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COTTONWOOD DITCH NO 1

Structure dossier · WDID 3200528 · 1 · MCELMO CREEK · DWR record

Where this page's figures come from

Generated 2026-08-27 21:09 by Hydrohistorian. Sources: DWR HydroBase snapshot HydroBase_CO_20260707 (history) + CDSS REST (current), USGS NWIS cross-checks. Engine v0.5.0 (f6d7fdc) — 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 1891-01-25 — 133rd most senior of the 638 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: COTTONWOOD DITCH NO 2 (1890-05-21). Immediately behind: HAMBELTON DITCH (1891-04-20).

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. UnitsUsesWhat the court said this water may be used for -- irrigation, municipal supply, augmentation and so on.Case
15000.01891-01-251962-08-14 10.00.0 CIRRDOMSTK 62-11

Recorded use (last 15 years on record)

In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 2,191 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2025, came in at 2,131 AF — 97% of that, and 7th 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 3,039 14th lowest of 15 · 139% of median — 198 11.0
2012 3,580 15th lowest of 15 · 163% of median 0 226 9.9
2013 1,809 2nd lowest of 15 · 83% of median 63 134 13.0
2014 1,934 4th lowest of 15 · 88% of median 99 172 9.9
2015 2,084 6th lowest of 15 · 95% of median 197 200 8.1
2016 2,191 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median 0 200 9.8
2017 2,634 10th lowest of 15 · 120% of median 111 214 10.1
2018 1,802 1st lowest of 15 · 82% of median 0 221 10.6
2019 2,828 13th lowest of 15 · 129% of median 0 193 10.9
2020 2,654 11th lowest of 15 · 121% of median 0 216 10.1
2021 1,943 5th lowest of 15 · 89% of median 0 217 9.5
2022 2,292 9th lowest of 15 · 105% of median 0 220 12.0
2023 2,802 12th lowest of 15 · 128% of median 0 169 10.6
2024 1,903 3rd lowest of 15 · 87% of median 31 205 8.2
2025 2,131 7th lowest of 15 · 97% of median 0 189 10.6

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.