Eagle River Basin

Division 5 · Water District 37 · As of 2026-09-30 05:15 MDT · 2 weeks ago · also known as Eagle River

Who may take water from the Eagle River Basin, who is calling for it today, and how it is running, compiled from Colorado Division of Water Resources records. Click anything on the map for its record.

Live · machine-built

Eagle River Basin on the ground — the ditches, wells, reservoirs and gages of Water District 37 · clicktap anything for its record

The well-permit cells in view, as a table

Each row is one ~1-mile cell (0.02°) with the permits the file spots inside it, split into water-supply permits and monitoring holes (DWR’s two monitoring categories: drilled to look at the water, not to pump it). These are permits, not wells: a permit is a piece of paper, and the file does not say which were drilled. Spotting is the file’s own, about a mile at best, which is why the cells are no finer.

Lat	Lon	Water-supply permits	Monitoring holes

Browse this district’s ditches, gages, reservoirs, wells and springs as a list.

1% of normal flow, week of 2026-09-21

2 calls the record places on it, 28 unsettled

The Eagle River is critically low for late September -- 1% of normal flow, its 1st-driest such week in 97 years of record. 2 calls stand against it right now; the most senior right calling dates to 1887. DWR's statements do not settle whether 28 more calls reach it. This year's runoff outlook, issued 2026-06-01, called for 17% of normal.

Schematic

Historical

Reconstruct conditions as of

Evolution of the network

Trends

Source Our computation, no independent reference · computed here from the screened DWR record Source Our computation, no independent reference · no independent reference; see /methods

This year, in context

In the weeks around 2026-09-29 (the newest reading on file), flows at the 16 ranked gages are running at a median 67% of their own long-term norm for this window — 11 below a typical year, 5 at or above. Driest relative to its record: EAST FORK EAGLE RIVER NEAR CLIMAX, CO, ranking 5th lowest of 25 years.

How this comparison is made

Each gage's mean flow over the 3 days either side of 2026-09-29, 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 2026-10-11 20:23 from 23 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 23 gages with enough record, 1 is trending down and 0 up, and 1 carries a detected shift. The clearest is Eagle River at Red Cliff, its annual mean flow changing -2.56 cfs per decade (-6.2% of its median annual flow) over 95 years (p<0.0001). The other 22 show no clear signal either way.

Gage	Trend	Change / decade cfs · % of median annual flow	Significance	Years	Changepoint
▸ Eagle River at Red Cliff EAGREDCO	↓ decreasing	-2.56 cfs -6.2%	p<0.001	95	~1952

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

3 of those show a significant trend once extended backwards from a retired neighbour's record: Eagle River below Wastewater Treatment Plant at Avon (97 yr, decreasing, suspect); Eagle River near Minturn (97 yr, decreasing, suspect); Beaver Creek at Avon (64 yr, increasing, suspect). Those are reconstructions, not measurements — each gage's page shows both.

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. 16 gage(s) and 151 structure(s) report in 2026, but structure reporting only reached half its modern level around ~1951. 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)
1910s	1	0
1920s	1	0
1940s	3	0
1950s	4	208
1960s	8	0
1970s	10	244
1980s	10	268
1990s	12	239
2000s	16	132
2010s	14	141
2020s	15	143

Mass-balance (network closure) trend

Structure divrec-history backfill coverage as of the last check: 9% of 2340 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 (1950 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.

EAGLE RIVER BELOW GYPSUM, CO.: reach shifted from +1086 cfs to +94 cfs summer mean (more losing, p=0.002, 77 yr) [sedimentary plains/foothills: moderate groundwater connectivity -- gain/loss shifts can be real aquifer response; corroborate with nearby well records]
BEAVER CREEK AT AVON, CO: reach shifted from -4 cfs to -222 cfs summer mean (more losing, p=0.001, 49 yr) [sedimentary uplands: moderate groundwater connectivity -- gain/loss shifts can be real aquifer response; corroborate with nearby well records] [measurement-evolution caution: this shift co-moves with the growth of the gage/metering network (rho=0.65) -- part of it may be unaccounted water becoming accounted, not hydrologic change]
CROSS CREEK NEAR MINTURN, CO: reach shifted from +63 cfs to -94 cfs summer mean (more losing, p=0.002, 65 yr) [sedimentary uplands: moderate groundwater connectivity -- gain/loss shifts can be real aquifer response; corroborate with nearby well records]

Groundwater now has its own tab: 131 monitored well(s), water-table trends, stream corridors, and the advisory depletion screen.

Reservoirs now has its own tab: 69 reservoir(s), end-of-year storage back to 1951, click-to-chart histories.

Cross-gage pattern fingerprint

Over the 63-year window with full coverage (1964–2026), the dominant shared pattern across 3 gage(s) explains 89% 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 2026-09-29)

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.

EAGLE-CROSS PUMP AND PIPELINE EAGLE RIVE (diversion): -2.4 cfs (25% of that reach's correction)
EMPIRE ZINC CO IND WTR S (diversion): -2.4 cfs (25% of that reach's correction)
GINN EAGLE RIVER DIVERSION NO. 2 (diversion): -2.4 cfs (25% of that reach's correction)
VAIL/MEADOW MT MUN DIV 5 (diversion): -2.4 cfs (25% of that reach's correction)
TERRELL AND FORD DITCH (diversion): -1.1 cfs (2% of that reach's correction)
ARROWHEAD EAGLE R D & PL (diversion): -1.1 cfs (2% of that reach's correction)
ARROWHEAD EAGLE R PMP ST (diversion): -1.1 cfs (2% of that reach's correction)
BACHELOR GULCH FISHPONDS (diversion): -1.1 cfs (2% of that reach's correction)
BEAVER CR SNOWMAKING RES NO 1 (diversion): -1.1 cfs (2% of that reach's correction)
MCCOY SPRING (return): -1.1 cfs (2% 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_20260928 (imported 2026-10-04) for history, plus the CDSS REST API for current conditions.

