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LITTLE ELK DITCH
Structure dossier · WDID 3800830 · 1 · CAPITOL CREEK · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-27 19:38 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 1886-04-25 — 201st most senior of the 4788 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: RFC DITCH (1886-04-23). Immediately behind: HIGHLINE DITCH (1886-05-03).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13264.0 | 1886-04-25 | 1889-05-11 | 0.8 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 143 |
| 19720.14397 | 1889-06-01 | 1904-03-18 | 2.44 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 207A |
| 30941.14762 | 1890-06-01 | 1936-08-25 | 0.26 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 310 |
| 59535.59467 | 2012-10-24 | 2013-12-31 | 1.1 | 0.0 | C | FIROTH |
Recorded use (last 15 years on record)
In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 797 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2024, came in at 897 AF — 112% of that, and 11th 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 261 | 4th lowest of 15 · 33% of median | 172 | 1.1 |
| 2002 | 216 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 27% of median | 160 | 4.1 |
| 2012 | 41 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 5% of median | 30 | 0.7 |
| 2013 | 0 | 1st lowest of 15 · 0% of median | 4 | 0.0 |
| 2014 | 391 | 5th lowest of 15 · 49% of median | 181 | 3.5 |
| 2015 | 1,030 | 14th lowest of 15 · 129% of median | 184 | 3.5 |
| 2016 | 797 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | 173 | 3.5 |
| 2017 | 761 | 7th lowest of 15 · 96% of median | 187 | 3.5 |
| 2018 | 667 | 6th lowest of 15 · 84% of median | 214 | 3.4 |
| 2019 | 842 | 9th lowest of 15 · 106% of median | 177 | 3.1 |
| 2020 | 1,111 | 15th lowest of 15 · 139% of median | 177 | 6.8 |
| 2021 | 998 | 12th lowest of 15 · 125% of median | 174 | 4.9 |
| 2022 | 875 | 10th lowest of 15 · 110% of median | 165 | 3.8 |
| 2023 | 1,014 | 13th lowest of 15 · 127% of median | 181 | 4.6 |
| 2024 | 897 | 11th lowest of 15 · 112% of median | 169 | 10.7 |
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.