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EMPIRE DITCH

Structure dossier · WDID 0100501 · 1 · SOUTH PLATTE RIVER · DWR record

Where this page's figures come from

Generated 2026-08-27 21:05 by Hydrohistorian. Sources: DWR HydroBase snapshot HydroBase_CO_20260707 (history) + CDSS REST (current), USGS NWIS cross-checks. Engine v0.5.0 (2deb1d7) — every figure regenerates from this named code version and data image.

Where it sits

Location as DWR records it. Faint dots are the neighbouring water; click any to open it.

Which of its rights are out of priority?

Not computable for this structure: this structure is not on the modelled flow network, so no reference gage can honestly stand in for it.

Where it sits in line

Priority 1905-05-18 — 414th most senior of the 7705 structures with decreed rights in this water districtDWR's administrative subdivision of a river basin; the unit calls are usually stated in..

Under prior appropriationColorado's rule for sharing water: first in time, first in right. Age decides, not proximity or need., everything ahead of it in this line is satisfied in full before it receives any water. Immediately ahead: KLUG RES 1 (1905-02-21). Immediately behind: EMPIRE RES (1905-05-18).

Decreed rights (4)

Admin noDWR's numeric encoding of a water right's seniority. Smaller is more senior; the integer part counts days from 1849-12-31 to the date that ranks the right. AppropriatedWhen water was first put to beneficial use. It sets seniority unless a prior adjudication date is later. AdjudicatedWhen the water court confirmed the right. A use decreed in 1975 was not a decreed use in 1955, however old the appropriation is. AbsoluteA right actually put to use, as opposed to conditional -- a placeholder for a use not yet made. ConditionalA right reserving a place in line for a use not yet made; it must be diligently pursued or it lapses. UnitsUsesWhat the court said this water may be used for -- irrigation, municipal supply, augmentation and so on.Case
20226.01905-05-181914-01-15 612.480.0 CSTO
20543.01906-03-311914-01-15 612.480.0 CIRRRECFIS
26302.202261905-05-181936-01-13 612.480.0 CSTO
31423.292191929-12-311965-06-08 612.480.0 CSTO

Recorded use (last 15 years on record)

In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 56,353 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2024, came in at 32,092 AF — 57% of that, and 1st lowest of the 15 years with a recorded volume.

This structure records both diversions and reservoir releases — they are separate water movements and are accounted separately below.

YearDiverted (AFA volume: one acre covered a foot deep, about 326,000 gallons -- roughly a suburban household's outdoor use for a year.)Compared with its own recordReleased (AF)Days recordedPeak (cfs)
2010 75,254 15th lowest of 15 · 134% of median — 236 401.0
2011 62,863 13th lowest of 15 · 112% of median — 225 340.0
2012 45,976 3rd lowest of 15 · 82% of median — 140 372.0
2013 65,862 14th lowest of 15 · 117% of median — 143 441.0
2014 52,627 6th lowest of 15 · 93% of median — 244 366.0
2015 56,353 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median — 231 429.0
2016 62,349 12th lowest of 15 · 111% of median — 245 358.0
2017 57,874 9th lowest of 15 · 103% of median — 258 360.0
2018 59,348 10th lowest of 15 · 105% of median — 218 342.0
2019 51,146 5th lowest of 15 · 91% of median — 236 309.0
2020 55,676 7th lowest of 15 · 99% of median — 166 392.0
2021 62,140 11th lowest of 15 · 110% of median — 204 352.0
2022 42,932 2nd lowest of 15 · 76% of median — 170 289.0
2023 49,063 4th lowest of 15 · 87% of median — 294 1662.0
2024 32,092 1st lowest of 15 · 57% of median — 135 221.0

Advisory reading aid on public data — not an administrative or legal conclusion, not a title opinion, and not a substitute for DWR administration or an engineer's analysis. Methodology review status is disclosed at hydrohistorian's basin pages.