Check	State	What was measured
gage freshness	stale	newest gage reading is 12 day(s) old (target 7)
diversion record	stale	newest diversion record is 711 day(s) old (DWR publishes ~1 year in arrears)
structure coverage	sparse	9% of schematic structures have data

Independent check: PASS — 100.0000% agreement across 103,516 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 — 99.11% day-level agreement with USGS's own published records for the same gages, across 17 co-listed station(s) and 286,670 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.

23 gage(s) / 304,605 daily values (1910-10-01–2026-09-29); 521 structure(s) with diversion records; 2162 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

Source DWR administrative record · verify at DWR groundwater wells ↗ Source DWR administrative record · verify at DWR well permits ↗

273 water-level measurements across 131 monitored well(s) — 113 alluvial, 0 bedrock — plus 28 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 0 well(s) with enough record for a trend test: 0 declining, 0 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.

EAGLE RIVER BELOW GYPSUM, CO.: 10 alluvial well(s) nearby. Glover screen: 0.3 cfs of nearby metered alluvial pumping → est. lagged depletion 0.3–0.3 cfs (uncalibrated T/S ranges; flagged for SPDSS calibration, AWAS cross-check, and expert review — DWR's AWAS is the authority).

BEAVER CREEK AT AVON, CO: 1 alluvial well(s) nearby

CROSS CREEK NEAR MINTURN, CO: 3 alluvial well(s) nearby. Glover screen: 0.3 cfs of nearby metered alluvial pumping → est. lagged depletion 0.3–0.3 cfs (uncalibrated T/S ranges; flagged for SPDSS calibration, AWAS cross-check, and expert review — DWR's AWAS is the authority).

Wells labeled by administrative world before anything else is said about them: tributary alluvium participates in the priority system; designated-basin and Denver Basin bedrock aquifers are governed differently and are excluded from stream-connection reasoning. Read bedrock declines differently too: deep bedrock aquifers recharge negligibly on human timescales, so a falling bedrock level is storage mining — effectively permanent — not a drought response that a wet year undoes. All screens advisory.

2,842 well permits on file — not decreed rights

46% household or domestic use

130 ft median depth, 1,449 wells reporting

39% are constructed wells; 21% tie to a decreed structure. A permit is permission to drill, not a water right; most here are exempt household wells. More in three things called “well”, or turn on the Well permits chip on the map above to see where they sit.

Permits issued here, by year

1,458 located water-supply permits with an issue date, 1959 to 2026; half of them had been issued by 1996, and the busiest year was 1992 with 72. The district’s 913 monitoring holes are counted apart: they are drilled to look, not to pump. A permit is not a well, and the year is the date the paper was issued, not a drilling date. The 2,842 above counts every permit on file here; 471 of them have no usable location or no issue date and are not in this chart.

Show the monitoring holes too (913; the scale changes)

water-supply permits issued that year monitoring holes, when shown

The counts by year, as a table

Located well permits with an issue date in this district, by issue year. Monitoring holes are the two DWR monitoring categories; water-supply is everything else.
Year	Issued	Monitoring holes	Water-supply	Issued through that year
1959	1	0	1	1
1960	1	0	1	2
1961	1	0	1	3
1962	1	0	1	4
1964	1	0	1	5
1965	1	0	1	6
1966	1	0	1	7
1968	4	0	4	11
1969	6	0	6	17
1970	4	0	4	21
1971	4	0	4	25
1972	21	0	21	46
1973	9	0	9	55
1974	4	0	4	59
1975	4	0	4	63
1976	9	0	9	72
1977	20	0	20	92
1978	26	0	26	118
1979	20	0	20	138
1980	28	0	28	166
1981	15	0	15	181
1982	17	0	17	198
1983	18	1	17	216
1984	32	0	32	248
1985	44	1	43	292
1986	29	11	18	321
1987	31	3	28	352
1988	72	5	67	424
1989	55	26	29	479
1990	79	43	36	558
1991	86	32	54	644
1992	133	61	72	777
1993	72	39	33	849
1994	99	54	45	948
1995	100	57	43	1,048
1996	83	42	41	1,131
1997	99	48	51	1,230
1998	111	54	57	1,341
1999	66	32	34	1,407
2000	64	21	43	1,471
2001	46	5	41	1,517
2002	51	10	41	1,568
2003	42	10	32	1,610
2004	60	36	24	1,670
2005	59	39	20	1,729
2006	33	11	22	1,762
2007	39	16	23	1,801
2008	34	14	20	1,835
2009	24	17	7	1,859
2010	28	7	21	1,887
2011	20	7	13	1,907
2012	26	12	14	1,933
2013	22	4	18	1,955
2014	23	8	15	1,978
2015	32	8	24	2,010
2016	29	22	7	2,039
2017	34	19	15	2,073
2018	58	24	34	2,131
2019	30	20	10	2,161
2020	38	27	11	2,199
2021	35	20	15	2,234
2022	43	28	15	2,277
2023	28	9	19	2,305
2024	22	1	21	2,327
2025	21	2	19	2,348
2026	23	7	16	2,371

Every district in the file on one scale · the whole file, one year at a time · Plate 4 of the Driller’s Atlas.

What drillers reached, township by township

16 PLSS townships here where at least 5 water-supply permits naming the same aquifer filed a depth (991 permits in all). Each column is one township, six miles square, on one scale to 900 ft below ground: a faint lane spans the 10th to 90th percentile of where the permits naming that aquifer stopped, the solid band their screens, the tick the median. This is the permit file’s view of the ground — the aquifer is the name the driller wrote, the band is where those holes ended — not a geologic map, and a township is as fine as it gets. Monitoring holes are left out.

