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WELTON DITCH
Structure dossier · WDID 1400661 · 1 · HUERFANO RIVER · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-27 19:50 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 1861-04-15 — 29th most senior of the 1358 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: SIX MILE ARROYO DITCH APD (1889-03-15). Immediately behind: PRYOR DITCH (1862-05-15).
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. | Units | UsesWhat the court said this water may be used for -- irrigation, municipal supply, augmentation and so on. | Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14408.04123 | 1861-04-15 | 1898-02-23 | 2.0 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 2 |
| 14408.04853 | 1863-04-15 | 1898-02-23 | 9.2 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 5 |
| 21289.0 | 1908-04-15 | 1921-10-03 | 120.0 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 378.5 |
Recorded use (last 15 years on record)
In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 2,005 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2025, came in at 2,209 AF — 110% of that, and 10th lowest of the 15 years with a recorded volume.
| 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 | Days recorded | Peak (cfs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 4,984 | 14th lowest of 15 · 249% of median | 301 | 46.1 |
| 2011 | 1,733 | 5th lowest of 15 · 86% of median | 266 | 24.0 |
| 2013 | 643 | 1st lowest of 15 · 32% of median | 117 | 9.6 |
| 2014 | 2,096 | 9th lowest of 15 · 104% of median | 302 | 25.8 |
| 2015 | 4,645 | 13th lowest of 15 · 232% of median | 333 | 38.8 |
| 2016 | 3,413 | 12th lowest of 15 · 170% of median | 366 | 21.5 |
| 2017 | 5,368 | 15th lowest of 15 · 268% of median | 365 | 29.9 |
| 2018 | 763 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 38% of median | 365 | 11.2 |
| 2019 | 3,043 | 11th lowest of 15 · 152% of median | 365 | 33.9 |
| 2020 | 1,761 | 6th lowest of 15 · 88% of median | 215 | 12.4 |
| 2021 | 2,005 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | 251 | 14.3 |
| 2022 | 1,980 | 7th lowest of 15 · 99% of median | 365 | 19.6 |
| 2023 | 1,576 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 79% of median | 365 | 15.4 |
| 2024 | 1,643 | 4th lowest of 15 · 82% of median | 366 | 12.3 |
| 2025 | 2,209 | 10th lowest of 15 · 110% of median | 304 | 26.1 |
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.