Hydrohistorian
← My Water · Print / save as PDF
BIG T PLATTE R DITCH
Structure dossier · WDID 0400502 · 1 · BIG THOMPSON RIVER · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-27 22:21 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 1865-11-18 — 25th most senior of the 1296 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: MARIANO DITCH (1863-05-01). Immediately behind: RIST GOSS DITCH (1866-03-20).
Decreed rights (5)
| 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. | Units | UsesWhat the court said this water may be used for -- irrigation, municipal supply, augmentation and so on. | Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5801.0 | 1865-11-18 | 1883-05-28 | 35.0 | 0.0 | C | IRRAUGRCH | |
| 9632.0 | 1876-05-15 | 1883-05-28 | 60.0 | 0.0 | C | IRRAUGRCH | |
| 55840.0 | 2002-11-19 | 2002-12-31 | 0.0 | 0.0 | C | STO | |
| 56977.0 | 2005-12-30 | 2005-12-31 | 0.0 | 1000.0 | A | AUGCURRCH | |
| 56977.0 | 2005-12-30 | 2005-12-31 | 0.0 | 40.0 | C | AUGCURRCH |
Legal record & documents
25 decreed actions on record across
6 court cases:
05CW0331, 18CW3103, 02CW0269, 84CW0204, 05CW0053, 05/28/1883.
Every case, dated
| Case | Actions | Latest adjudication | Types |
|---|---|---|---|
05CW0331 | 16 | 2005-12-31 | S |
18CW3103 | 1 | 2002-12-31 | S |
02CW0269 | 1 | 2002-12-31 | S |
84CW0204 | 1 | 1883-05-28 | O |
05CW0053 | 4 | 1883-05-28 | O |
05/28/1883 | 2 | 1883-05-28 | O |
DWR's own records for this structure: net amounts · transactions & adjudication history · scanned decrees (search a case number there for the imaged document). On this site: the district's full legal picture →
Recorded use (last 15 years on record)
In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 10,614 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2024, came in at 11,300 AF — 106% of that, and 10th 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.
| Year | Diverted (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 record | Released (AF) | Days recorded | Peak (cfs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 9,616 | 4th lowest of 15 · 91% of median | — | 187 | 35.0 |
| 2011 | 14,145 | 15th lowest of 15 · 133% of median | — | 206 | 77.6 |
| 2012 | 10,506 | 7th lowest of 15 · 99% of median | — | 213 | 68.6 |
| 2013 | 7,473 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 70% of median | — | 122 | 59.0 |
| 2014 | 7,229 | 1st lowest of 15 · 68% of median | — | 108 | 44.9 |
| 2015 | 10,399 | 6th lowest of 15 · 98% of median | — | 172 | 72.6 |
| 2016 | 12,896 | 12th lowest of 15 · 122% of median | — | 220 | 48.6 |
| 2017 | 12,622 | 11th lowest of 15 · 119% of median | — | 212 | 63.8 |
| 2018 | 10,614 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | 493 | 210 | 52.0 |
| 2019 | 11,053 | 9th lowest of 15 · 104% of median | 678 | 206 | 131.2 |
| 2020 | 10,248 | 5th lowest of 15 · 97% of median | 196 | 198 | 45.5 |
| 2021 | 13,355 | 14th lowest of 15 · 126% of median | 76 | 197 | 52.2 |
| 2022 | 12,916 | 13th lowest of 15 · 122% of median | 26 | 201 | 47.0 |
| 2023 | 8,247 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 78% of median | 73 | 176 | 41.3 |
| 2024 | 11,300 | 10th lowest of 15 · 106% of median | — | 202 | 40.0 |
Call-derived yield: senior right divertible 100.0% of a median season / 35.0% dry-year.
Trends for this structure
Recorded use shows no clear trend over its last 15 recorded years — which is itself worth knowing.
How good is our record of it?
Grade A (9/10 points) — the components below are the finding; the letter alone is not.
The rubric, component by component
| Check | State | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| identity | complete | name, type, and water source all on file |
| decreed rights | on file | 5 right(s), seniority decoded |
| diversion record | present | 13205 measured days; currency unknown (no data-coverage date to compare against) |
| record continuity | continuous | 83% of the irrigation seasons in 1950-2024 carry measured days |
| published-record stability | stable | no upstream revisions recorded against this structure |
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.