T5S R82W
186

T5S R83W
166

T4S R83W
137

T4S R84W
115

T5S R85W
104

T3S R83W
67

T5S R81W
50

T5S R84W
47

T5S R80W
24

T6S R84W
23

T5S R86W
22

T7S R80W
19

T6S R83W
13

T6S R85W
8

T6S R80W
5

T6S R81W
5

unnamed other named faint = where the permits naming it stopped (10th–90th pct) · solid = their screens · tick = median · ft below ground as filed

Every township here, as a table

Water-supply permits by PLSS township and the aquifer named on them, where at least 5 filed a depth: percentiles of the depth drilled to and of the screen top and bottom (where at least 5 filed a screen), feet below ground as filed. The permit file’s view, not a geologic map.
Township	Share of its permits in this district	Aquifer named	Permits with a depth	Drilled depth p10 / p50 / p90, ft	Screen top p10 / p50 / p90, ft	Screen bottom p10 / p50 / p90, ft
T5S R82W 6th PM	99%	unnamed	182	41 / 98 / 300	20 / 50 / 131	45 / 81 / 245
T5S R83W 6th PM	100%	unnamed	166	88 / 270 / 583	45 / 150 / 400	96 / 266 / 550
T4S R83W 6th PM	100%	unnamed	129	50 / 280 / 552	40 / 200 / 422	74 / 298 / 553
T4S R83W 6th PM	100%	other named	8	278 / 360 / 560	218 / 278 / 384	278 / 360 / 560
T4S R84W 6th PM	99%	unnamed	114	50 / 204 / 401	33 / 120 / 234	50 / 192 / 410
T5S R85W 6th PM	100%	unnamed	104	20 / 74 / 139	20 / 46 / 88	30 / 82 / 160
T3S R83W 6th PM	100%	unnamed	65	53 / 285 / 500	27 / 97 / 302	57 / 250 / 500
T5S R81W 6th PM	99%	unnamed	50	42 / 70 / 300	35 / 58 / 154	51 / 88 / 236
T5S R84W 6th PM	99%	unnamed	47	15 / 70 / 336	21 / 40 / 220	40 / 72 / 320
T5S R80W 6th PM	98%	unnamed	24	42 / 110 / 202	30 / 83 / 120	85 / 118 / 200
T6S R84W 6th PM	100%	unnamed	23	17 / 65 / 213	26 / 44 / 135	48 / 78 / 211
T5S R86W 6th PM	97%	unnamed	21	20 / 51 / 135	28 / 60 / 103	45 / 80 / 134
T7S R80W 6th PM	100%	unnamed	19	40 / 53 / 195	24 / 27 / 38	38 / 52 / 143
T6S R83W 6th PM	97%	unnamed	13	43 / 97 / 169	29 / 50 / 112	41 / 90 / 151
T6S R85W 6th PM	100%	unnamed	7	54 / 103 / 320	29 / 56 / 275	52 / 84 / 330
T6S R80W 6th PM	100%	unnamed	5	53 / 170 / 876	—	—
T6S R81W 6th PM	100%	unnamed	5	44 / 85 / 86	—	—

These columns on the map · Plate 6 of the Driller’s Atlas.

The Driller’s Atlas · Plate 2 A cross-section nobody surveyed

Every permitted well within a few miles of the line, drawn from the ground to its drilled depth as the driller filed it. The bright part of each stroke is the perforated casing — where the well actually takes water — coloured by the aquifer named on the permit. Nobody arranged these; the aquifers arrange themselves.

Line Corridor

Hover or arrow through the strokes to read a well.

The same corridor as a table


Miles from A	Wells drawn	Median depth (ft)	With a screen	Most-named aquifer	No depth filed	Ground, ft above sea level (median)

Bins run from end A to end B of the line. “Most-named aquifer” is the family most often named on permits in the bin, with its count; permits naming no aquifer are the majority of the file and are not a family.

Reservoirs

Source DWR administrative record · verify at DWR structure records ↗

69 reservoir(s) with 5,201 storage measurement(s), 1951–2025. Basin storage as of 2024-10-31 (the record's own end — reservoir records publish ~annually): 45,217 AF across 2 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)
▸ HOMESTAKE PROJ RESERVOIR (3704516)	42,078	2024-10-31	—	—	dossier →
▸ HOMESTAKE RESERVOIR (3703519)	38,278	1987-10-31	—	—	dossier →
▸ EAGLE PARK RESERVOIR (3703699)	3,138	2024-10-01	—	—	dossier →
▸ ROBINSON RESERVOIR (3703527)	1,967	2019-10-31	—	—	dossier →
▸ BLACK LAKE (3703608)	527	2019-10-31	—	—	dossier →
▸ CHALK MOUNTAIN RESERVOIR (3703513)	202	2019-10-31	—	—	dossier →
▸ LEDE RESERVOIR (3703520)	183	2020-06-11	—	—	dossier →
▸ BLACK LAKE NO 2 (3703510)	98	2019-10-31	—	—	dossier →

Snow and runoff

Source Independent agency measurement · fetched 2026-10-14 · verify at NRCS report generator ↗ Source Our computation, scored against a reference · NRCS forecast, graded here against the gage record

Snow-water equivalent, WY2027

A trace of snow at 1 of 3 sites (0.3 in of water at most); the median for the date is zero, so there is no percent to show yet. The snow year begins in October. The new water year began October 1; the chart fills in a day at a time as NRCS publishes each reading.

SNOTEL site	Elev (ft)	SWE (in)	% of median	Typical peak
Beaver Ck Village	8530	0.0	—	April 2 (11.7 in)
Mccoy Park	9500	0.0	—	April 7 (14.6 in)
Vail Mountain	10290	0.3	—	April 27 (20.8 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 (1979–2026)

A bad snow year here comes in two flavors (both called snow drought), and the river feels them differently. In 7 of the last 48 winters the snow never came — the pack peaked below 80% of its median. In 0 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.

The snow never came: 1981, 2002, 2004, 2012, 2018, 2021, 2026.

