Hydrohistorian
San Miguel River Basin on the ground — the ditches, wells, reservoirs and gages of Water District 60 · clicktap anything for its record
The drilled-depth cells in view, as a table
Each row is one ~3-mile cell (0.04°): the median of the depths drillers filed for the wells spotted inside it, and how many wells that median stands on. Cells with fewer than five filed depths are left blank on the map and out of this table. This is the driller’s own number, filed once when the well was drilled; it says how deep wells here typically go, not where the water table is and not whether wells are getting deeper. Spotting is the file’s own, about a mile at best.
| Lat | Lon | Median drilled depth, ft | Wells with a depth |
|---|
Browse this district’s ditches, gages, reservoirs, wells and springs as a list.
The San Miguel River is critically low for late June -- 5% of normal flow, its 5th-driest such week in 91 years of record. 26 calls stand against it right now; the most senior right calling dates to 1878. This year's runoff outlook, issued 2026-06-01, called for 21% of normal.
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.
Schematic
Historical
Evolution of the network
Trends
This year, in context
In the weeks around 2026-07-06 (the newest reading on file), flows at the 6 ranked gages are running at a median 38% of their own long-term norm for this window — 6 below a typical year, 0 at or above. Driest relative to its record: SAN MIGUEL RIVER AT BROOKS BRIDGE NEAR NUCLA CO, ranking 1st lowest of 32 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 20:04 from 25 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 25 gages with enough record, 2 are trending down and 0 up, and 2 carry a detected shift. The clearest is San Miguel River at Naturita, its annual mean flow changing -23.68 cfs per decade (-7.5% of its median annual flow) over 51 years (p=0.0333). The other 22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
▸
San Miguel River at Naturita SMGNATCO |
↓ decreasing | -23.68 cfs -7.5% | p=0.033 | 51 | ~1949 |
|
▸
West Naturita Creek near Norwood WENATNCO |
↓ decreasing | -3.72 cfs -59.4% | p=0.043 | 16 | — |
|
▸
San Miguel River at Uravan SANURECO |
no clear trend | -22.90 cfs -7.7% | p=0.139 | 56 | ~1999 |
22 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. 6 gage(s) and 169 structure(s) report in 2026, but structure reporting only reached half its modern level around ~1974. 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 |
| 1910s | 1 | 0 |
| 1920s | 1 | 0 |
| 1930s | 1 | 0 |
| 1940s | 7 | 0 |
| 1950s | 7 | 0 |
| 1960s | 4 | 0 |
| 1970s | 7 | 166 |
| 1980s | 2 | 210 |
| 1990s | 2 | 226 |
| 2000s | 4 | 112 |
| 2010s | 7 | 148 |
| 2020s | 6 | 159 |
Mass-balance (network closure) trend
Structure divrec-history backfill coverage as of the last check: 7% of 3095 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 (830 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.
- SAN MIGUEL RIVER AT BROOKS BRIDGE NEAR NUCLA CO: reach shifted from -38 cfs to +139 cfs summer mean (more gaining, p=0.036, 32 yr) [alluvial valley: real alluvial aquifer -- a decades-long shift toward losing is the classic signature of alluvial pumping and urbanization]
Groundwater now has its own tab: 53 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 1991, click-to-chart histories.
Cross-gage pattern fingerprint
Over the 15-year window with full coverage (2012–2026), the dominant shared pattern across 3 gage(s) explains 92% 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.
