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HOWARD DITCH RETURN STRUCTURE

Structure dossier · WDID 0602901 · OTHER · SOUTH BOULDER CREEK · DWR record

Howard Ditch Return Structure is a water structure on South Boulder Creek in Colorado. This page is its public record: the water it has a right to, whether it may take it today, and its history, compiled from the Colorado Division of Water Resources.

Source DWR administrative record · verify at DWR structure ↗ Source DWR administrative record · verify at DWR diversion records ↗ Source Our computation, scored against a reference · scored against DWR's call analysis, see /methods

Where this page's figures come from

Generated 2026-10-13 19:59 by Hydrohistorian. Sources: DWR HydroBase snapshot HydroBase_CO_20260928 (history) + CDSS REST (current), USGS NWIS cross-checks. Engine v0.5.0 (dd58e60) — every figure regenerates from this named code version and data image.

The record and the river

Where this structure is measured

GageFlowing nowRecordHow we know
HOWARD DITCH RETURN STRUCTURE HOWRTNCO 0.12 cfs 2023–2026, 906 days DWR telemetry mapping
HOWARD DITCH HOWDITCO 0.0 cfs 2020–2026, 2,369 days co-located, 10 m
SOUTH BOULDER CREEK ABOVE HOWARD DITCH SBCHOWCO 1.88 cfs 2022–2026, 1,310 days co-located, 197 m

A green link is DWR's own: either its telemetry inventory maps this WDID to that station, or the station is named for this WDID (0700553 → 0700553A). An amber one is ours — the station sits within 250 m and shares a distinctive word with this structure's name, which is a strong hint rather than a DWR statement that this gage meters this structure. Wrong? Tell us.

Flowing now

0.12 cfs as of 2026-10-13 18:00 (2.0 h ago)

Provisional 15-minute telemetry from HOWRTNCO ↗ (HOWARD DITCH RETURN STRUCTURE). Raw, not the approved record — it is never merged into the diversion history below. DWR publishes the official diversion record after the water year closes and is approved, which is why that record ends months back while this reads minutes ago.

In short

In a median year over its last 13 recorded years it diverts 237 acre-feet. That use is falling by about 8.3 acre-feet a year over 13 years (p=0.03273560958832089).

Assembled from the figures on this page — every number above is checked against them before it is shown (5 checked). The detail, with its method, is in the cards below.

Download this structure

Everything on this page as data you can work with — and a README that makes it citable: the HydroBase snapshot it was built from, the build commit, what every column means, the method behind each derived figure, and that method's stated limits.

⇩ Full record (.zip) Print / save as PDF

Or one table at a time: rights.csv · annual_use.csv · curtailment_now.csv · court_cases.csv · co_parties.csv · call_climatology.csv

What is in the bundle
  • rights.csv — every decreed right, most senior first, with admin numbers, dates, amounts, uses and case numbers.
  • annual_use.csv — recorded diversion by year, with releases accounted separately.
  • curtailment_now.csv — each right's current priority status and how often it was out across analog years.
  • court_cases.csv — the cases attached to its rights.
  • co_parties.csv — the other structures that were parties to those cases. Not available anywhere else.
  • call_climatology.csv — how often each right has been out of priority by week of season, with confidence intervals and the seasons the record could actually judge.
  • README.txt — provenance, methods, limits, disclaimer, and links back to DWR's own records for verification.

Where it sits

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

Which of its rights are out of priority?

The outlook for the weeks ahead is not computable for this structure: no decreed right on file, so there is no priority to test.

Filings that would move water above this headgate

4 water-court applications in the monthly resumes name a structure on SOUTH BOULDER CREEK upstream of this headgate. A new right, exchange or change of use up there changes what arrives down here — the resume is the public notice, and the opposition window is how anyone affected answers it.

MonthCaseWhat it asksUpstream structuresOppose by
2026-08 2026CW3125 reasonable diligence LEYNER COTTONWOOD DITCH (0.2 mi up), ENTERPRISE DITCH (0.2 mi up), NEW DRY CR CARRIER DITCH (0.2 mi up), S BOULDER BEAR CR DITCH (3.1 mi up) +2 more 2026-10-31 (18d)
2026-06 2026CW3093 reasonable diligence LEYNER COTTONWOOD DITCH (0.2 mi up), ENTERPRISE DITCH (0.2 mi up), NEW DRY CR CARRIER DITCH (0.2 mi up), S BOULDER BEAR CR DITCH (3.1 mi up) +2 more 2026-08-31
2025-10 2025CW3137 reasonable diligence LEYNER COTTONWOOD DITCH (0.2 mi up), ENTERPRISE DITCH (0.2 mi up), NEW DRY CR CARRIER DITCH (0.2 mi up), S BOULDER BEAR CR DITCH (3.1 mi up) +2 more 2025-12-31
2025-04 2025CW3049 reasonable diligence LEYNER COTTONWOOD DITCH (0.2 mi up), ENTERPRISE DITCH (0.2 mi up), NEW DRY CR CARRIER DITCH (0.2 mi up), S BOULDER BEAR CR DITCH (3.1 mi up) +2 more 2025-06-30

Judged on this structure’s own named stream only — a filing on a tributary that joins upstream is not judged here. Filings that name structures only in prose, without a WDID, are invisible to this card. Reading aid, not legal advice; the deadline is computed from C.R.S. 37-92-302(3), and the court’s own notice controls.

Recorded use (last 15 years on record)

Years far under the decreed amount? That gap has a name — paper water vs. wet water, explained on this structure.

In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 237 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2025, came in at 184 AF — 78% of that, and 3rd lowest of the 13 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)
2009 — no recorded volume 332 0 —
2010 — no recorded volume 305 0 —
2011 336 13th lowest of 13 · 142% of median 336 205 1.0
2012 292 11th lowest of 13 · 123% of median 292 201 1.0
2013 215 4th lowest of 13 · 91% of median 215 143 1.0
2014 249 9th lowest of 13 · 105% of median 249 149 1.0
2015 218 5th lowest of 13 · 92% of median 218 213 1.0
2016 246 8th lowest of 13 · 104% of median 246 161 1.2
2017 289 10th lowest of 13 · 122% of median 289 206 0.9
2018 309 12th lowest of 13 · 130% of median 309 212 0.9
2019 226 6th lowest of 13 · 95% of median 226 196 0.9
2020 237 7th lowest of 13 · 100% of median 237 212 0.8
2021 155 2nd lowest of 13 · 65% of median 155 205 0.7
2024 143 1st lowest of 13 · 60% of median 143 245 14.8
2025 184 3rd lowest of 13 · 78% of median 184 304 2.4

How good is our record of it?

Grade C (6/10 points) — the components below are the finding; the letter alone is not.

The rubric, component by component
CheckStateDetail
identity complete name, type, and water source all on file
decreed rights absent no water rights cached for this WDID
diversion record present 2652 measured days; currency unknown (no data-coverage date to compare against)
record continuity patchy 75% of the irrigation seasons in 2009-2025 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.

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