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EMPIRE CANAL-LA JARA

Structure dossier · WDID 2100521 · 1 · LA JARA CREEK · DWR record

Where this page's figures come from

Generated 2026-08-27 19:16 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 1890-04-01 — 81st most senior of the 1041 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: KEYSTONE D (1890-02-25). Immediately behind: EMPIRE CANAL-ALAMOSA (1890-04-01).

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. UnitsUsesWhat the court said this water may be used for -- irrigation, municipal supply, augmentation and so on.Case
14701.01890-04-011903-05-08 30.00.0 CIRR 106

Recorded use (last 15 years on record)

In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 16,255 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2025, came in at 16,255 AF — 100% of that, and 8th 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)
2011 12,406 6th lowest of 15 · 76% of median 304 175.4
2012 11,937 5th lowest of 15 · 73% of median 78 184.4
2013 9,399 2nd lowest of 15 · 58% of median 71 192.0
2014 17,214 11th lowest of 15 · 106% of median 214 168.0
2015 17,087 10th lowest of 15 · 105% of median 78 189.5
2016 19,570 12th lowest of 15 · 120% of median 91 182.5
2017 22,882 13th lowest of 15 · 141% of median 151 176.7
2018 4,098 1st lowest of 15 · 25% of median 40 131.0
2019 25,263 15th lowest of 15 · 155% of median 115 195.0
2020 10,072 4th lowest of 15 · 62% of median 52 162.0
2021 13,128 7th lowest of 15 · 81% of median 56 185.5
2022 9,835 3rd lowest of 15 · 60% of median 54 155.5
2023 23,344 14th lowest of 15 · 144% of median 88 191.5
2024 16,371 9th lowest of 15 · 101% of median 78 180.0
2025 16,255 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median 92 170.0

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.