Hydrohistorian
← My Water · Print / save as PDF
EMPIRE CREEK DITCH
Structure dossier · WDID 1100730 · 1 · EMPIRE GULCH · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-27 20:35 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.
Which of its rights get called out?
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 1871-12-31 — 76th most senior of the 1489 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: MAXWELL DITCH (1871-12-31). Immediately behind: CRYSTAL LAKE DITCH (1871-12-31).
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. | Units | UsesWhat the court said this water may be used for -- irrigation, municipal supply, augmentation and so on. | Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8035.0 | 1871-12-31 | 1890-06-19 | 4.9 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 34 |
Recorded use (last 15 years on record)
In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 1,269 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2022, came in at 148 AF — 12% of that, and 1st 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 1,206 | 6th lowest of 15 · 95% of median | — | 171 | 5.2 |
| 2009 | 1,983 | 14th lowest of 15 · 156% of median | — | 241 | 5.6 |
| 2010 | 1,345 | 11th lowest of 15 · 106% of median | — | 187 | 5.5 |
| 2011 | 2,738 | 15th lowest of 15 · 216% of median | — | 184 | 9.8 |
| 2012 | 1,269 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | — | 167 | 7.8 |
| 2013 | 1,221 | 7th lowest of 15 · 96% of median | — | 178 | 4.9 |
| 2014 | 1,128 | 5th lowest of 15 · 89% of median | — | 138 | 4.9 |
| 2015 | 1,402 | 12th lowest of 15 · 110% of median | — | 180 | 4.9 |
| 2016 | 1,048 | 4th lowest of 15 · 83% of median | — | 125 | 4.9 |
| 2017 | 1,977 | 13th lowest of 15 · 156% of median | — | 225 | 4.9 |
| 2018 | 987 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 78% of median | — | 170 | 4.9 |
| 2019 | 1,304 | 9th lowest of 15 · 103% of median | — | 182 | 4.9 |
| 2020 | 985 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 78% of median | — | 161 | 5.3 |
| 2021 | 1,309 | 10th lowest of 15 · 103% of median | — | 184 | 12.5 |
| 2022 | 148 | 1st lowest of 15 · 12% of median | — | 34 | 7.6 |
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.