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PUEBLO RESERVOIR

Structure dossier · WDID 1403526 · RESERVOIR · ARKANSAS RIVER · DWR record

Pueblo Reservoir is a reservoir on Arkansas River 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 2026-10-14 04:04 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.

Who owns it

DWR’s own records name no owner for a ditch, reservoir or well, so this comes from the source shown and can be out of date. Organisations only: a private landowner’s name is never listed.

The record and the river

Where this structure is measured

GageFlowing nowRecordHow we know
PUEBLO RESERVOIR NEAR PUEBLO PUERESCO — — co-located, 110 m
PBWW PUEBLO DAM INLET 1400639A 42.1 cfs 2021–2026, 1,689 days co-located, 113 m
PUEBLO RESERVOIR ENVIRONMENTAL STATION PUERWXCO — — co-located, 225 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.

In short

PUEBLO RESERVOIR holds 34 decreed rights on ARKANSAS RIVER. As of 2026-09-27, 20 of them are out of priority under a call at admin 12524.00000 placed by FORT LYON CANAL. Its 14 most senior rights, back to 1870-11-30, keep diverting. 12 further calls state no district and sit outside this one, so they are counted here rather than assumed either way. In a median year over its last 15 recorded years it diverts 122,196 acre-feet. It was a party to 16 court cases that also touched 14 other structures.

Assembled from the figures on this page — every number above is checked against them before it is shown (11 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 (storage). Faint dots are the neighbouring water; click any to open it.

Dam safety

Dam PUEBLO (completed 1975)
Hazard class High
Condition at last inspection Satisfactory (2025-05-05)
Storage restriction None on file
Normal storage 357,678 AF
Physical status Active
Emergency action plan Yes

Source: DWR Dam Safety’s jurisdictional-dam inventory (damsafety/damsafetydaminfojd), refreshed weekly. Joined on this structure’s own WDID as DWR records it on the dam. Hazard class describes the consequence of failure, not the likelihood of it. DWR’s dam record.

Current administration

● Junior rights called out — call at ARKANSAS RIVER COMPACT(COLORADO-KANSAS STATE LINE) (ARKANSAS RIVER, priority 1949-05-30).

● Junior rights called out — call at FORT LYON CANAL (ARKANSAS RIVER, priority 1884-04-14).

● Junior rights called out — call at LAS ANIMAS CONSOLIDATED (ARKANSAS RIVER, priority 1884-12-03).

Which of its rights are out of priority?

Under today's controlling call (FORT LYON CANAL, priority 1884-04-14): 20 of this structure's 34 rights are out of priority now. (12 call(s) state no district and sit outside this one — not judged, not assumed.) In the 4 past years most like this one (2022, 2023, 2025, 2024), 0 of the rights shown below were out at least one week in at least one analog year.

Right (priority)NowAnalog years outMajority out by
1870-11-30 7639 ● in priority 0 of 4 —
1872-04-01 8127 ● in priority 0 of 4 —
1874-04-01 8857 ● in priority 0 of 4 —
… 9 more rights between these …
1883-05-31 12204 ● in priority 0 of 4 —
1883-12-31 12418 ● in priority 0 of 4 —
1887-12-17 13865 ● out 0 of 4 —
1888-12-31 14245 ● out 0 of 4 —
… 15 more rights between these …
2004-05-27 56979 ● out 0 of 4 —
2007-11-30 57677 ● out 0 of 4 —
1985-03-20 58804 ● out 0 of 4 —
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 PUEBLO FISH HATCHERY OUTFLOW around 2026-09-27 (the newest reading on file) — currently 112% of that gage's own median for this window — to pick the 4 most similar past years with complete administration records (2002–2026). 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 1870-11-30 — 13th most senior of the 1361 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: 1400534 (1870-11-30). Immediately behind: 1400535 (1872-04-01).

On MAINSTEM at river mile 12.3, it is 52nd of 927 down the reach. Immediately upstream: 1414634. Immediately downstream: 1413865.