- SAN MIGUEL (diversion): -0.6 cfs (1% of that reach's correction)
- HUGHES RES (diversion): -0.6 cfs (1% of that reach's correction)
- NEALE W 5 (diversion): -0.6 cfs (1% of that reach's correction)
- BARLOW DITCH (diversion): -0.6 cfs (1% of that reach's correction)
- SALTADO CREEK DITCH (diversion): -0.6 cfs (1% of that reach's correction)
- POWERLINE R (diversion): -0.6 cfs (1% of that reach's correction)
- MCKEEVER RES (diversion): -0.6 cfs (1% of that reach's correction)
- STUFLER RES (diversion): -0.6 cfs (1% of that reach's correction)
- ST JOE SPRING AND RES (diversion): -0.6 cfs (1% of that reach's correction)
- ST JOE SPRING AND RES (return): -0.6 cfs (1% of that reach's correction)
Data provenance & quality
Where these numbers come from and how far they can be trusted. Grade D (2/6 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 55 day(s) old (target 7) |
| diversion record | stale | newest diversion record is 669 day(s) old (DWR publishes ~1 year in arrears) |
| structure coverage | sparse | 7% of schematic structures have data |
Independent check: PASS — 100.0000% agreement across 191,424 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 — 99.74% day-level agreement with USGS's own published records for the same gages, across 22 co-listed station(s) and 149,259 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.
25 gage(s) / 162,017 daily values (1895-07-01–2026-07-06); 388 structure(s) with diversion records; 2893 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
223 water-level measurements across 53 monitored well(s) — 35 alluvial, 2 bedrock — plus 4 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 1 well(s) with enough record for a trend test: 0 declining, 1 rising.
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.
SAN MIGUEL RIVER AT BROOKS BRIDGE NEAR NUCLA CO: 0 alluvial well(s) nearby
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
12 reservoir(s) with 4,636 storage measurement(s), 1991–2024. Basin storage as of 2024-04-10 (the record's own end — reservoir records publish ~annually): 1,800 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) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ▸ MIRAMONTE RESERVOIR (6003512) | 7,696 | 2022-04-25 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ BLUE LAKE RESERVOIR (6003505) | 4,435 | 2015-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ NATURITA CANAL (6000707) | 2,664 | 2005-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ TROUT LAKE RESERVOIR (6003527) | 2,013 | 2021-10-31 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ GURLEY RESERVOIR (6003507) | 1,800 | 2024-04-10 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ PAXTON RESERVOIR (6003519) | 575 | 2008-05-24 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ LAKE HOPE RESERVOIR (6003509) | 427 | 2002-09-05 | — | — | dossier → |
| ▸ LONE CONE RESERVOIR (6003511) | 316 | 2021-08-10 | — | — | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alta Lakes | 11290 | 0.0 | — | — | — |
| Columbine Pass | 9160 | 0.4 | 0.0 | — | March 26 (18.0 in) |
| Lone Cone | 9730 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | April 1 (15.2 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 5 of the last 46 winters the snow never came — the pack peaked below 80% of its median. In 4 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 66% of median.
The snow never came: 1990, 2002, 2015, 2018, 2026. The snow left early: 1984, 2012, 2021, 2025.
Computed by this site from 3 SNOTEL sites’ 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 — San Miguel R nr Placerville
NRCS's final issue (2026-06-01) calls it even odds that at least 14 kAF arrives over 06-01 to 07-31 — 21% of a normal season; almost certainly at least 6, probably not more than 27. Our own record at this gage shows 14 kAF actually delivered (partial record: 36 of 61 days). 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 | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 10 | 14 | 20 | 27 | 65 | 14 |
How good are these forecasts here? (1974–2025)
Grading every April issue against what the river then delivered, measured at this gage’s own record — 51 seasons: the median miss of the 50% forecast is 15%, with a high bias of 7%, and the observed volume landed inside the stated 10–90% band 81% 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 45 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 76% 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 0.7). In warm, early-melt years the river delivered a median of 65% of a normal season, against 106% 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.
Drought
Right now
This is the 5th-driest week 27 in 91 years of record at SAN MIGUEL RIVER NEAR PLACERVILLE, CO (as of 2026-06-29; this week’s flow sits at the 5th percentile for the date). On this week’s US Drought Monitor, Montrose County is 97% in D2 severe drought (2026-09-01). The law agrees: the most senior active call leaves 81% of this district’s decreed flow rights junior to the calling right this week.
