Upper Uncompahgre River

Division 4 · Water District 68

Draft - NLDI/CDSS verified

Bootstrap review report — d4_wd68_upper_uncompahgre_river

Generated 2026-08-14 06:32 UTC for Division 4 / Water District 68.

This is a review checklist, not a finished config. Everything below is a suggestion from live DWR data — confirm or correct each section in config.yaml before running this basin for real.

1. Stream-name patterns

Assumed mainstem pattern: UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER (highest-count waterSource value). Candidates below by structure count — decide which are real tributaries worth their own centerline vs. noise, and add them to longitudinal.tributary_stream_patterns in priority order (more-specific names, e.g. "WEST FORK X", must precede substrings of themselves, e.g. "X").

waterSource	structure count
UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER (assumed mainstem)	70
COW CREEK	35
DALLAS CREEK	31
MCKENZIE CREEK	10
BEAVER CREEK	9
COTTONWOOD CREEK	9
BILLY CREEK	8
HORSEFLY CREEK	8
WEST FORK DALLAS CREEK	7
DRY CREEK	7
KETTLE GULCH	6
RED MOUNTAIN CREEK	6
COAL CREEK	5
EAST FORK DALLAS CREEK	4
CANYON CREEK	4
PLEASANT VALLEY CREEK	3
ONION CREEK	3
CUTLER CREEK	3
FISHER CREEK	3

2. Diversion / return classification

Auto-classified from structureType + name patterns: 209 diversions, 8 returns, 48 unclassified (neither pattern matched — these render as neither on the schematic unless added to return_flow_wdids/force_diversion_wdids or a type is added to the diversion/return type lists).

This layer needs the least manual work — it's the same heuristic the engine uses at runtime. Spot-check a sample rather than reviewing every row; if you have a water-year accounting spreadsheet for this basin, cross-reference it against the 'other' bucket specifically (that's where a real augmentation return with an unusual DWR structureType will hide).

2b. Cross-checked against decreed water rights (CDSS)

25 structure(s) have a decreed water right (CDSS waterrights/netamount) that disagrees with the structureType/name-pattern classification above. Same-agency evidence (DWR/HydroBase), not independent of DWR the way the NLDI topology check is — worth a glance, not an automatic correction.

wdid	structure	currently	decreed uses suggest	decreed uses
6800682	OURAY HYDRO ELEC PROJ259	other	diversion	Power Generation
6801369	HYDROPLANT RIDGWAY RESERVOIR DAM	other	diversion	Power Generation
6805063	FP WELL NO. 1	other	diversion	Fire, Irrigation, Storage
6805064	FP WELL NO. 2	other	diversion	Fire, Irrigation
6805065	FP WELL NO. 4	other	diversion	Fire, Irrigation, Storage
6805066	FP WELL NO. 6	other	diversion	Fire, Irrigation, Storage
6805068	OX-2	other	diversion	Commercial, Fishery, Geothermal, Recreation
6805070	FP WELL NO. 7	other	diversion	Fire, Irrigation, Storage
6805071	FP WELL NO. 8	other	diversion	Fire, Irrigation, Storage
6805072	FP WELL NO. 9	other	diversion	Fire, Irrigation, Storage
6805073	FP WELL NO. 10	other	diversion	Fire, Irrigation, Storage
6805074	FP WELL NO. 11	other	diversion	Fire, Irrigation, Storage
6805075	FP WELL NO. 12	other	diversion	Fire, Irrigation, Storage
6805076	FP WELL NO. 3A	other	diversion	Fire, Irrigation, Storage
6805077	FP WELL NO. 5A	other	diversion	Fire, Irrigation, Storage
6805086	SHINING MOUNTAIN WELL NO. 1	other	diversion	Irrigation
6805089	ELK MEADOWS WELL 2	other	diversion	Domestic, Irrigation
6805092	FP WELL NO. 13	other	diversion	Fire, Irrigation, Storage
6805093	FP WELL NO. 14	other	diversion	Fire, Irrigation, Storage
6805094	FP WELL NO. 15	other	diversion	Fire, Irrigation, Storage
6805095	FP WELL NO. 16	other	diversion	Fire, Irrigation, Storage
6805099	TIDMARSH WELL	other	diversion	Domestic, Fire, Irrigation, Stock, Storage
6805214	DALWHINNIE POND WELL	other	diversion	Fire, Fishery, Irrigation, Recreation, Stock, Wildlife
6805215	PATZAU WELL NO 1	other	diversion	Commercial, Domestic, Irrigation, Stock
6805220	SHINING MOUNTAIN WELL NO. 2	other	diversion	Commercial, Storage