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 (38)

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. Alt-pointAn absolute amount decreed at another structure that may be diverted here instead -- an alternate point of diversion or an exchange. DWR calls this the APEX amount; a right showing 0.0 absolute but an alt-point amount is exercised here under another structure's decree. Decreed forWhat the court said this water may be used for -- irrigation, municipal supply, augmentation and so on.Case
7639.00000 1870-11-301896-03-23 0.0 cfs 0.0 1.03 cfs Irrigation, Commercial +1 27
8127.00000 1872-04-011896-03-23 0.0 cfs 0.0 1.1556 cfs All beneficial uses 32
8857.00000 1874-04-011896-03-23 0.0 cfs 0.0 0.963 cfs All beneficial uses 34
10227.00000 1877-12-311906-07-02 0.0 cfs 0.0 1.788 cfs Municipal, Commercial +6 194
10501.00000 1878-10-011896-03-23 0.0 cfs 0.0 0.5778 cfs All beneficial uses 35
10592.00000 1878-12-311896-03-23 0.0 cfs 0.0 0.29 cfs Irrigation, Commercial +1 36
11392.00000 1881-03-101890-06-19 0.0 cfs 0.0 2.0 cfs Irrigation, Municipal +4 81
11428.00000 1881-04-151890-06-19 0.0 cfs 0.0 1.6 cfs Irrigation, Municipal +4 86
11443.00000 1881-04-301890-06-19 0.0 cfs 0.0 0.8 cfs Irrigation, Municipal +4 87
11474.00000 1881-05-311890-06-19 0.0 cfs 0.0 1.3 cfs Irrigation, Municipal +4 90
11657.00000 1881-11-301890-06-19 0.0 cfs 0.0 1.0 cfs Irrigation, Municipal +4 95
11808.00000 1882-04-301890-06-19 0.0 cfs 0.0 1.6 cfs Irrigation, Municipal +4 110
12204.00000 1883-05-311894-02-03 0.0 cfs 0.0 7.148 cfs Municipal, Commercial +6 291
12418.00000 1883-12-311896-03-23 0.0 cfs 0.0 0.3852 cfs All beneficial uses 45
13865.00000 1887-12-171896-03-23 0.0 cfs 0.0 14.445 cfs All beneficial uses 57
14245.00000 1888-12-311896-03-23 0.0 cfs 0.0 1.6 cfs Irrigation, Commercial +1 59
33697.32547 1939-02-101962-06-25 294706.0 AF 420650.0 AF — Irrigation, Municipal +1 A-22
33797.29701 1931-04-271969-07-09 0.0 AF 0.0 10238.0 AF Irrigation, Municipal +1 W3994
33950.32547 1939-02-101969-07-09 0.0 cfs 2650.0 cfs 600.0 cfs Storage, All beneficial uses A100C, A10
46159.00000 1976-05-181984-12-31 0.0 cfs 0.0 3.46 cfs Municipal 84CW0177A
47951.00000 1981-04-141984-12-31 0.0 cfs 0.0 400.0 cfs Irrigation, Municipal +3 84CW0064
47951.00000 1981-04-141984-12-31 0.0 AF 0.0 6779.21 AF Irrigation, Municipal +3 84CW0064
48175.00000 1981-11-241984-12-31 0.0 cfs 0.0 31.15 cfs All beneficial uses 84CW0203A
48942.46159 1976-05-181984-12-31 0.0 cfs 0.0 81.84 cfs Municipal 84CW0177A, 13CW3043 +4
48942.47951 1981-04-141984-12-31 0.0 cfs 0.0 752.23 cfs Irrigation, Municipal +3 84CW0064, 03CW0118 +1
48942.48175 1981-11-241984-12-31 0.0 cfs 0.0 2313.89 cfs All beneficial uses 13CW0009, 06CW0023 +6
49308.47086 1978-12-011985-12-31 0.0 cfs 0.0 136.0 cfs Municipal 85CW0134A, 85CW0134B +1
49673.49387 1985-03-201986-12-31 0.0 cfs 0.0 2181.04 cfs All beneficial uses 86CW0118A, 86CW0118B +1
51437.00000 1990-10-301990-12-31 0.0 cfs 0.0 14.2 cfs All beneficial uses 90CW0054
55152.32547 1939-02-102001-12-31 0.0 AF 0.0 4800.0 AF Storage, Irrigation +6 01CW0108
55152.32547 1939-02-102001-12-31 0.0 cfs 0.0 19.0 cfs Storage, Irrigation +6 01CW0108
55152.55133 2000-12-122001-12-31 0.0 cfs 0.0 100.0 cfs Storage, Irrigation +8 01CW0152
56978.56034 2003-06-012006-12-31 0.0 AF 0.0 8900.0 AF Municipal 06CW0008
56978.56034 2003-06-012006-12-31 0.0 cfs 0.0 228.8 cfs Municipal 06CW0008
56978.56395 2004-05-272006-12-31 0.0 cfs 0.0 988.0 cfs All beneficial uses 06CW0120
57677.00000 2007-11-302007-12-31 0.0 AF 50.0 AF — Storage 07CW0111
57677.00000 2007-11-302007-12-31 0.0 cfs 5.0 cfs — Storage 07CW0111
58804.49387 1985-03-202011-12-31 0.0 cfs 0.0 12.87 cfs All beneficial uses 11CW0062