Every year since 1910, week by week
Each thin row is a year at SAN MIGUEL RIVER NEAR PLACERVILLE, CO; 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 Montrose, San Miguel 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 2003 — 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 (91 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 | 2020-02-17 → 2022-07-04 | 124 | 7th (2021-03-22) | 51 weeks |
| the 2018 drought | 2018-01-29 → 2019-07-08 | 75 | 3rd (2018-11-19) | 0 weeks |
| the 2012-13 drought | 2012-09-17 → 2013-11-11 | 60 | 12th (2013-03-25) | 0 weeks |
| unnamed dry spell | 2009-12-07 → 2010-04-26 | 20 | 25th (2010-01-11) | 16 weeks |
| the 2002 drought | 2002-02-04 → 2003-10-13 | 88 | 12th (2002-09-02) | 39 weeks |
| unnamed dry spell | 1992-02-03 → 1992-06-29 | 21 | 20th (1992-03-23) | 6 weeks |
| unnamed dry spell | 1989-10-02 → 1990-12-10 | 62 | 5th (1990-03-05) | 11 weeks |
| the 1981 drought | 1981-02-16 → 1981-11-09 | 38 | 15th (1981-06-29) | 1 week |
| the 1977 drought | 1976-08-30 → 1978-06-19 | 94 | 7th (1977-06-13) | 4 weeks |
| the 1977 drought | 1976-02-16 → 1976-08-23 | 27 | 23rd (1976-03-29) | 99 weeks |
| unnamed dry spell | 1974-09-23 → 1975-08-18 | 47 | 9th (1975-02-03) | 0 weeks |
| unnamed dry spell | 1966-10-24 → 1967-10-02 | 49 | 18th (1967-02-20) | 50 weeks |
| unnamed dry spell | 1959-08-03 → 1959-12-21 | 20 | 25th (1959-09-07) | 25 weeks |
| the 1950s drought | 1956-08-20 → 1957-07-29 | 49 | 10th (1956-12-17) | 0 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 $268,565 in drought-caused claims across Montrose, San Miguel counties — 1.0% of all insured crop losses there. The worst year was 1996 ($68,918).
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 (2,023 rights across 93 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 after wet years, when the supply had just shown itself. 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 1876-10-01 to 2025-05-30. Of the 20 structures with a yield estimate, the median one’s senior right was in priority 0% of a median irrigation season and 0% in a dry one. 25 abandonment screens and 151 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: 3347 across 2893 structure(s); 386 structure(s) carry 1 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: 1 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 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2015 | 277 | 127 | 1885-08-11 |
| 2016 | 366 | 108 | 1890-11-17 |
| 2017 | 319 | 94 | 1888-01-23 |
| 2018 | 291 | 160 | 1882-06-01 |
| 2019 | 319 | 93 | 1888-01-25 |
| 2020 | 246 | 141 | 1881-12-17 |
| 2021 | 275 | 103 | 1883-05-05 |
| 2022 | 365 | 93 | 1884-11-01 |
| 2023 | 277 | 59 | 1898-10-15 |
| 2024 | 275 | 56 | 1883-06-01 |
| 2025 | 365 | 100 | 1884-11-01 |
Why diversions stopped — call-based explanations
Sustained diversion stops matched to senior administrative calls.
