, but structure reporting only reached half its modern level around ~1953. Every historical claim below is checked against this: long-term shifts that co-move with the growth of the network carry an explicit measurement-evolution caution, and abandonment screens whose idleness begins before the modern reporting era are flagged †.

Decade	Gages with data (median yr)	Structures reporting (median yr)
1890s	1	0
1900s	2	0
1910s	1	6
1920s	2	5
1930s	1	13
1940s	1	25
1950s	4	97
1960s	5	107
1970s	6	79
1980s	13	94
1990s	10	84
2000s	13	64
2010s	19	120
2020s	18	114

Mass-balance (network closure) trend

Structure divrec-history backfill coverage as of the last check: 2% of 5821 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 (1955–2026)

Mass-balance kinks computed for every summer month back to 1955 (1515 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.

• JOHNS FLOOD DITCH: reach shifted from -30 cfs to +1 cfs summer mean (more gaining, p=0.000, 18 yr) [sedimentary plains/foothills: moderate groundwater connectivity -- gain/loss shifts can be real aquifer response; corroborate with nearby well records]
• PURGATOIRE RIVER NEAR HOEHNE, CO.: reach shifted from -112 cfs to -32 cfs summer mean (more gaining, p=0.009, 20 yr) [sedimentary plains/foothills: moderate groundwater connectivity -- gain/loss shifts can be real aquifer response; corroborate with nearby well records]
• CHILILI DITCH: reach shifted from -22 cfs to -16 cfs summer mean (more gaining, p=0.036, 19 yr) [sedimentary plains/foothills: moderate groundwater connectivity -- gain/loss shifts can be real aquifer response; corroborate with nearby well records]
• PURGATOIRE RIVER AT TRINIDAD: reach shifted from +46 cfs to -2 cfs summer mean (more losing, p=0.000, 50 yr) [sedimentary plains/foothills: moderate groundwater connectivity -- gain/loss shifts can be real aquifer response; corroborate with nearby well records]

Groundwater now has its own tab: 258 monitored well(s), water-table trends, stream corridors, and the advisory depletion screen.

Reservoirs now has its own tab: 27 reservoir(s), end-of-year storage back to 1950, click-to-chart histories.

Cross-gage pattern fingerprint

Over the 50-year window with full coverage (1977–2026), the dominant shared pattern across 3 gage(s) explains 55% of year-to-year variance (almost certainly a basin-wide climate/snowpack driver).

All gages in this window move with the shared pattern -- no localized outlier.

Structures most implicated by reconciliation (as of 2026-07-06)

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.

• LONG & SUASO CONS DITCH (diversion): +1.2 cfs (3% of that reach's correction)
• MADRID RESERVOIR (diversion): +1.2 cfs (3% of that reach's correction)
• TRINIDAD WATER RES NO 3 (diversion): +1.2 cfs (3% of that reach's correction)
• CARBON COAL & COKE CO (diversion): +1.2 cfs (3% of that reach's correction)
• HORACE LONG DITCH (diversion): +1.2 cfs (3% of that reach's correction)
• LAVE DITCH (diversion): +1.2 cfs (3% of that reach's correction)
• SOPRIS PUMP & PIPELINE (diversion): +1.2 cfs (3% of that reach's correction)
• MORLEY MINE WATER DEVELOPMENT (diversion): +1.2 cfs (3% of that reach's correction)
• BERG SPRING NO 1 (return): +1.2 cfs (3% of that reach's correction)
• BERG SPRING NO 2 (return): +1.2 cfs (3% of that reach's correction)

27 reservoir(s) with 2,689 storage measurement(s), 1950–2013. Basin storage as of 2012-10-19 (the record's own end — reservoir records publish ~annually): 9 AF across 1 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)
▸ TRINIDAD RESERVOIR (1903935) ☆	14,200	2010-10-31	—	—	dossier →
▸ NORTH LAKE RESERVOIR (1903855) ☆	3,658	2005-07-14	—	—	dossier →
▸ MONUMENT LAKE RESERVOIR (1903857) ☆	1,552	2005-10-06	—	—	dossier →
▸ LAKE DOROTHY (1903941) ☆	326	2006-04-18	—	—	dossier →
▸ RUSSELL RESERVOIR (1903856) ☆	290	2005-09-08	—	—	dossier →
▸ GAGLIARDI (JOE/LD WARD) RESERVOIR (1903530) ☆	185	2004-10-10	—	—	dossier →
▸ RUSSELL LAKE DITCH (1900551) ☆	150	2002-10-15	—	—	dossier →
▸ SUENO RESERVOIR (1903940) ☆	50	2006-09-07	—	—	dossier →

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
Whiskey Ck	10260	0.0	0.0	—	April 1 (11.1 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 (1981–2026)

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 10 of the last 46 winters the snow never came — the pack peaked below 80% of its median. In 3 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 34% of median.