Amounts marked cfs are flow rates; AF are stored volumes (storage rights are decreed in acre-feet). An absolute amount of 0.0 beside an alt-point amount is not a dead right: the water is decreed at another structure, and that row records permission to divert it here instead (an alternate point or exchange). A case listing several numbers reflects the original decree plus later change cases.

Water-court filings naming this structure

1 application in the monthly water-court resumes explicitly reference this WDID. The resume is the earliest public notice of a new claim (C.R.S. 37-92-302) — years before anything reaches the decree record below. Most applications name structures by name rather than WDID, so absence here is weak evidence of absence.

MonthCaseWhat it asksOppose byExcerpt
2026-02 2019CW3036 — closed 2026-04-30 CASE NO. 2019CW3036; LOWER ARKANSAS WATER MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION (“LAWMA”), c/o Roy Cue, Manager, P. O. Box 1161, Lamar, Colorado 81052 (Please address all pleadings and inquiries regarding this matter to Applicant’s att…

Source: Judicial Branch combined monthly resumes (archive), indexed nightly; WDIDs attached only when a 7-digit token in the filing matches DWR’s structure inventory.

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 122,196 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2025, came in at 105,820 AF — 87% of that, and 6th 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.

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)
2011 31,667 4th lowest of 15 · 26% of median — 323 111.7
2012 780 1st lowest of 15 · 1% of median 4,047 306 7.0
2013 1,909 2nd lowest of 15 · 2% of median 20,537 59 54.7
2014 7,526 3rd lowest of 15 · 6% of median 29,953 214 91.4
2015 85,744 5th lowest of 15 · 70% of median 23,734 365 1350.4
2016 161,846 12th lowest of 15 · 132% of median 162,170 366 796.0
2017 199,980 14th lowest of 15 · 164% of median 120,801 365 1027.6
2018 268,779 15th lowest of 15 · 220% of median 163,302 365 833.4
2019 178,543 13th lowest of 15 · 146% of median 209,135 365 977.4
2020 158,823 11th lowest of 15 · 130% of median 234,030 366 566.1
2021 121,179 7th lowest of 15 · 99% of median 153,881 365 571.1
2022 122,196 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median 92,366 365 449.1
2023 141,584 10th lowest of 15 · 116% of median 83,127 365 1209.6
2024 135,333 9th lowest of 15 · 111% of median 152,067 366 673.5
2025 105,820 6th lowest of 15 · 87% of median 125,349 304 513.3

How good is our record of it?

Grade A (10/10 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 38 right(s), seniority decoded
diversion record current 4920 measured days, newest 331 day(s) before the data's end (DWR publishes ~1 year in arrears)
record continuity continuous 100% of the irrigation seasons in 2010-2025 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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