- ALEXANDER DITCH (6000507) DWR↗ stopped 2024-09-18 (43+ days) — call at MINNESOTA CANAL curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- BURCH MORGAN DITCH (6000540) DWR↗ stopped 2024-09-08 (53+ days) — call at MINNESOTA CANAL curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- AGRICULTURAL DITCH (6000505) DWR↗ stopped 2024-09-04 (57+ days) — call at MIDKIFF & ARNOLD D curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- CARRIERE DITCH (6000550) DWR↗ stopped 2024-09-02 (59+ days) — call at MINNESOTA CANAL curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- BARRY NO1 DITCH (6000518) DWR↗ stopped 2024-07-29 (43+ days) — call at PRESTON DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- SKYLINE RANCH S TURKEY CR DIVERSION (6000555) DWR↗ stopped 2024-07-21 (8+ days) — call at PRESTON DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- BEMENT DITCH (6000522) DWR↗ stopped 2024-07-11 (112+ days) — call at NORTH FORK ORCHARD COMPANY DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- ABBOTT DITCH 1 (6000500) DWR↗ stopped 2024-07-04 (119+ days) — call at MIDKIFF & ARNOLD D curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- BUTTERMILK R DRAW W&S D (6000545) DWR↗ stopped 2024-07-02 (121+ days) — call at MIDKIFF & ARNOLD D curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- BENSON DITCH (6000524) DWR↗ stopped 2024-06-23 (130+ days) — call at SANDSTONE BLUFF DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- BURROW CREEK DITCH (6000541) DWR↗ stopped 2024-06-20 (133+ days) — call at GROVE DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
- BENNETT DITCH (6000523) DWR↗ stopped 2024-06-17 (136+ days) — call at GROVE 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| NATURITA CANAL (6000707) DWR↗ | 1884-05-31 | 24.4% / 0.0% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| SAN MIGUEL RIVER (6002119) DWR↗ | 2011-01-25 | 0.0% / 0.0% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| SAN MIGUEL POWER CO CNL (6001100) DWR↗ | 1914-04-28 | 0.0% / 0.0% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| LONE CONE DITCH (6000672) DWR↗ | 1888-07-31 | 10.7% / 0.0% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| HIGHLINE CANAL (6000633) DWR↗ | 1885-10-01 | 12.6% / 0.0% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| LILYLANDS CANAL (6000670) DWR↗ | 1885-10-02 | 12.6% / 0.0% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| SAN MIGUEL RIVER (6001950) DWR↗ | 2002-01-23 | 0.0% / 0.0% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| AMES ILIUM HYDRO PROJ (6000511) DWR↗ | 1891-07-01 | 0.0% / 0.0% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| NUCLA POWER PLANT DITCH (6000723) DWR↗ | 1885-10-01 | 12.6% / 0.0% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| J & M HUGHES DITCH (6000650) DWR↗ | 1926-10-21 | 0.0% / 0.0% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| JOHNSON DITCH (6000827) DWR↗ | 1891-04-10 | 8.4% / 0.0% | 0.0% / 0.0% |
| GURLEY DITCH (6001594) DWR↗ | 1884-05-31 | 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 ~1974 — idleness that begins before then may be unreported use, not nonuse (flagged † below).
- BUTCHER CREEK DITCH (6000542) DWR↗ (1904-05-01, 1.5 cfs decreed): last active 1974 — 50 years idle
- HALLEY DITCH (6000621) DWR↗ (1889-10-12, 0.8 cfs decreed): last active 1974 — 50 years idle
- MONTE FITCH DITCH (6000699) DWR↗ (1918-08-27, 1.5 cfs decreed): last active 1974 — 50 years idle
- SKEES DITCH (6000760) DWR↗ (1963-05-01, 0.3 cfs decreed): last active 1974 — 50 years idle
- GARDNER WELL NO 3 (6005001) DWR↗ (1946-06-15, 0.3 cfs decreed): last active 1974 — 50 years idle
- MILL DITCH AND FLUME (6000695) DWR↗ (1911-06-03, 20.0 cfs decreed): last active 1975 — 49 years idle
- O'NEIL DITCH (6000726) DWR↗ (1913-07-21, 1.2 cfs decreed): last active 1975 — 49 years idle
- ISAACS AND GRAY DITCH (6000649) DWR↗ (1913-07-21, 2.0 cfs decreed): last active 1976 — 48 years idle
- GARDNER WELL NO 1 (6005000) DWR↗ (1962-08-01, 0.3 cfs decreed): last active 1977 — 47 years idle
- BUSS DITCH (6000903) DWR↗ (1945-06-01, 0.5 cfs decreed): last active 1982 — 42 years idle
Compliance screens (151 advisory flags)
Screened 334 of 2893 structures with rights (347 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.
