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BIG BRANCH DITCH
Structure dossier · WDID 2902003 · 1 · RIO BLANCO · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-27 19:17 by Hydrohistorian. Sources: DWR HydroBase snapshot HydroBase_CO_20260707 (history) + CDSS REST (current), USGS NWIS cross-checks. Engine v0.5.0 (a1c9146) — every figure regenerates from this named code version and data image.
Where it sits in line
Priority 1894-04-15 — 107th most senior of the 853 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: RILEY PUMP (1894-03-10). Immediately behind: NEWTON DITCH (1894-04-20).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16176.0 | 1894-04-15 | 1902-01-20 | 1.0 | 0.0 | C | IRR | #78 |
Recorded use (last 15 years on record)
In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 104 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2012, came in at 153 AF — 147% of that, and 9th 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 91 | 5th lowest of 15 · 88% of median | 132 | 1.3 |
| 1999 | 73 | 4th lowest of 15 · 70% of median | 99 | 1.1 |
| 2000 | 65 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 62% of median | 99 | 0.8 |
| 2001 | 0 | 1st lowest of 15 · 0% of median | 9 | 0.0 |
| 2002 | 104 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | 94 | 3.6 |
| 2003 | 5 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 5% of median | 40 | 0.1 |
| 2004 | 163 | 11th lowest of 15 · 157% of median | 89 | 1.5 |
| 2005 | 771 | 15th lowest of 15 · 741% of median | 118 | 5.7 |
| 2006 | 205 | 12th lowest of 15 · 197% of median | 168 | 2.0 |
| 2007 | 103 | 7th lowest of 15 · 99% of median | 97 | 1.2 |
| 2008 | 456 | 13th lowest of 15 · 438% of median | 151 | 3.8 |
| 2009 | 160 | 10th lowest of 15 · 154% of median | 115 | 2.0 |
| 2010 | 98 | 6th lowest of 15 · 94% of median | 147 | 0.6 |
| 2011 | 459 | 14th lowest of 15 · 441% of median | 200 | 3.2 |
| 2012 | 153 | 9th lowest of 15 · 147% of median | 95 | 1.4 |
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.