Computed by this site from 3 SNOTEL sites’ full daily records (NRCS AWDB, back to 1979). 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 — Eagle R bl Gypsum

NRCS's final issue (2026-06-01) calls it even odds that at least 34 kAF arrives over 06-01 to 07-31 — 17% of a normal season; almost certainly at least 22, probably not more than 85. Our own record at this gage shows 34 kAF actually delivered. 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 51 replayed seasons (15% typical miss unadjusted vs 15% 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
22	28	34	55	85	198	34

How good are these forecasts here? (1979–2026)

Grading every April issue against what the river then delivered, measured at this gage’s own record — 47 seasons: the median miss of the 50% forecast is 15%, with a high bias of 2%, and the observed volume landed inside the stated 10–90% band 70% 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 (1979–2026)

Across 48 measured years, the season’s water has closely followed the April snowpack: a year opening April with 80% of median snow has typically gone on to deliver about 82% of a normal season (a snow-to-runoff elasticity of 0.9).

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

Source Our computation, no independent reference · computed here from the screened DWR record Source Independent agency measurement · fetched 2026-10-06 · verify at U.S. Drought Monitor ↗

Right now

This is the 1st-driest week 39 in 97 years of record at EAGLE RIVER AT RED CLIFF, CO. (as of 2026-09-21; this week’s flow sits at the 1st percentile for the date). On this week’s US Drought Monitor, Eagle County is 100% in D4 exceptional drought (2026-10-06). The law agrees: the most senior active call leaves 99% 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 EAGLE RIVER AT RED CLIFF, 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.

This year against its analogs

Over the 31 weeks recorded so far, 2026’s weekly trace most resembles 2012 (mean gap 13.7 percentile points; next closest 2021 (14.1), 2002 (16.0)). The analog’s remainder is drawn as context — its ending is what happened to it, not a forecast for this year.

The Drought Monitor’s view since 2000

Mean share of area in each class across Eagle 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 2008 — 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 (320 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	Flows recovered	Water table back
unnamed dry spell	2025-08-04 → 2026-09-28	60	1st (2026-09-28)	not yet	—
the 2020-22 drought	2023-08-14 → 2024-05-20	40	25th (2023-11-27)	not yet	—
the 2020-22 drought	2020-11-09 → 2023-03-13	122	8th (2021-11-01)	not yet	—
the 2020-22 drought	2020-03-30 → 2020-10-19	29	26th (2020-06-29)	not yet	—
the 2018 drought	2018-08-06 → 2019-08-19	54	10th (2019-04-08)	0 weeks	—
unnamed dry spell	2016-11-07 → 2017-03-27	20	23rd (2016-12-12)	1 week	—
the 2012-13 drought	2012-08-20 → 2013-12-02	67	4th (2013-04-22)	4 weeks	—
unnamed dry spell	2005-06-27 → 2006-01-02	27	24th (2005-09-12)	2 weeks	3 yr (6 wells, 1 still below)
the 2002 drought	2004-07-26 → 2005-02-28	31	13th (2004-11-08)	46 weeks	—
the 2002 drought	2003-09-22 → 2004-02-09	20	25th (2003-10-27)	8 weeks	—
the 2002 drought	2001-10-01 → 2003-08-04	96	2nd (2002-11-04)	35 weeks	—
unnamed dry spell	1994-09-12 → 1995-08-07	47	14th (1994-12-05)	0 weeks	—
unnamed dry spell	1990-03-12 → 1991-12-16	92	20th (1990-08-06)	81 weeks	—
unnamed dry spell	1988-06-06 → 1989-09-25	68	10th (1989-03-13)	197 weeks	—

Detected mechanically: the 26-week smoothed percentile below the 30th for at least 20 weeks; recovered on regaining the 50th. The water-table clock compares each monitoring well against its own pre-drought median (the 3 years before onset) and dates the year the median well got back — the aquifer remembers longest, and “still below” is a finding, not a gap. 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.

When this basin claimed its water

Every bar is a year’s new appropriations (2,878 rights across 99 years of shared record), colored by that year’s wetness from the barcode above. Here the correlation is +0.07 — essentially no wet-dry pattern; here, law and settlement set the pace, not the weather. Across the state both behaviors exist: ephemeral southwest basins file after wet demonstrations, transbasin-source basins under drought — and the biggest statewide filing waves sat in the 1950s drought and after 2002, not in the wet 1980s–90s.

Appropriation dates are the CLAIMED initiation of a right, not the courthouse filing date; the record is survivor-biased (abandoned claims are absent, so failed dry-era scrambles are undercounted); and the big 1960s and 2000s spikes sit on legal events — the pre-1969-Act adjudication era and 2000s legislation — not on weather. A correlation here is a description, never a cause.

New to how a dry winter becomes a call on the river? Anatomy of a drought walks the chain in four minutes — snow to rivers to reservoirs to calls to the water table.

Legal

Who serves it, who protects it

Two registers the site fetches on their own schedules, read for this district. Neither is a DWR record; each links its own page and its agency.

Public water systems here

Source Register of another agency · fetched 2026-10-06 · verify at EPA SDWIS ↗

10 systems touch this district (10 community systems reporting 79,191 people served, a figure that counts a wholesaler's customers twice); none carries an open health-based violation on EPA's record.

System	Serves	Source	Here
EAGLE RIVER WSD	51,515	Surface water	100% of its area
GYPSUM TOWN OF	15,272	Surface water	100% of its area
EAGLE TOWN OF	7,511	Surface water	100% of its area
EAGLE RIVER VILLAGE MHP	1,500	Groundwater	100% of its area
MINTURN TOWN OF	1,200	Surface water	100% of its area
TWO RIVERS VILLAGE	896	Groundwater	1% of its area
RED CLIFF TOWN OF	469	Surface water	100% of its area
LAKE CREEK MEADOWS MD	407	Groundwater	100% of its area

and 2 more; the full directory filters by district.