- ABBOTT DITCH 1 (6000500) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 102.0 cfs (max 202.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 2.0 cfs across 7066 recorded day(s).
- TROUT LAKE DOM WATER S L (6000781) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 37.8 cfs (max 39.1) exceeds total decreed absolute 0.2 cfs across 13742 recorded day(s).
- TROUT LAKE RESERVOIR (6003527) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 24.7 cfs (max 40.3) exceeds total decreed absolute 1.0 cfs across 820 recorded day(s).
- MILL DITCH AND FLUME (6000695) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 22.0 cfs (max 22.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 20.0 cfs across 316 recorded day(s).
- LOWER ELK CREEK DITCH (6000678) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 18.0 cfs (max 18.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 10.0 cfs across 9052 recorded day(s).
- LEOPARD CREEK DITCH (6000669) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 17.0 cfs (max 17.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 8.2 cfs across 13298 recorded day(s).
- THEO NETHERLY DITCH NO3 (6001239) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 13.1 cfs (max 15.4) exceeds total decreed absolute 9.3 cfs across 2680 recorded day(s).
- THEO NETHERLY DITCH NO1 (6000777) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 10.0 cfs (max 101.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 4.0 cfs across 7617 recorded day(s).
- EDER CREEK DITCH (6000586) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 10.0 cfs (max 11.3) exceeds total decreed absolute 3.0 cfs across 14640 recorded day(s).
- PARKWAY DITCH (6000730) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 8.4 cfs (max 12.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 0.8 cfs across 16060 recorded day(s).
Seniority (top structures by decreed rate)
| Structure | Senior priority date | Rights | Decreed abs (cfs) | Decreed abs (AF) | Conditional? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NATURITA CANAL (6000707) DWR↗ | 1884-05-31 | 9 | 1051.0 | 0 | — |
| SAN MIGUEL RIVER (6002119) DWR↗ | 2011-01-25 | 1 | 325.0 | 0 | — |
| SAN MIGUEL POWER CO CNL (6001100) DWR↗ | 1914-04-28 | 1 | 240.0 | 0 | — |
| LONE CONE DITCH (6000672) DWR↗ | 1888-07-31 | 11 | 187.9 | 0 | yes |
| HIGHLINE CANAL (6000633) DWR↗ | 1885-10-01 | 16 | 145.0 | 0 | yes |
| LILYLANDS CANAL (6000670) DWR↗ | 1885-10-02 | 8 | 121.5 | 0 | — |
| SAN MIGUEL RIVER (6001950) DWR↗ | 2002-01-23 | 1 | 93.0 | 0 | — |
| AMES ILIUM HYDRO PROJ (6000511) DWR↗ | 1891-07-01 | 1 | 83.0 | 0 | — |
| NUCLA POWER PLANT DITCH (6000723) DWR↗ | 1885-10-01 | 6 | 61.1 | 0 | yes |
| J & M HUGHES DITCH (6000650) DWR↗ | 1926-10-21 | 2 | 51.9 | 0 | yes |
| JOHNSON DITCH (6000827) DWR↗ | 1891-04-10 | 3 | 50.5 | 0 | — |
| GURLEY DITCH (6001594) DWR↗ | 1884-05-31 | 1 | 50.0 | 0 | — |
| MIRAMONTE SUPPLY DITCH (6000696) DWR↗ | 1964-11-05 | 1 | 40.0 | 0 | — |
| HUGHES DITCH (6000643) DWR↗ | 1949-12-15 | 1 | 35.0 | 0 | yes |
| BLUE LAKE SUPPLY PIPELINE BRIDAL VEIL BR (6001747) DWR↗ | 1919-08-01 | 3 | 32.5 | 0 | yes |
No inventory or legal-document changes detected since the daily watch began.
