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Huerfano River

Division 2 · Water District 79
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Huerfano River on the ground — the ditches, wells, reservoirs and gages of Water District 79 · clicktap anything for its record

Runoff outlook — Huerfano R nr Redwing: even odds of at least 3 kAF over 06-01 to 09-30 — 32% 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

Huerfano R nr Redwing — 06-01 to 09-30 volume, thousand acre-feet (chance the volume is AT LEAST this):

90%70%50%30%10%Normal
12345 9

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, 12 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 24 streams, 17 agree. Know this water? Tell us →

StreamThis site routes it toDWR routes it to
Custer Creek the mainstem Turkey Creek
Maes Creek the mainstem Turkey Creek
Bruff Creek the mainstem Muddy Creek
Dutch Creek the mainstem South Fork Huerfano River
Yellowstone Creek (AKA Piedras Amerillas Creek) the mainstem South Oak Creek
Rio Alto Creek the mainstem Muddy Creek
West Turkey Creek the mainstem Custer Creek

Sizable streams DWR maps here that this network does not carry:

Muddy Creek (19 mi) · Dog Springs Arroyo (19 mi) · Greasewood Arroyo (14 mi) · Butte Creek (9 mi) · Manzanares Creek (9 mi) · Mustang Arroyo (7 mi) · Ojo de Alamo Arroyo (7 mi) · Pine Arroyo (6 mi)

Full diagnostic snapshot pending — this district's weekly-style report (system status, active calls, hydrographs, anomaly flags) is produced by the nightly rotation and appears here after its first run. The tabs above are live now.

Snow and runoff

Snow-water equivalent, WY2026

SNOTEL siteElev (ft)SWE (in)Median (in)% of medianTypical peak

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.

Runoff outlook — Huerfano R nr Redwing

NRCS's final issue (2026-06-01) calls it even odds that at least 3 kAF arrives over 06-01 to 09-30 — 32% of a normal season; almost certainly at least 1, probably not more than 5. Our own record at this gage shows 1 kAF so far this period (partial record: 36 of 92 days). New forecasts begin in January. How to read these numbers →

90% chance of at least70% chance of at least50% chance of at least30% chance of at least10% chance of at leastNormalObserved
12345 9 1*

How good are these forecasts here? (1976–2025)

Grading every April issue against what the river then delivered, measured at this gage’s own record — 40 seasons: the median miss of the 50% forecast is 24%, with a low bias of 1%, and the observed volume landed inside the stated 10–90% band 83% 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 →