Instream-flow rights held by the state

Source Register of another agency · fetched 2026-10-11 · verify at CWCB instream flow program ↗

79 reaches over 389.7 miles and 48 natural lake levels, held by the Colorado Water Conservation Board so that water stays in the stream. Every reach, with its schedule and case →

Eagle River, 20.0 mi: 45 (10/1 - 4/30), 110 (5/1 - 9/30) cfs (appropriated 1980, 80CW0126) · dossier
Gypsum Creek, 16.6 mi: 6 (1/1 - 12/31) cfs (appropriated 1980, 80CW0116) · dossier
Eagle River, 12.8 mi: 50 (10/1 - 4/30), 130 (5/1 - 9/30) cfs (appropriated 1980, 80CW0124) · dossier
Brush Creek, 12.0 mi: 12 (1/1 - 12/31) cfs (appropriated 1977, 77W3625) · dossier
Eagle River, 10.1 mi: 35 (10/1 - 4/30), 85 (5/1 - 9/30) cfs (appropriated 1980, 80CW0134) · dossier
Black Gore Creek, 10.0 mi: 4 (10/1 - 10/31) cfs (appropriated 1986, 86CW0230) · dossier

and 121 more on the district's instream-flow page.

What the water is like -- USGS sensors right now, where it has been sampled, the impaired-waters list, and how the tap water here stands with EPA -- is on the Water quality tab.

Designated groundwater basins are on their own page.

Source Adjudicated record · verify at DWR water-right transactions ↗ Source Adjudicated record · verify at DWR net amounts ↗

Decreed rights on this network run from 1880-10-20 to 2024-12-31. Of the 20 structures with a yield estimate, the median one’s senior right was in priority 5% of a median irrigation season and 0% in a dry one. 25 abandonment screens and 194 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: 4157 across 2162 structure(s); 419 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 1988–2025, 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 (38 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	184	1884-04-07
2015	365	256	1885-07-28
2016	366	237	1884-04-26
2017	365	330	1884-05-01
2018	365	290	1884-03-02
2019	365	165	1886-08-09
2020	366	221	1883-03-30
2021	365	218	1883-03-15
2022	365	201	1885-06-01
2023	365	120	1885-07-28
2024	366	164	1886-08-09
2025	365	232	1885-06-16

Why diversions stopped — call-based explanations

Sustained diversion stops matched to senior administrative calls.

CASTEEL DITCH (3700531) DWR↗ stopped 2024-09-30 (31+ days) — call at GRAND VALLEY CANAL curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
BEMIS DITCH (3700510) DWR↗ stopped 2024-09-18 (42+ days) — call at GRAND VALLEY CANAL curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
BEECHER CREEK DITCH (3700509) DWR↗ stopped 2024-08-16 (76+ days) — call at HIGHLINE DITCH (BUZZARD) curtailing 84% of its decreed rate [heuristic-partial]
CASTLE NO 1 DITCH (3700534) DWR↗ stopped 2024-08-02 (90+ days) — call at CAMP BIRD DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
C M STREMME GATES DITCH (3700548) DWR↗ stopped 2024-06-29 (124+ days) — call at EAST DIVIDE CREEK DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
CREAMERY DITCH (3700560) DWR↗ stopped 2023-10-31 (366+ days) — call at MOCKING BIRD DITCH curtailing 71% of its decreed rate [heuristic-partial]
CHATFIELD BARTHOLOMEW D (3700539) DWR↗ stopped 2023-10-30 (192+ days) — call at MOCKING BIRD DITCH curtailing 66% of its decreed rate [heuristic-partial]
DAGGETT AND PARKER DITCH (3700561) DWR↗ stopped 2023-10-30 (139+ days) — call at MOCKING BIRD DITCH curtailing 54% of its decreed rate [heuristic-partial]
DITCH NO 3 DITCH (3700568) DWR↗ stopped 2023-10-15 (198+ days) — call at BUFFALO DITCH curtailing 100% of its decreed rate [heuristic-strong]
CASTLE NO 1 DITCH (3700534) DWR↗ stopped 2023-10-12 (217+ days) — call at BUFFALO 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
AVON WHITEWATER COURSE RICD BABY BOB (3701418) DWR↗	2005-12-31	2.8% / 0.0%	2.8% / 0.0%
AVON WHITEWATER COURSE RICD BOB JR (3701417) DWR↗	2005-12-31	2.8% / 0.0%	2.8% / 0.0%
AVON WHITEWATER COURSE RICD BOB SR (3701416) DWR↗	2005-12-31	2.8% / 0.0%	2.8% / 0.0%
TOWN OF VAIL WHITEWATER PARK STRUCTURE 1 (3701412) DWR↗	2000-10-10	2.8% / 0.0%	2.8% / 0.0%
TOWN OF VAIL WHITEWATER PARK STRUCTURE 2 (3701413) DWR↗	2000-10-10	2.8% / 0.0%	2.8% / 0.0%
TOWN OF VAIL WHITEWATER PARK STRUCTURE 3 (3701414) DWR↗	2000-10-10	2.8% / 0.0%	2.8% / 0.0%
HOMESTAKE PROJ TUNNEL (3704614) DWR↗	1952-09-22	5.4% / 0.0%	5.4% / 0.0%
HOMESTAKE PROJ CONDUIT-HOMESTAKE CREEK (3704643) DWR↗	1952-09-22	5.4% / 0.0%	5.4% / 0.0%
MIN FLOW EAGLE RIVER BRUSH CREEK TO COLO (3702012) DWR↗	1980-03-17	4.9% / 0.0%	4.9% / 0.0%
MIN FLOW EAGLE RIVER LAKE CR TO BRUSH CR (3702059) DWR↗	1980-03-17	4.9% / 0.0%	4.9% / 0.0%
MIN FLOW EAGLE RIVER GORE CR TO LAKE CR (3702041) DWR↗	1980-03-17	4.9% / 0.0%	4.9% / 0.0%
WARREN E WURTS DITCH (3704648) DWR↗	1929-06-08	30.2% / 0.0%	30.2% / 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 ~1951 — idleness that begins before then may be unreported use, not nonuse (flagged † below).

