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HAINES PIQUETTE DITCH

Structure dossier · WDID 0700586 · DITCH · RALSTON CREEK · DWR record

Where this page's figures come from

Generated 2026-08-27 22:57 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 SWADLEY LONGAN DITCH (RALSTON CREEK, priority 1861-04-09).

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

● Fully called out — call at FARMERS INDEPENDENT DITCH (SOUTH PLATTE RIVER, priority 1865-11-20).

Which of its rights are out of priority?

Under today's controlling call (SWADLEY LONGAN DITCH, priority 1861-04-09): 3 of this structure's 3 rights are out of priority now (call list is 12 days old). (10 call(s) state no district and sit outside this one — not judged, not assumed.) In the 5 past years most like this one (2022, 2018, 2016, 2019, 2021), 3 of the rights shown below were out at least one week in at least one analog year.

Right (priority)NowAnalog years outMajority out by
1869-06-01 7092 ● out 5 of 5 2026-08-09
1899-03-19 17975 ● out 5 of 5 2026-08-09
1993-08-24 52466 ● out 5 of 5 2026-08-09
How this table is built, and what it is not

“Now” compares each right's admin number with today's most senior applicable active call. The outlook uses flows at RALSTON CREEK BELOW RALSTON RESERVOIR around 2026-08-09 (the newest reading on file) — currently 7% of that gage's own median for this window — to pick the 5 most similar past years with complete administration records (2004–2026). Only calls that verifiably apply count: DWR's own district statements in the call's set comments, a caller located in this district, or — on the same stream, where DWR records both stream miles (measured from the mouth) — a caller DOWNSTREAM of this structure. An upstream senior cannot demand water this diversion never deprives it of. Calls that state nothing and sit elsewhere are counted as unjudged rather than assumed, which also means the verified record is shorter than the raw one: early calls rarely state districts. For each week it finds the most senior call then in force; a right is out in that week exactly when that call is senior to it, which is why one line prices every right and juniors can be out while seniors keep diverting. “Majority out by” is the first week out in more than half the analog years. A frequency among named historical years, not a probability from a model, and not a forecast of what the division engineer will do. It says how often years whose flow resembled this one were under a call senior to this right in a given week. Snowpack, storage, and the actual administrative decisions of a given season are not modelled. Check the analog years listed: if they do not resemble this year to you, the outlook does not either.

Where it sits in line

Priority 1869-06-0175th 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: 0704378 (1866-12-31). Immediately behind: DORY LAKE INLET DITCH (1869-06-01).

On RALSTON CREEK at river mile 46.5, it is 7th of 24 down the reach. Immediately upstream: LONG LAKE RES UPPER. Immediately downstream: LONG LAKE RES LOWER.

Position on the modelled network, not a claim about whose water this is — a stream carries water from many rights at once, and diverted water returns to it.

Decreed rights (3)

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
7092.01869-06-011884-10-04 5.00.0 CSTO
17975.01899-03-191936-05-13 35.00.0 CSTO
52466.01993-08-241993-12-31 0.00.0 CIRRMUNCOMINDRECFISDOMAUGWLDALL

Recorded use (last 15 years on record)

In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 446 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2003, came in at 503 AF — 113% of that, and 10th 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)
1975 406 5th lowest of 15 · 91% of median 66 3.5
1976 504 11th lowest of 15 · 113% of median 78 3.5
1977 1,343 15th lowest of 15 · 301% of median 281 5.0
1978 585 14th lowest of 15 · 131% of median 87 18.0
1979 365 4th lowest of 15 · 82% of median 57 8.0
1980 419 7th lowest of 15 · 94% of median 38 12.0
1981 446 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median 53 20.0
1982 526 13th lowest of 15 · 118% of median 120 5.0
1983 493 9th lowest of 15 · 110% of median 90 11.0
1984 524 12th lowest of 15 · 118% of median 32 10.7
1985 414 6th lowest of 15 · 93% of median 94 4.0
1986 83 1st lowest of 15 · 19% of median 15 3.0
1987 250 2nd lowest of 15 · 56% of median 35 8.0
1988 274 3rd lowest of 15 · 61% of median 67 4.0
2003 503 10th lowest of 15 · 113% of median 47 15.0

How good is our record of it?

Grade B (7/10 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 on file 3 right(s), seniority decoded
diversion record stale 1700 measured days, but newest is 818 day(s) before the data's end (target 450)
record continuity sparse 11% of the irrigation seasons in 1953-2024 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.