Water-court filings this month (division-wide)
15 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 (56 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 15 filings, with excerpts
| Case | What it asks | County | Excerpt |
|---|---|---|---|
09CW89
|
reasonable diligence, make absolute | SAN MIGUEL | 09CW89, 96CW313, 08CW186) - SAN MIGUEL COUNTY, SAN MIGUEL RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES - APPLICATION FOR FINDINGS OF REASONABLE DILIGENCE AND TO MAKE ABSOLUTE IN PART Town of Telluride, c/o Jennifer M. DiLalla, Molly K. Haug-Rengers, Moses, Wittemyer, Harrison an… |
26CW19
|
reasonable diligence | — | Case No. 26CW19 (Ref No. 06CW107, 13CW093, 20CW017) Applicant Ed and Ruth Kneese 13890 Marine Road Montrose, CO 81403. Application and Amended Application for Finding of Reasonable Diligence. Kneese Wastewater Ditch SE1/4 SE1/4 Section 20 T49N R9W NMPM. Eastin… |
26CW20
|
make absolute | — | Case No. 26CW20 (Ref No. 99CW199, 06CW10, 13CW90, 20CW26) Applicant David and Elizabeth Koos 15464 2525 Road Cedaredge CO 81413. Application to Make Absolute. Koos Well - NE1/4NW1/4SW1/4 Section 34 T13S R94W 6th. Easting 0248977 Northing 4307260. Source: Groun… |
26CW21
4301123 |
new surface right | — | Case No. 26CW21 Applicant Daniel Lee Bolton 34879 Powell Mesa Road Hotchkiss CO 81419. Application for Absolute Surface Water Rights. Papa’s Spring – NW1/4 NW1/4 Section 20 T14S R92W 6th. Easting 265356 Northing 4301123. Source: Spring Tributary of the North F… |
26CW22
|
reasonable diligence | — | Case No. 26CW22 (Ref No. 14CW3000, 20CW0024) Applicant Daniel Lee Bolton 34879 Powell Mesa Road Hotchkiss CO 81419. Application for Finding of Reasonable Diligence. Well Permit #228338A – NW1/4 NW1/4 Section 20 T14S R92W 6th. Source: Ground Water Tributary of … |
26CW3038
4315025 |
reasonable diligence | GUNNISON | Case No. 26CW3038 (Ref No. 13CW62, 20CW3012) Gunnison County – North Fork Gunnison River. Applicant: Thomas M. Abbott and Abbott Ranches, LLC, c/o Bradley N. Switzer, P.O. Box 816, Montrose, CO 81402, (970) 249-8749; APPLICATION FOR FINDING OF REASONABLE DILIG… |
26CW3039
|
reasonable diligence, make absolute | SAN MIGUEL | Case No. 26CW3039 (Ref No. 19CW3082) San Miguel County – San Miguel River; San Juan Vista Landowners Association; c/o William T. Raley and John R. Pierce, DUFFORD WALDECK, 744 Horizon Court, Suite 300, Grand Junction, CO 81506, (970) 248-5865; APPLICATION TO M… |
26CW3040
5905273 |
reasonable diligence, make absolute | — | Case No. 26CW3040 (Ref No. 94CW60, 13CW3057, 20CW3014) APPLICATION TO MAKE CONDITIONAL RIGHTS ABSOLUTE IN PART AND FOR FINDING OF REASONABLE DILIGENCE. Applicant: Silver Sage Property Owners’ Association, Inc., c/o H&H CPA's & Advisors, P.O. Box 1218, Crested … |
26CW3041
5903781 |
reasonable diligence | IN GUNNISON | Case No. 26CW3041 (Ref No. 81CW306, 20CW3029) IN GUNNISON COUNTY - APPLICATION FOR FINDING OF REASONABLE DILIGENCE City of Gunnison, a Colorado Municipal Corporation c/o Jennifer M. DiLalla, Cameron J. Abatti, Moses, Wittemyer, Harrison and Woodruff, P.C., 259… |
26CW3042
|