The snow never came: 1981, 1988, 2002, 2006, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2022, 2025, 2026. The snow left early: 1989, 2012, 2020.

Computed by this site from 1 SNOTEL site’ full daily records (NRCS AWDB, back to 1981). 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 — Trinidad Lake Inflow

NRCS's final issue (2026-06-01) calls it even odds that at least 5 kAF arrives over 06-01 to 09-30 — 20% of a normal season; almost certainly at least 0, probably not more than 14. Our own record at this gage shows 2 kAF so far this period (partial record: 36 of 93 days). New forecasts begin in January. How to read these numbers →

We test a record-based adjustment of the April benchmark at every graded point. Here it did not beat NRCS over 36 replayed seasons (30% typical miss unadjusted vs 29% adjusted), so none is shown — NRCS’s own forecast, unadjusted, is the best April benchmark available for this river. Why we test →

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	Observed
0	2	5	9	14	26	2*

How good are these forecasts here? (1950–2025)

Grading every April issue against what the river then delivered, measured at this gage’s own record — 68 seasons: the median miss of the 50% forecast is 34%, with a low bias of 7%, and the observed volume landed inside the stated 10–90% band 86% of the time (a calibrated forecast would say 80%).

Computed by this site: NRCS's archived April issues (their period as issued each year) against the observed volume in DWR’s published record; years with under 90% daily coverage are dropped, not summed. A grade of the forecast, never of the forecasters — these are hard rivers. How this point ranks among every graded Colorado forecast point →

What April snow has meant for this river (1981–2025)

Across 40 measured years, the season’s water has loosely followed the April snowpack: a year opening April with 80% of median snow has typically gone on to deliver about 89% of a normal season (a snow-to-runoff elasticityHow strongly one number moves with another. A snow-to-runoff elasticity of 1.5 means a 10% shortfall in April snowpack has typically become a 15% shortfall in the season's water. of 0.6). In warm, early-melt years the river delivered a median of 54% of a normal season, against 110% in typical years — the timing of the melt matters, not just its size.

Computed by this site: the district’s April 1 SWE (% of each SNOTEL site’s own-record median) against the observed April–July volume at this gage (% of its median season) — a fixed window every year, unlike the forecast grades above, which use each issue’s own period. The slope is fit so single wild years can’t steer it (Theil–Sen, log space); years missing 10% of their days are dropped.

Right now

This is the 14th-driest week 27 in 115 years of record at PURGATOIRE RIVER AT TRINIDAD (as of 2026-06-29; this week’s flow sits at the 12th percentile for the date). On this week’s US Drought Monitor, Las Animas County is 7% in D4 exceptional drought (2026-08-25). 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 1896, week by week

Each thin row is a year at PURGATOIRE RIVER AT TRINIDAD; 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 Las Animas county — 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 (600 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
unnamed dry spell	2025-01-06 → 2025-06-16	23	27th (2025-04-07)	not yet
unnamed dry spell	2024-01-15 → 2024-09-02	33	17th (2024-04-01)	not yet
the 2020-22 drought	2023-02-06 → 2023-08-07	26	18th (2023-04-10)	not yet
the 2020-22 drought	2022-03-14 → 2022-10-17	31	20th (2022-06-06)	not yet
the 2020-22 drought	2020-02-03 → 2021-08-02	78	10th (2021-03-15)	4 weeks
the 2018 drought	2018-10-15 → 2019-07-15	39	12th (2019-03-04)	2 weeks
unnamed dry spell	2016-03-21 → 2016-08-08	20	22nd (2016-05-09)	5 weeks
unnamed dry spell	2015-01-05 → 2015-08-03	30	18th (2015-03-30)	2 weeks
the 2012-13 drought	2014-02-17 → 2014-08-04	24	14th (2014-04-14)	8 weeks
the 2012-13 drought	2011-02-28 → 2013-09-30	135	6th (2013-02-25)	52 weeks
unnamed dry spell	2009-03-16 → 2009-08-24	23	13th (2009-04-27)	5 weeks
unnamed dry spell	2008-03-03 → 2008-08-11	23	15th (2008-04-21)	2 weeks
unnamed dry spell	2006-04-03 → 2006-10-23	29	24th (2006-04-17)	31 weeks
the 2002 drought	2004-01-12 → 2004-08-02	29	14th (2004-03-29)	1 week

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 1995, federal crop insurance has paid $686,555 in drought-caused claims across Las Animas county — 2.0% of all insured crop losses there. The worst year was 2013 ($148,832).

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.

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.

Decreed rights on this network run from 1861-05-31 to 2021-12-31. Of the 20 structures with a yield estimate, the median one’s senior right was in priority 4% of a median irrigation season and 0% in a dry one. 25 abandonment screens and 88 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: 960 across 735 structure(s); 135 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.

