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HANDY DITCH
Structure dossier · WDID 0400521 · 1 · BIG THOMPSON RIVER · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-27 19:16 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 in line
Priority 1861-11-10 — 7th 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: GEORGE RIST DITCH (1861-11-10). Immediately behind: HILLSBOROUGH DITCH (1861-11-10).
Decreed rights (24)
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4332.0 | 1861-11-10 | 1883-05-28 | 4.14 | 0.0 | C | MUN | |
| 4839.0 | 1863-04-01 | 1883-05-28 | 1.3915 | 0.0 | C | STOIRRMUNFISAUGCURWLD | |
| 5235.0 | 1864-05-01 | 1883-05-28 | 1.5223 | 0.0 | C | STOIRRMUNFISAUGCURWLD | |
| 5535.0 | 1865-02-25 | 1883-05-28 | 19.9778 | 0.0 | C | STOIRRMUNFISAUGCURWLD | |
| 6269.0 | 1867-03-01 | 1883-05-28 | 2.684 | 0.0 | C | STOIRRMUNFISAUGCURWLD | |
| 8157.0 | 1872-05-01 | 1883-05-28 | 0.4006 | 0.0 | C | STOIRRMUNFISAUGCURWLD | |
| 10286.0 | 1878-02-28 | 1883-05-28 | 31.1653 | 0.0 | C | STOIRRMUNFISAUGCURWLD | |
| 11307.0 | 1880-12-15 | 1883-05-28 | 141.0771 | 0.0 | C | STOIRRMUNFISAUGCURWLD | |
| 12201.1015 | 1877-10-15 | 1892-03-18 | 198.0 | 0.0 | C | IRR | |
| 13563.0 | 1887-02-18 | 1916-06-29 | 3.0 | 0.0 | C | MUN | |
| 16902.0 | 1896-04-10 | 1914-07-06 | 0.0 | 0.0 | C | IRR | |
| 24286.11597 | 1881-10-01 | 1931-04-01 | 250.0 | 0.0 | C | STO | |
| 24286.12023 | 1882-12-01 | 1931-04-01 | 9.0 | 0.0 | C | STO | |
| 24286.14209 | 1888-11-25 | 1931-04-01 | 125.0 | 0.0 | C | STO | |
| 24286.19099 | 1902-04-17 | 1931-04-01 | 125.0 | 0.0 | C | STO | |
| 24286.19754 | 1904-02-01 | 1931-04-01 | 250.0 | 0.0 | C | STO | |
| 26084.0 | 1921-06-01 | 1931-04-01 | 250.0 | 0.0 | C | STO | |
| 29675.12012 | 1882-11-20 | 1939-11-14 | 20.0 | 0.0 | C | STO | |
| 29675.12183 | 1883-05-10 | 1939-11-14 | 38.4 | 0.0 | C | STO | |
| 29675.1779 | 1898-09-15 | 1939-11-14 | 250.0 | 0.0 | C | STO | |
| 29675.18954 | 1901-11-23 | 1939-11-14 | 30.0 | 0.0 | C | STO | |
| 29675.20426 | 1905-12-04 | 1939-11-14 | 250.0 | 0.0 | C | STO | |
| 29675.26828 | 1923-06-15 | 1939-11-14 | 250.0 | 0.0 | C | STOIRR | |
| 46020.24323 | 1916-08-05 | 1976-12-31 | 0.0 | 0.0 | C | IRR |
Recorded use (last 15 years on record)
In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 13,503 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2024, came in at 12,100 AF — 90% of that, and 6th 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 | 12,632 | 7th lowest of 15 · 94% of median | — | 130 | 125.0 |
| 2011 | 16,405 | 13th lowest of 15 · 122% of median | — | 95 | 199.0 |
| 2012 | 8,808 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 65% of median | — | 113 | 76.8 |
| 2013 | 14,571 | 12th lowest of 15 · 108% of median | — | 142 | 124.0 |
| 2014 | 13,549 | 9th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | — | 124 | 152.0 |
| 2015 | 7,698 | 1st lowest of 15 · 57% of median | — | 81 | 90.6 |
| 2016 | 11,849 | 5th lowest of 15 · 88% of median | — | 125 | 157.0 |
| 2017 | 16,954 | 14th lowest of 15 · 126% of median | — | 135 | 175.9 |
| 2018 | 13,503 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | — | 127 | 189.0 |
| 2019 | 14,283 | 11th lowest of 15 · 106% of median | — | 135 | 180.0 |
| 2020 | 8,380 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 62% of median | — | 94 | 126.0 |
| 2021 | 17,082 | 15th lowest of 15 · 126% of median | — | 139 | 195.6 |
| 2022 | 14,140 | 10th lowest of 15 · 105% of median | — | 159 | 204.7 |
| 2023 | 9,786 | 4th lowest of 15 · 72% of median | — | 98 | 180.0 |
| 2024 | 12,100 | 6th lowest of 15 · 90% of median | — | 125 | 107.0 |
Call-derived yield: senior right divertible 100.0% of a median season / 61.2% dry-year.
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.