make absolute | — | Case No. 26CW3042 (Ref No. 20CW3) 1. Applicant: MambaOn3 Real Estate LLC (“Applicant”), 9249 South Broadway, Ste. 200-824, Highlands Ranch, CO 80129, nerissa@mambaon3.com, (424) 303-3880. Direct all pleadings and correspondence to Applicant’s attorneys: Ramsey… |
26CW3043
|
reasonable diligence | SAN MIGUEL | Case No. 26CW3043 (Ref No. 13CW79, 20CW3025) SAN MIGUEL COUNTY. Application for Finding of Reasonable Diligence. Telluride Pines Homeowners Association, P.O. Box 1071, Telluride, CO 81430 (970) 394-4480; c/o Peter D. Jaacks and April D. Hendricks, Jewell Jimme… |
26CW3044
|
reasonable diligence, make absolute | DELTA | Case No. 26CW3044 (Ref No. 13CW3021, 20CW3009) DELTA COUNTY. Applicant: Harris and Sons Stirrup Bar Ranch, LLC, c/o Doug Harris, Manager, P.O. Box 940, Paonia, CO 81428 (David J. Skarka, Camp & Skarka, LLC, 415 Palmer St., Delta, CO 81416; 970-874-9777). APPLI… |
26CW3045
|
— | — | Case No. 26CW3045 (Ref No. 19CW3003, W-3280, 96CW132, 09CW142, 92CW176,… |
26CW3046
|
reasonable diligence | GUNNISON | Case No. 26CW3046 (Ref No. 89CW219, 97CW133, 04CW050, 11CW78,18CW3013). GUNNISON COUNTY Application for Findings of Reasonable Diligence and to Make Certain Conditional Water Rights Partially Absolute. Applicant: Trappers Crossing at Crested Butte Association,… |
96CW177
|
— | — | Case No. 96CW177; Depth: Original decree is for 82 separate wells of unspecified depth; Outline of what has been done toward completion of the appropriation and application of water to a beneficial use: Applicant was granted, by Decree in Case No. W-2264 (ref … |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GENESEE PROPERTIES SOCIETY TURN | 37-92-308(5) PLANS LESS THAN 5 YEARS | Approved | 2027-06-30 | — | 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.
Snowpack — no snow on the ground at 3 SNOTEL sites — normal for the date; the snow year begins in October. Runoff outlook — San Miguel R nr Placerville: even odds of at least 14 kAF over 06-01 to 07-31 — 21% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alta Lakes | 11290 | 0.0 | — | — | — |
| Columbine Pass | 9160 | 0.4 | 0.0 | — | March 26 (18.0 in) |
| Lone Cone | 9730 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | April 1 (15.2 in) |
San Miguel R nr Placerville — 06-01 to 07-31 volume, thousand acre-feet (chance the volume is AT LEAST this):
| 90% | 70% | 50% | 30% | 10% | Normal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 10 | 14 | 20 | 27 | 65 |
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: 4 parent disagreements, 15 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 32 streams, 28 agree. Know this water? Tell us →
| Stream | This site routes it to | DWR routes it to |
|---|---|---|
| Maverick Draw | the mainstem | Naturita Creek |
| Alder Creek | the mainstem | Leopard Creek |
| Howard Fork | the mainstem | South Fork San Miguel River |
| Waterfall Creek | the mainstem | Howard Fork |
Sizable streams DWR maps here that this network does not carry:
McKenzie Creek (15 mi) · Clay Creek (11 mi) · Bilk Creek (10 mi) · Big Bucktail Creek (9 mi) · Big Bear Creek (9 mi) · Deep Creek (6 mi) · Prospect Creek (5 mi) · Bear Creek (4 mi)