OHNECK NO 2 DITCH (3700738) DWR↗ (1917-05-01, 2.3 cfs decreed): last active 1951 — 69 years idle
PETERSON NO 4 DITCH (3700759) DWR↗ (1906-08-29, 0.2 cfs decreed): last active 1952 — 68 years idle
SHIVELY DITCH (3700802) DWR↗ (1892-11-01, 1.2 cfs decreed): last active 1953 — 67 years idle
BIGHORN PIPELINE (3700881) DWR↗ (1963-04-04, 1.6 cfs decreed): last active 1953 — 67 years idle
MAHONEY DITCH (3700690) DWR↗ (1927-04-01, 2.8 cfs decreed): last active 1955 — 65 years idle
NOTTINGHAM DITCH (93) (3700733) DWR↗ (1887-05-26, 2.0 cfs decreed): last active 1955 — 65 years idle
BIG SPRING (3700879) DWR↗ (1935-05-01, 0.1 cfs decreed): last active 1955 — 65 years idle
BEAVER MEADOWS DITCH (3700507) DWR↗ (1923-09-01, 1.1 cfs decreed): last active 1956 — 64 years idle
JOHNSON & HOWARD DITCH (3700666) DWR↗ (1900-05-14, 3.0 cfs decreed): last active 1956 — 64 years idle
WELLS NO 2 DITCH (3700852) DWR↗ (1930-05-01, 2.4 cfs decreed): last active 1956 — 64 years idle

Compliance screens (194 advisory flags)

Screened 369 of 2162 structures with rights (415 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.

NOTTINGHAM & PUDER DITCH (3700736) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 55.5 cfs (max 55.5) exceeds total decreed absolute 24.6 cfs across 11400 recorded day(s).
COLUMBINE DITCH HDG 3 (3704641) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 36.0 cfs (max 66.6) exceeds total decreed absolute 30.0 cfs across 22790 recorded day(s).
BOLTS DITCH (3700514) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 31.7 cfs (max 31.7) exceeds total decreed absolute 30.0 cfs across 4392 recorded day(s).
TERRELL AND FORD DITCH (3700830) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 27.6 cfs (max 31.5) exceeds total decreed absolute 23.8 cfs across 15370 recorded day(s).
COWEN SPRINGS (3700558) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 26.5 cfs (max 26.5) exceeds total decreed absolute 3.0 cfs across 3148 recorded day(s).
CREAMERY DITCH (3700560) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 26.5 cfs (max 28.8) exceeds total decreed absolute 21.6 cfs across 18331 recorded day(s).
EMPIRE ZINC CO PIPELINE (3700590) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 23.4 cfs (max 23.4) exceeds total decreed absolute 16.0 cfs across 4394 recorded day(s).
EMPIRE ZINC CO PIPELINE (3700591) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 23.4 cfs (max 23.4) exceeds total decreed absolute 1.0 cfs across 4392 recorded day(s).
C K P DITCH (3700545) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 22.6 cfs (max 30.1) exceeds total decreed absolute 2.4 cfs across 20209 recorded day(s).
EAGLE DITCH (3700579) DWR↗: Observed p99 daily rate 21.2 cfs (max 21.2) exceeds total decreed absolute 13.2 cfs across 3240 recorded day(s).

Seniority (top structures by decreed rate)

Structure	Senior priority date	Rights	Decreed abs (cfs)	Conditional?
AVON WHITEWATER COURSE RICD BOB SR (3701416) DWR↗	2005-12-31	1	1400.0	—
AVON WHITEWATER COURSE RICD BOB JR (3701417) DWR↗	2005-12-31	1	1400.0	—
AVON WHITEWATER COURSE RICD BABY BOB (3701418) DWR↗	2005-12-31	1	1400.0	—
TOWN OF VAIL WHITEWATER PARK STRUCTURE 1 (3701412) DWR↗	2000-10-10	1	810.0	yes
TOWN OF VAIL WHITEWATER PARK STRUCTURE 2 (3701413) DWR↗	2000-10-10	1	756.0	yes
TOWN OF VAIL WHITEWATER PARK STRUCTURE 3 (3701414) DWR↗	2000-10-10	1	719.0	yes
HOMESTAKE PROJ TUNNEL (3704614) DWR↗	1952-09-22	1	300.0	yes
HOMESTAKE PROJ CONDUIT-HOMESTAKE CREEK (3704643) DWR↗	1952-09-22	1	181.9	yes
MIN FLOW EAGLE RIVER BRUSH CREEK TO COLO (3702012) DWR↗	1980-03-17	1	130.0	—
MIN FLOW EAGLE RIVER LAKE CR TO BRUSH CR (3702059) DWR↗	1980-03-17	1	110.0	—
MIN FLOW EAGLE RIVER GORE CR TO LAKE CR (3702041) DWR↗	1980-03-17	1	85.0	—
WARREN E WURTS DITCH (3704648) DWR↗	1929-06-08	1	85.0	—
HOMESTAKE PROJ CONDUIT-EAST FORK (3704644) DWR↗	1952-09-22	1	74.6	yes
HOMESTAKE PROJ CONDUIT-FRENCH CREEK (3701253) DWR↗	1952-09-22	1	62.2	yes
STRATTON AND CO DITCH (3700823) DWR↗	1881-07-01	14	54.4	—

Recent inventory & legal-document changes

2026-10-09 — call released: 39534
2026-10-08 — call set: GRAND VALLEY CANAL (39690)
2026-10-08 — call released: 36734
2026-10-08 — call released: 38588
2026-10-08 — call released: 39264
2026-10-07 — call set: CORNELL DITCH (39681)
2026-10-07 — call set: MOCKING BIRD DITCH (39686)
2026-10-07 — call released: 39636

Water-court filings this month (division-wide)

9 applications in the 2026-09 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 2026-11-30 (46 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 9 filings, with excerpts

