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HORSE CREEK RESERVOIR
Structure dossier · WDID 1703545 · 3 · HORSE CREEK · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-28 00:06 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
Location as DWR records it. Faint dots are the neighbouring water; click any to open it.
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 1896-08-01 — 52nd most senior of the 1909 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: KICKINGBIRD CANAL (1896-08-01). Immediately behind: ADOBE CREEK RESERVOIR (1896-08-01).
Decreed rights (4)
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20186.17015 | 1896-08-01 | 1927-02-03 | 0.0 | 0.0 | A | IRR | R6 |
| 20186.18489 | 1900-08-15 | 1928-11-08 | 11400.0 | 0.0 | A | IRRCOMSTK | R10 |
| 20478.0 | 1906-01-25 | 1928-11-08 | 15487.0 | 0.0 | A | IRRCOMSTK | R27.5 |
| 21347.0 | 1908-06-12 | 1928-11-08 | 1113.0 | 0.0 | A | IRRCOMSTK | R37 |
Legal record & documents
15 decreed actions on record across
4 court cases:
10CW0004, 11/08/1928, 08CW0083, 89CW0076.
Every case, dated
| Case | Actions | Latest adjudication | Types |
|---|---|---|---|
10CW0004 | 5 | 2010-12-31 | S |
11/08/1928 | 3 | 1928-11-08 | S |
08CW0083 | 6 | 1928-11-08 | S |
89CW0076 | 1 | 1927-02-03 | S |
DWR's own records for this structure: net amounts · transactions & adjudication history · scanned decrees (search a case number there for the imaged document). On this site: the district's full legal picture →
Recorded use (last 13 years on record)
In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 4,608 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2024, came in at 0 AF — 0% of that, and 1st lowest of the 10 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | — | no recorded volume | 447 | 0 | — |
| 1963 | — | no recorded volume | 1,662 | 0 | — |
| 1977 | — | no recorded volume | 10,415 | 0 | — |
| 2015 | 36,672 | 10th lowest of 10 · 796% of median | — | 85 | 792.0 |
| 2016 | 9,216 | 6th lowest of 10 · 200% of median | — | 43 | 272.6 |
| 2017 | 11,717 | 7th lowest of 10 · 254% of median | — | 70 | 298.0 |
| 2018 | 20,487 | 9th lowest of 10 · 445% of median | 21,393 | 65 | 282.0 |
| 2019 | 17,245 | 8th lowest of 10 · 374% of median | 15,980 | 320 | 289.0 |
| 2020 | 0 | 1st lowest of 10 · 0% of median | — | 75 | 0.0 |
| 2021 | 0 | 1st lowest of 10 · 0% of median | — | 351 | 0.0 |
| 2022 | 0 | 1st lowest of 10 · 0% of median | — | 351 | 0.0 |
| 2023 | 0 | 1st lowest of 10 · 0% of median | — | 351 | 0.0 |
| 2024 | 0 | 1st lowest of 10 · 0% of median | — | 304 | 0.0 |
Trends for this structure
Recorded use shows no clear trend over its last 10 recorded years — which is itself worth knowing.
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
| Check | State | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| identity | complete | name, type, and water source all on file |
| decreed rights | on file | 4 right(s), seniority decoded |
| diversion record | present | 2015 measured days; currency unknown (no data-coverage date to compare against) |
| record continuity | sparse | 15% of the irrigation seasons in 1961-2024 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.