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EMPIRE TOWN WATER RIGHT

Structure dossier · WDID 0700567 · DITCH · MAD CREEK · DWR record

Where this page's figures come from

Generated 2026-08-27 21:06 by Hydrohistorian. Sources: DWR HydroBase snapshot HydroBase_CO_20260707 (history) + CDSS REST (current), USGS NWIS cross-checks. Engine v0.5.0 (4ab2507) — 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.

Current administration

● Fully called out — call at OSBORNE CAYWOOD DITCH (LITTLE THOMPSON RIVER, priority 1861-05-31).

● Fully called out — call at SWADLEY LONGAN DITCH (RALSTON CREEK, priority 1861-04-09).

● Fully called out — call at HARRIMAN DITCH (BEAR CREEK, priority 1861-12-01).

● Fully called out — call at CLEAR CR PLATTE RIVER D (CLEAR CREEK, priority 1861-11-01).

● Fully called out — call at HILLSBOROUGH DITCH (BIG THOMPSON RIVER, priority 1861-11-10).

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 1863-12-31 — 67th most senior of the 1815 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: RHODES MIDDLE DITCH (1863-08-01). Immediately behind: LANE DITCH (1864-06-20).

Decreed rights (1)

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
5113.01863-12-311914-10-09 1.820.0 CIRRFIRDOMOTH

Recorded use (last 15 years on record)

In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 73 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2020, came in at 35 AF — 48% of that, and 2nd lowest of the 15 years with a recorded volume.

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 recordDays recordedPeak (cfs)
2001 71 7th lowest of 15 · 97% of median 335 1.0
2002 82 10th lowest of 15 · 112% of median 357 0.4
2003 89 11th lowest of 15 · 122% of median 365 0.4
2004 61 6th lowest of 15 · 84% of median 366 0.2
2005 73 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median 365 0.3
2006 113 15th lowest of 15 · 155% of median 365 0.9
2007 106 14th lowest of 15 · 145% of median 365 0.9
2008 100 13th lowest of 15 · 137% of median 366 0.4
2009 79 9th lowest of 15 · 108% of median 365 0.4
2010 91 12th lowest of 15 · 125% of median 304 0.4
2016 6 1st lowest of 15 · 8% of median 61 0.1
2017 53 4th lowest of 15 · 73% of median 365 0.2
2018 59 5th lowest of 15 · 81% of median 354 0.3
2019 44 3rd lowest of 15 · 60% of median 349 0.2
2020 35 2nd lowest of 15 · 48% of median 292 0.2

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.