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ELKHORN DITCH
Structure dossier · WDID 3000538 · 1 · ANIMAS RIVER · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-27 21:11 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
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 1876-05-30 — 118th most senior of the 2277 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: POMONA DITCH PUMP (1876-04-01). Immediately behind: AMBOLD DITCH (JECKEL) (1876-08-28).
Decreed rights (2)
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9647.0 | 1876-05-30 | 1923-11-08 | 1.25 | 0.0 | C | IRR | A-4 |
| 53325.45837 | 1975-07-01 | 1996-12-31 | 3.0 | 0.0 | C | STOIRR |
Recorded use (last 15 years on record)
In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 87 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2025, came in at 87 AF — 100% of that, and 7th 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 128 | 9th lowest of 15 · 147% of median | 202 | 0.8 |
| 2012 | 87 | 7th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | 190 | 0.8 |
| 2013 | 2 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 2% of median | 60 | 0.1 |
| 2014 | 4 | 4th lowest of 15 · 5% of median | 61 | 0.1 |
| 2015 | 4 | 4th lowest of 15 · 5% of median | 68 | 0.1 |
| 2016 | 138 | 10th lowest of 15 · 159% of median | 178 | 1.0 |
| 2017 | 199 | 14th lowest of 15 · 229% of median | 192 | 1.5 |
| 2018 | 0 | 1st lowest of 15 · 0% of median | 33 | 0.0 |
| 2019 | 163 | 12th lowest of 15 · 187% of median | 155 | 2.0 |
| 2020 | 164 | 13th lowest of 15 · 188% of median | 152 | 1.5 |
| 2021 | 0 | 1st lowest of 15 · 0% of median | 33 | 0.0 |
| 2022 | 15 | 6th lowest of 15 · 17% of median | 24 | 0.5 |
| 2023 | 143 | 11th lowest of 15 · 164% of median | 178 | 0.9 |
| 2024 | 254 | 15th lowest of 15 · 292% of median | 185 | 1.5 |
| 2025 | 87 | 7th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | 192 | 0.5 |
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.