• HOEHNE DITCH (1900571) DWR↗☆ stopped 2024-10-07 (8+ days) — call at GUILLEN DITCH curtailing 75% of its decreed rate [heuristic-partial]
• BURNS & DUNCAN DITCH (PUMP) (1900585) DWR↗☆ stopped 2024-09-18 (27+ days) — call at BURROUGHS DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
• MARTINEZ & MEDINA DITCH (1900579) DWR↗☆ stopped 2024-09-10 (20+ days) — call at MODEL DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
• CHILILI DITCH (1900590) DWR↗☆ stopped 2024-09-05 (40+ days) — call at MODEL DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
• BURNS & DUNCAN DITCH (PUMP) (1900585) DWR↗☆ stopped 2024-08-09 (6+ days) — call at CHILILI DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
• SANCHES-QUINTANA DITCH (1900503) DWR↗☆ stopped 2024-08-05 (56+ days) — call at CHILILI DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
• MARTINEZ & MEDINA DITCH (1900579) DWR↗☆ stopped 2024-08-05 (21+ days) — call at CHILILI DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
• SALAS NORTH DITCH (1900559) DWR↗☆ stopped 2024-07-31 (14+ days) — call at HOEHNE DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
• REYS MONTOYA DITCH (1900553) DWR↗☆ stopped 2024-07-29 (72+ days) — call at HOEHNE DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
• SARCILLO DITCH (1900563) DWR↗☆ stopped 2024-07-29 (63+ days) — call at HOEHNE DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
• TIJERAS DITCH (1900568) DWR↗☆ stopped 2024-07-29 (63+ days) — call at HOEHNE DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
• BURNS & DUNCAN DITCH (1900586) DWR↗☆ stopped 2024-07-16 (28+ days) — call at HOEHNE 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
TRINIDAD RESERVOIR (1903935) DWR↗☆	1861-05-31	97.7% / 50.5%	0.0% / 0.0%
MODEL DITCH (1900552) DWR↗☆	1862-03-20	96.7% / 30.8%	0.0% / 0.0%
PULASKI DITCH (1900660) DWR↗☆	1863-06-30	70.1% / 15.4%	0.0% / 0.0%
BACA IRRIGATING DITCH (1900783) DWR↗☆	1861-05-31	97.7% / 50.5%	0.0% / 0.0%
NORTH LAKE INLET (1900554) DWR↗☆	1861-05-31	97.7% / 50.5%	0.0% / 0.0%
SAN YSIDRO HIGHLINE (1900713) DWR↗☆	1908-05-31	0.0% / 0.0%	0.0% / 0.0%
EARL FLOOD DITCH (1900648) DWR↗☆	1912-08-08	0.0% / 0.0%	0.0% / 0.0%
HOEHNE DITCH (1900571) DWR↗☆	1863-01-01	71.0% / 24.8%	41.1% / 1.9%
PURGATOIRE RIVER MIN FLOW (1903025) DWR↗☆	2009-01-27	0.0% / 0.0%	0.0% / 0.0%
HALL & HOWARD DITCH (1900607) DWR↗☆	1892-01-01	0.0% / 0.0%	0.0% / 0.0%
S FK PURGATOIRE MIN FLOW (1903002) DWR↗☆	2009-01-27	0.0% / 0.0%	0.0% / 0.0%
MOCK DITCH NO 2 (1900823) DWR↗☆	1897-12-29	0.0% / 0.0%	0.0% / 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 ~1953 — idleness that begins before then may be unreported use, not nonuse (flagged † below).

• UPLAND DITCH (1900696) DWR↗☆ (1914-12-16, 8.0 cfs decreed): last active 1957 — 67 years idle
• MIGUEL TRUJILLO DITCH (1900754) DWR↗☆ (1922-04-11, 3.0 cfs decreed): last active 1965 — 59 years idle
• EARL FLOOD DITCH (1900648) DWR↗☆ (1912-08-08, 30.0 cfs decreed): last active 1966 — 58 years idle
• BLACK HILLS RESERVOIR (1903782) DWR↗☆ (1977-09-01, 0.0 cfs decreed): last active 1966 — 58 years idle
• BAKER RESERVOIR (1903784) DWR↗☆ (1916-05-08, 0.0 cfs decreed): last active 1970 — 54 years idle
• BROWN RESERVOIR NO 1 (1903794) DWR↗☆ (1909-11-14, 0.0 cfs decreed): last active 1970 — 54 years idle
• HART DITCH (1900617) DWR↗☆ (1905-06-30, 15.0 cfs decreed): last active 1978 — 46 years idle
• DOHERTY DITCH (1900692) DWR↗☆ (1913-03-04, 15.0 cfs decreed): last active 1978 — 46 years idle
• CANONCITA DITCH (1900627) DWR↗☆ (1902-03-07, 5.0 cfs decreed): last active 1983 — 41 years idle
• PARSONS DITCH NO 1 (1900671) DWR↗☆ (1895-04-04, 2.0 cfs decreed): last active 1986 — 38 years idle

Compliance screens (88 advisory flags)

Screened 131 of 735 structures with rights (146 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.