Case	What it asks	County	Excerpt
`26CW3086`	change of water right	GRAND	26CW3086 GRAND COUNTY -RECTOR FAMILY LIMITED LIABILITY LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, MIKE RECTOR, GENERAL PARTNER (5 Inverness Dr. East, Englewood, CO 80112; mhr@rimop.com; 303-570-5174), c/o Valissa Tsoucaris, Esq., Tsoucaris Law, LLC, 3000 Holly Street, Denver, CO 80…
`26CW3097`	reasonable diligence	PITKIN	26CW3097 PITKIN COUNTY, COLORADO; COLORADO RIVER OR ITS TRIBUTARIES. WOODY CREEK COMMUNE 1, LLC; WOODY CREEK COMMUNE 2, LLC; WOODY CREEK COMMUNE 3, LLC; and WOODY CREEK COMMUNE 4, LLC, Colorado limited liability companies; c/o Danielle L. Van Arsdale, Esq., Wo…
`26CW3098`	reasonable diligence	GRAND	26CW3098 GRAND COUNTY. Ritschard Springs Association, P.O. Box 1594, Kremmling, CO 80459, c/o Kaitlin Randall and Kent Whitmer, JVAM PLLC, PO Box 878, Glenwood Springs, CO 81602, (970) 922 -2122. APPLICATION FOR FINDING OF SEPTEMBER 2026 RESUME WATER DIVISION …
`26CW3099`	reasonable diligence	GARFIELD	26CW3099 GARFIELD COUNTY, COLORADO, A SPRING TRIBUTARY TO THE COLORADO RIVER . S Bar Lazy S Enterprises LLC, P.O. Box 809, Silt, Colorado 81652. Please direct all correspondence to Jeffrey J. Conklin and Danielle T. Skinner of Karp Neu Hanlon, P.C., P.O. Drawe…
`26CW3100`	reasonable diligence	PITKIN	26CW3100 PITKIN COUNTY – ROARING FORK RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES. RUSSELL WIGHT c/o Paul L. Noto and John Sittler, Patrick, Miller & Noto, P.C., 229 Midland Ave., Basalt, CO 81621 (970) 920-1030. APPLICATION FOR FINDINGS OF REASONABLE DILIGENCE. First Claim: Wi…
`26CW3101`	reasonable diligence, make absolute	GARFIELD	26CW3101 GARFIELD COUNTY, CANYON CRK, COLORADO RIVER. App for Reasonable Diligence and To Make Absolute. Ross Jeffery c/o Sherry Caloia, PO Box 443, Glenwood Sprgs 81602. Name: Ross Hydro, decreed in 20CW002 on 10/11/2020. Desc: 1 or more pipelines in NW¼ NE¼ …
`26CW3102`	—	GRAND	26CW3102 GRAND COUNTY . Moose Ridge Association, c/o Robin Tieman, President, 4075 Nassau Pl., Boulder, CO 80301. Applicant is represented by Kaitlin Randall and Kent Whitmer, JVAM PLLC, PO Box 878, Glenwood Springs, CO 81602, (970) 922 - 2122. APPLICATION FOR…
`26CW3105`	reasonable diligence	PITKIN	26CW3105 PITKIN COUNTY, COLORADO. WATER RIGHT TRIBUTARY TO THE ROARING FORK RIVER. Application for Findings of Reasonable Diligence. Aspen Skiing Company, LLC, c/o Kylie J. Crandall, Esq., Mark E. Hamilton, Esq., HOLLAND & HART LLP, 600 E. Main St., Suite 104,…
`26CW3107`	reasonable diligence	EAGLE	26CW3107 EAGLE COUNTY, COLORADO, GROUNDWATER TRIBUTARY TO LAKE CREEK, TRIBUTARY TO THE EAGLE RIVER, TRIBUTARY TO THE COLORADO RIVER. WLC1003 LLC, 1003 Lake Creek Road, Edwards, Colorado 81632. Please direct all correspondence to Michael J. Sawyer and Erika S. …

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
PUEBLO WATER COLORADO RIVER EXPEDITED ISF 2026	37-83-105(2)(a) Instream Flow Loan	Approved	2026-09-30	—	plan file
RED SKY RANCH	37-92-308(5) PLANS LESS THAN 5 YEARS	Approved	2027-02-24	—	plan file
GYPSUM TOWN OF	37-92-308(5) PLANS LESS THAN 5 YEARS	Approved	2027-06-01	—	plan file
ERWSD VAIL SERVICE AREA	37-92-308(5) PLANS LESS THAN 5 YEARS	Approved	2027-07-31	—	plan file
UERWA 23CW3205	37-92-308(4) PLAN PENDING COURT APPLICATION	Pending	—	—	plan file
B&B WELL NO. 1	37-92-308(5) PLANS LESS THAN 5 YEARS	Division Review	—	—	plan file

Water quality

The water itself, in this district

Four registers, each on its own schedule: what USGS sensors read right now, where samples have been taken, which stretches the state lists as impaired, and how the tap water of the systems here stands with EPA. None is a DWR record; each links its own page.

Right now

Source Provisional telemetry · fetched 2026-10-15 · verify at USGS current conditions ↗

10 USGS sensors report temperature, conductance, dissolved oxygen or turbidity from inside this district; provisional readings, never merged into the verified record.

Site	Temp °C	Cond µS/cm	As of
BLACK GORE CREEK NEAR MINTURN, CO. ↗	3.9	527	2026-10-15 05:15
BOOTH CREEK NEAR MINTURN, CO.	6.3	148	2026-10-15 05:15
EAGLE RIVER AT PRICE LANE BRIDGE NEAR GYPSUM, CO ↗	11.5	1110	2026-10-15 05:30
EAGLE RIVER AT RED CLIFF, CO.	6.4	274	2026-10-15 05:45
EAGLE RIVER BELOW MILK CREEK NEAR WOLCOTT, CO	10.0		2026-10-15 06:15
EAGLE RIVER NEAR MINTURN, CO	7.3	122	2026-10-15 05:15
GORE CREEK ABOVE BIGHORN PARK NEAR VAIL, CO ↗	5.6	296	2026-10-15 05:30
GORE CREEK AT MOUTH NEAR MINTURN, CO	8.4	485	2026-10-15 05:15

and 2 more on the statewide page.