3. Suspected nested tributaries

1 flag(s) confirmed connected by USGS NLDI — real surveyed stream-network topology, not a distance guess (see VERIFICATION-PLAN.md). This confirms the two candidates' channels really do merge (ruling out a coincidental-proximity false flag) but NOT auto-applied to tributary_parent_overrides — NLDI's overlap test can't reliably tell which side is upstream once two streams have already merged near DWR's own recorded structures, only that they connect. Confirm the direction (which one is the tributary, which is the parent) from local knowledge or the evidence below, then set it yourself.

pair	NLDI evidence
RED MOUNTAIN CREEK <-> MAINSTEM	tributary's downstream NHD trace (comid 9770408) first overlaps MAINSTEM's own downstream trace at index 4 (next-nearest candidate: ('CANYON CREEK', 7))

Still need a human decision — these tributary pairs are comparably close to EACH OTHER as to the mainstem — one may actually join the other rather than the mainstem directly (like Leavenworth Creek -> South Clear Creek in the Clear Creek basin). NLDI couldn't resolve these (no nearby flowline, or ambiguous/no downstream overlap within range) — if you know the real topology, set it in longitudinal.tributary_parent_overrides.

tributary	possible parent	dist to possible parent (mi)	dist to mainstem (mi)	NLDI result
PLEASANT VALLEY CREEK	CANYON CREEK	0.45	3.44	ambiguous -- tied earliest overlap at index 3: ['CANYON CREEK', 'MAINSTEM']
BEAVER CREEK	CANYON CREEK	0.02	3.54	ambiguous -- tied earliest overlap at index 4: ['CANYON CREEK', 'MAINSTEM']
HORSEFLY CREEK	CANYON CREEK	2.5	7.45	tributary's downstream NHD trace didn't overlap any candidate parent's own downstream trace within 40km
FISHER CREEK	DRY CREEK	1.69	1.42	ambiguous -- tied earliest overlap at index 0: ['DRY CREEK', 'MAINSTEM']

4. Gage placement risk

1 gage(s) would currently fail placement (> 2.5mi from the nearest centerline anchor — same failure mode as the Clear Creek at Derby bug). Options: raise the cutoff (check it doesn't sweep in an unrelated stream first — see the Little Dry Creek case), or add a manual override.

gage	name	nearest stream	distance (mi)
nan	PLEASANT VALLEY CREEK NEAR NOEL, CO.	CANYON CREEK	2.58

14 more gage(s) pass but are within 2x the cutoff distance — worth a glance if the structure dataset changes later.

Next steps

Fill in tributary_stream_patterns from section 1.
Resolve section 3's flags (or confirm none apply).
Resolve section 4's at-risk gages.
Cross-reference return_flow_wdids/force_diversion_wdids against any local accounting source you have for this basin.
Review the rendered schematic for this district before relying on it.

Reconstruct conditions as of

Evolution of the network

Computed 2026-08-20 09:04 from 6 gage(s) with cached period-of-record data. Statistical tests (Mann-Kendall trend, Pettitt changepoint) require at least 8 years spanning at least 10 years of record -- gages below that report no signal, not "no change."

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 45 day(s) old (target 7)
diversion record	expected-lag	newest diversion record is 293 day(s) old (DWR publishes ~1 year in arrears)
structure coverage	sparse	21% of schematic structures have data

Independent check: PASS — 100.0000% agreement across 199,147 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 — 98.45% day-level agreement with USGS's own published records for the same gages, across 5 co-listed station(s) and 114,278 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.

6 gage(s) / 120,909 daily values (1912-10-01–2026-07-06); 252 structure(s) with diversion records; 1293 with decreed rights. Methodology has not yet had independent expert review — treat every figure as an advisory screen, not an administrative or legal conclusion.

Read this first: the measurement network itself evolved

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 178 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)
1900s	0	1
1910s	1	0
1920s	2	0
1930s	1	0
1940s	1	0
1950s	2	0
1960s	3	0
1970s	2	100
1980s	3	96
1990s	4	113
2000s	5	165
2010s	6	172
2020s	6	179

Gage flow trend & changepoints

Every located gage with a period of record — dot size scales with the strength of its flow trend (|Sen slope| in %/decade, the same statistic as the table below), color with direction. An amber ring marks a detected Pettitt changepoint. Click a gage to chart its trend and shift.

Gage	Trend	Change / decade	Significance	Years	Changepoint
▸ UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER BELOW RIDGWAY RESERVOIR, CO UNCBRRCO	↓ decreasing	-12.5%	p=0.006	38	~2017
▸ DALLAS CREEK NEAR RIDGWAY, CO DALRIDCO	↓ decreasing	-9.5%	p=0.002	69	~1999
▸ UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER AT COLONA, CO. UNCCOLCO	↓ decreasing	-2.2%	p=0.019	114	—

3 other gage(s) show no significant trend or changepoint (not shown).

Mass-balance (network closure) trend

Structure divrec-history backfill coverage as of the last check: 21% of 264 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 (1956–2026)

Mass-balance kinks computed for every summer month back to 1956 (816 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.

UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER AT COLONA, CO.: reach shifted from +432 cfs to +41 cfs summer mean (more losing, p=0.000, 71 yr) [alluvial valley: real alluvial aquifer -- a decades-long shift toward losing is the classic signature of alluvial pumping and urbanization] [measurement-evolution caution: this shift co-moves with the growth of the gage/metering network (rho=-0.57) -- part of it may be unaccounted water becoming accounted, not hydrologic change]
UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER BELOW RIDGWAY RESERVOIR, CO: reach shifted from +300 cfs to +202 cfs summer mean (more losing, p=0.044, 38 yr) [sedimentary plains/foothills: moderate groundwater connectivity -- gain/loss shifts can be real aquifer response; corroborate with nearby well records]
UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER NEAR RIDGWAY, CO.: reach shifted from +62 cfs to +27 cfs summer mean (more losing, p=0.028, 26 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: 10 monitored well(s), water-table trends, stream corridors, and the advisory depletion screen.

Reservoirs now has its own tab: 11 reservoir(s), end-of-year storage back to 1974, click-to-chart histories.

Cross-gage pattern fingerprint

Over the 47-year window with full coverage (1980–2026), the dominant shared pattern across 3 gage(s) explains 79% 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.

The basin's aquifer story, from 23 water-level measurements across 10 monitored well(s) (7 alluvial, 1 bedrock, rest unclassified) — plus 3 administered well(s) reporting metered pumping through diversion records. Observation wells and pumping wells are different populations and are never conflated. Click a well to chart its record.

Well map

Every monitored well with a location — hover for identity, click to chart its water-level record below. ● alluvial ● bedrock / confined (Denver Basin, High Plains, etc. — one-way, no human-timescale recharge) ● unclassified — marker size scales with the strength of the well's water-level trend (|Sen slope| in ft/decade — the same Mann-Kendall/Sen statistic as the trends table below); the smallest, faintest dots have too little record to test.

3D aquifer x-ray

Every aquifer unit as its own 3D head surface — alluvial water table on top, Denver Basin members (Dawson, Denver, Arapahoe, Laramie–Fox Hills) stacked beneath where measured — interpolated from measured water levels and animated through time. Units are never mixed; surfaces exist only inside each unit's well coverage (no extrapolation); thin epochs are suppressed with their reason shown. Vertical scale exaggerated for readability; z is head elevation in feet. Advisory — measured heads, not a calibrated model.

Water-table trends

Of 0 well(s) with enough record for a trend test: 0 declining, 0 rising.

Stream corridors — the surface connection

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.

UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER NEAR RIDGWAY, CO.: 2 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.

11 reservoir(s) with 2,090 storage measurement(s), 1974–2026. Basin storage as of 2025-10-31 (the record's own end — reservoir records publish ~annually): 66,111 AF across 1 reservoir(s). 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?

Each reservoir drawn as a vessel: bubble size ∝ its record-high storage, fill level = 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 of its own record high otherwise (a wrong capacity would be worse than an honest record high, so only confident joins upgrade). Hover for numbers, click to chart its history below the map. A dashed teal ring marks reservoirs reporting live DWR telemetry — their fill reflects yesterday's storage, drawn as a dotted tail on charts and treated as provisional until the next verified HydroBase snapshot supersedes it. ● <25% ● 25–60% ● 60–90% ● >90%

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 reservoir to chart its full storage history.

Reservoir	Last recorded storage (AF)	As of
▸ RIDGWAY RESERVOIR TRI CT (6803675)	66,111	2025-10-31
▸ CORNERSTONE RESERVOIR NO4 (6803847)	117	2011-06-11
▸ PTARMIGAN LAKE (6803686)	29	2022-03-31
▸ FAIRWAY PINES RESERVOIR (6803836)	13	2012-04-30
▸ BATES NO2 RESERVOIR (6803562)	10	1989-05-09
▸ VICTOR RES NO 9 (6803580)	8	1974-07-20
▸ DOUBLE RL LAKE NO 1 (6803783)	5	2023-10-31
▸ JACQUES RES NO 1 (6803569)	1	1974-08-20

Decrees, seniority, and administrative calls connected to this basin's flow network. Advisory reading aids on public DWR data — not administrative or legal conclusions. Rights on file: 1583 across 1293 structure(s); 53 structure(s) carry 0 court-case references.

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).