• JOHN FLOOD DITCH (1900572) DWR↗☆: Observed p99 daily rate 46.0 cfs (max 224.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 1.2 cfs across 57136 recorded day(s).
• HOEHNE DITCH (1900571) DWR↗☆: Observed p99 daily rate 30.3 cfs (max 260.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 22.2 cfs across 55327 recorded day(s).
• MAXWELL DITCH NO 20 (1900522) DWR↗☆: Observed p99 daily rate 22.0 cfs (max 32.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 6.8 cfs across 12262 recorded day(s).
• MAXWELL DITCH NO 2 (1900603) DWR↗☆: Observed p99 daily rate 18.6 cfs (max 24.2) exceeds total decreed absolute 0.4 cfs across 3092 recorded day(s).
• PIONEER DITCH NO 1 (1900653) DWR↗☆: Observed p99 daily rate 15.0 cfs (max 40.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 3.8 cfs across 6602 recorded day(s).
• JEANNIN DITCH (1900702) DWR↗☆: Observed p99 daily rate 14.0 cfs (max 14.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 4.0 cfs across 5426 recorded day(s).
• O'NEAL DITCH (1900682) DWR↗☆: Observed p99 daily rate 13.0 cfs (max 16.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 8.5 cfs across 11030 recorded day(s).
• ANTONIO LOPEZ DITCH (1900583) DWR↗☆: Observed p99 daily rate 12.4 cfs (max 19.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 8.0 cfs across 22774 recorded day(s).
• SALAS NORTH DITCH (1900559) DWR↗☆: Observed p99 daily rate 12.0 cfs (max 33.5) exceeds total decreed absolute 8.8 cfs across 23575 recorded day(s).
• MAXWELL DITCH NO 19 (1900523) DWR↗☆: Observed p99 daily rate 10.0 cfs (max 10.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 1.6 cfs across 2066 recorded day(s).

Seniority (top structures by decreed rate)

Structure	Senior priority date	Rights	Decreed abs (cfs)	Decreed abs (AF)	Conditional?
TRINIDAD RESERVOIR (1903935) DWR↗☆	1861-05-31	21	729.9	92378	yes
MODEL DITCH (1900552) DWR↗☆	1862-03-20	9	293.8	0	—
PULASKI DITCH (1900660) DWR↗☆	1863-06-30	11	154.0	0	—
BACA IRRIGATING DITCH (1900783) DWR↗☆	1861-05-31	8	103.7	0	—
NORTH LAKE INLET (1900554) DWR↗☆	1861-05-31	6	65.8	0	—
SAN YSIDRO HIGHLINE (1900713) DWR↗☆	1908-05-31	1	56.0	0	—
EARL FLOOD DITCH (1900648) DWR↗☆	1912-08-08	1	30.0	0	—
HOEHNE DITCH (1900571) DWR↗☆	1863-01-01	3	22.2	0	—
PURGATOIRE RIVER MIN FLOW (1903025) DWR↗☆	2009-01-27	1	21.0	0	—
HALL & HOWARD DITCH (1900607) DWR↗☆	1892-01-01	1	19.9	0	—
S FK PURGATOIRE MIN FLOW (1903002) DWR↗☆	2009-01-27	1	18.0	0	—
MOCK DITCH NO 2 (1900823) DWR↗☆	1897-12-29	1	17.9	0	—
LEWELLING-MCCORMICK (1900575) DWR↗☆	1864-01-01	3	17.8	0	—
TRINCHERA DITCH (1900726) DWR↗☆	1866-02-28	1	16.8	0	—
HART DITCH (1900617) DWR↗☆	1905-06-30	1	15.0	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
BAR NI RANCH SWSP	37-92-308(5) PLANS LESS THAN 5 YEARS	Approved	2026-08-31	1907805	plan file

If a call were placed at a given seniority, which structures in this basin would be out of priority, and how much of their decreed rate would be curtailed? Computed from this basin's cached decrees.

Pick a calling right

Real decrees from this basin, ordered by administration number — that is, by actual seniority. The years will look out of order, and that is correct: an administration number encodes the adjudication date as well as the appropriation date, so a right appropriated in 1970 can be administered ahead of one from 1950. A senior call curtails almost everything; a junior one curtails almost nothing.

Or enter an administration number directly

Administration number
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DWR administration numbers encode appropriation and adjudication dates; lower is more senior.