Where water has been sampled

Source Register of another agency · fetched 2026-10-08 · verify at Water Quality Portal ↗

The portal lists 1,053 sampling stations in this district's watershed (Eagle 14010003), of which 112 reported a sample in the last 5 years on the state and tribal side (USGS activity is in the station count, not in that figure). Most active: Eagle River Watershed Council (ERWC) (Volunteer) (37), Colorado River Watch (33), Colorado Dept. of Public Health & Environment-WQCD (24). Most-sampled groups: Inorganics, Major, Metals, Physical, Nutrient, Inorganics, Minor, Metals. Every station as a file ↗

Results themselves are not fetched here; USGS samples added after March 2024 may not be in the portal's legacy profiles yet.

Drinking water

Source Register of another agency · fetched 2026-10-07 · verify at EPA SDWIS ↗

10 community systems touch this district. None carries an open health-based violation on EPA's record. EPA sampled 4 of them for PFAS in 2023–25; none had PFOA or PFOS at or above the 2024 limit.

System	Serves	EPA record	PFAS (UCMR 5)	Lead, latest 90th pct
EAGLE RIVER WSD	51,515	clean, last 12 quarters	none detected	0.002 mg/L
GYPSUM TOWN OF	15,272	clean, last 12 quarters	none detected	0.002 mg/L
EAGLE TOWN OF	7,511	1 of 12 quarters with a violation	none detected	0.003 mg/L
EAGLE RIVER VILLAGE MHP	1,500	1 of 12 quarters with a violation	not sampled	0.001 mg/L
MINTURN TOWN OF	1,200	3 of 12 quarters with a violation	not sampled	0.002 mg/L
TWO RIVERS VILLAGE	896	clean, last 12 quarters	none detected	0.0 mg/L
RED CLIFF TOWN OF	469	1 of 12 quarters with a violation	not sampled	0.0005 mg/L
LAKE CREEK MEADOWS MD	407	clean, last 12 quarters	not sampled	0.0 mg/L
RED SKY RANCH	291	clean, last 12 quarters	not sampled	0.0105 mg/L
GREEN ACRES MHP	130	1 of 12 quarters with a violation	not sampled	0.0014 mg/L

EPA's record carries violations and lead/copper percentiles; nitrate and disinfection by-product results are not in it. UCMR 5 samples are monitoring, not compliance, and the 2024 PFOA/PFOS limits equal its reporting limit, so any detection of those two is at or above them.

Impaired waters

Source Register of another agency · verify at EPA ATTAINS ↗

The state's 303(d) impaired-waters list has not been joined to this basin's own watershed boundary yet, so nothing is shown rather than a guess; the basins with a join carry the full list here. Why the join is geometry, not a name match.

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

Administration number

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

This week's diagnostic

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System status

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Active river calls

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Hydrographs vs. historical envelope

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Anomaly flags

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Snowpack — no snow on the ground at 3 SNOTEL sites — normal for the date; the snow year begins in October and typically peaks around April 2. Runoff outlook — Eagle R bl Gypsum : even odds of at least 34 kAF over 06-01 to 07-31 — 17% 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)	% of median	Typical peak
Beaver Ck Village	8530	0.0	—	April 2 (11.7 in)
Mccoy Park	9500	0.0	—	April 7 (14.6 in)
Vail Mountain	10290	0.3	—	April 27 (20.8 in)

Eagle R bl Gypsum — 06-01 to 07-31 volume, thousand acre-feet (chance the volume is AT LEAST this):

90%	70%	50%	30%	10%	Normal
22	28	34	55	85	198

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: 2 parent disagreements, 20 sizable streams not on this network (vs DWR's route framework — under review)

This flow network was built mechanically; DWR's Source Water Route Framework disagrees with it in the places below. Each row is a question a human reviewer has not yet answered — not an error verdict. Checked 26 streams, 24 agree. Know this water? Tell us →

Stream	This site routes it to	DWR routes it to
Willow Creek	the mainstem	Alkali Creek
Willow Creek	the mainstem	Turkey Creek

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

Cottonwood Creek (9 mi) · Fall Creek (9 mi) · Turkey Creek (9 mi) · Two Elk Creek (7 mi) · Berry Creek (6 mi) · Grouse Creek (6 mi) · Warren Gulch Creek (6 mi) · Castle Creek (6 mi)

Something wrong on this page? Tell us →

Eagle River Basin

Schematic

Historical

Evolution of the network

Trends

This year, in context

Gage flow trend & changepoints

How the measurement network itself changed

Mass-balance (network closure) trend

Reach gain/loss shifts (1950–2026)

Cross-gage pattern fingerprint

Structures most implicated by reconciliation (as of 2026-09-29)

Data provenance & quality

Groundwater

Well map

3D aquifer x-ray

Water-table trends

Stream corridors — the surface connection

Permits issued here, by year

What drillers reached, township by township

Reservoirs

Reservoir map — how full is each vessel?

Basin storage, end of each water year

Largest reservoirs on record

Snow and runoff

Snow-water equivalent, WY2027

Two ways a snow year goes wrong (1979–2026)

Runoff outlook — Eagle R bl Gypsum

How good are these forecasts here? (1979–2026)

What April snow has meant for this river (1979–2026)

Drought

Right now

Every year since 1910, week by week

This year against its analogs

The Drought Monitor’s view since 2000

The law’s own drought gauge

This basin’s droughts, by its own record

When this basin claimed its water

Legal

Who serves it, who protects it

Public water systems here

Instream-flow rights held by the state

Is the river getting harder to divert from?

Why diversions stopped — call-based explanations

Right yield — how often could these rights actually divert?

Abandonment radar (25 screens)

Compliance screens (194 advisory flags)

Seniority (top structures by decreed rate)

Recent inventory & legal-document changes

Water-court filings this month (division-wide)

Active substitute water supply plans in this district

Water quality

The water itself, in this district

Right now

Where water has been sampled

Drinking water

Impaired waters

Call cascade

Pick a calling right

This week's diagnostic

System status

Active river calls

Hydrographs vs. historical envelope

Anomaly flags

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