FISHER DITCH (6800577) (1904-07-01, 1.2 cfs decreed): last active 1950 — 75 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
MILLS LATERAL DITCH (6800665) (1909-05-01, 0.8 cfs decreed): last active 1950 — 75 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
WEST SIDE DITCH (6800776) (1883-05-01, 2.0 cfs decreed): last active 1950 — 75 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
ZENA NO 1 SPRING (6800783) (1914-01-19, 0.1 cfs decreed): last active 1950 — 75 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
CATTLE D & WTR SUPPLY (6800521) (1967-07-18, 0.5 cfs decreed): last active 1968 — 57 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
KRAFFT DITCH (6800632) (1913-11-18, 1.5 cfs decreed): last active 1970 — 55 years idle
WEBER SPRING POND (6800957) (1910-05-01, 0.0 cfs decreed): last active 1971 — 54 years idle
BEAR GULCH DITCH (6800507) (1908-06-01, 5.0 cfs decreed): last active 1974 — 51 years idle
HUGHES LAKE DITCH (6800611) (1911-07-08, 0.5 cfs decreed): last active 1974 — 51 years idle
PHILLIPS D & WTR SUPPLY (6800689) (1963-06-10, 0.6 cfs decreed): last active 1974 — 51 years idle

Compliance screens (144 advisory flags)

Screened 211 of 1293 structures with rights (218 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.

RIDGWAY RESERVOIR TRI CT (6803675): Observed p99 daily rate 504.0 cfs (max 1400.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 133.0 cfs across 75127 recorded day(s). Structure holds an Augmentation-use decree -- diversions above the direct-flow decree can be lawful under plan operations; interpret with care.
ALKALI DITCH D NO 80 (6800501): Observed p99 daily rate 45.0 cfs (max 48.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 39.5 cfs across 26106 recorded day(s).
CHARLEY LOGAN DITCH (6800526): Observed p99 daily rate 30.0 cfs (max 39.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 15.7 cfs across 28014 recorded day(s).
PINION DITCH (6800692): Observed p99 daily rate 24.1 cfs (max 29.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 22.7 cfs across 21812 recorded day(s).
DOC WADE DITCH (6800559): Observed p99 daily rate 23.7 cfs (max 27.2) exceeds total decreed absolute 20.5 cfs across 10511 recorded day(s).
HOMESTRETCH DITCH (6800607): Observed p99 daily rate 22.1 cfs (max 26.9) exceeds total decreed absolute 14.0 cfs across 23009 recorded day(s).
PARK DITCH (6800685): Observed p99 daily rate 22.1 cfs (max 25.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 21.0 cfs across 18077 recorded day(s). Structure holds an Augmentation-use decree -- diversions above the direct-flow decree can be lawful under plan operations; interpret with care.
BURKHART EDDY DITCH (6800514): Observed p99 daily rate 21.7 cfs (max 28.9) exceeds total decreed absolute 15.0 cfs across 19333 recorded day(s).
MOODY DITCH (6800668): Observed p99 daily rate 21.3 cfs (max 37.2) exceeds total decreed absolute 9.9 cfs across 28465 recorded day(s). Structure holds an Augmentation-use decree -- diversions above the direct-flow decree can be lawful under plan operations; interpret with care.
HOSNER BROWNYARD DITCH (6800609): Observed p99 daily rate 20.0 cfs (max 25.0) exceeds total decreed absolute 13.1 cfs across 23694 recorded day(s). Structure holds an Augmentation-use decree -- diversions above the direct-flow decree can be lawful under plan operations; interpret with care.

Seniority (top structures by decreed rate)

Structure	Senior priority date	Rights	Decreed abs (cfs)	Decreed abs (AF)	Conditional?
HYDROPLANT RIDGWAY RESERVOIR DAM (6801369)	1956-11-06	2	575.8	0	yes
RIDGWAY RES EXCHANGE PLAN (6808334)	1991-06-04	1	159.0	0	yes
RIDGWAY RESERVOIR TRI CT (6803675)	1956-11-16	4	133.0	208432	yes
UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER (6801456)	1998-07-13	1	65.0	0	—
OURAY HYDRO ELEC PROJ259 (6800682)	1902-07-01	1	60.0	0	—
DALLAS DITCH (6800543)	1880-10-01	6	41.4	0	—
GLACIER D WATER RIGHT (6800861)	1896-04-21	1	41.0	0	—
ALKALI DITCH D NO 80 (6800501)	1884-10-15	6	39.5	0	—
ALKALI NO 2 DITCH (6800502)	1882-08-01	9	36.7	0	—
SNEVA DITCH (6800738)	1881-10-15	5	36.0	0	—
MCDONALD DITCH NO 145 (6800657)	1881-11-01	4	35.8	0	—
RIDGWAY DITCH (6800710)	1882-06-01	3	32.0	0	—
CORNERSTONE RESERVOIR NO4 (6803847)	2003-12-29	2	30.4	49	yes
TIERRA COLO DITCH (6800759)	1909-05-03	1	30.0	0	—
REED OVERMAN DITCH (6800703)	1878-05-01	4	27.2	0	—

No inventory or legal-document changes detected since the daily watch began.

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

Administration number

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