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GRAND TUNNEL DITCH
Structure dossier · WDID 3900574 · 1 · RIFLE CREEK · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-27 21:14 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
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 1882-05-15 — 2nd most senior of the 1758 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: PIONEER DITCH (1882-05-10). Immediately behind: RIFLE CREEK CANON DITCH (1882-05-15).
Decreed rights (11)
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11823.0 | 1882-05-15 | 1889-05-11 | 1.2 | 0.0 | C | IRRAUG | 2 |
| 12522.0 | 1884-04-13 | 1889-05-11 | 1.4 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 24 |
| 12889.0 | 1885-04-15 | 1889-05-11 | 0.003 | 0.0 | C | AUG | 39 |
| 12889.0 | 1885-04-15 | 1889-05-11 | 4.0 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 40 |
| 13285.0 | 1886-05-16 | 1889-05-11 | 0.208 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 73 |
| 13468.0 | 1886-11-15 | 1889-05-11 | 0.6 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 80 |
| 13484.0 | 1886-12-01 | 1889-05-11 | 11.8 | 0.0 | C | IRRAUG | 82 |
| 13605.0 | 1887-04-01 | 1889-05-11 | 4.0 | 0.0 | C | IRRAUG | 100 |
| 13915.0 | 1888-02-05 | 1889-05-11 | 2.5 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 124 |
| 21661.20003 | 1904-10-07 | 1909-08-17 | 0.8 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 171 |
| 58439.47056 | 1978-11-01 | 2010-12-31 | 2.0 | 0.0 | C | STK |
Recorded use (last 15 years on record)
In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 5,019 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2024, came in at 4,354 AF — 87% of that, and 5th 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.
| 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 | Released (AF) | Days recorded | Peak (cfs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 6,601 | 14th lowest of 15 · 132% of median | — | 291 | 19.9 |
| 2011 | 6,179 | 13th lowest of 15 · 123% of median | — | 261 | 22.6 |
| 2012 | 5,743 | 11th lowest of 15 · 114% of median | 25 | 229 | 19.1 |
| 2013 | 5,019 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | 12 | 253 | 19.2 |
| 2014 | 5,258 | 9th lowest of 15 · 105% of median | — | 239 | 23.8 |
| 2015 | 5,984 | 12th lowest of 15 · 119% of median | 47 | 248 | 21.8 |
| 2016 | 7,026 | 15th lowest of 15 · 140% of median | 38 | 366 | 22.7 |
| 2017 | 5,672 | 10th lowest of 15 · 113% of median | 38 | 348 | 20.4 |
| 2018 | 4,608 | 7th lowest of 15 · 92% of median | 37 | 244 | 15.1 |
| 2019 | 4,559 | 6th lowest of 15 · 91% of median | 42 | 354 | 22.9 |
| 2020 | 3,675 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 73% of median | 27 | 212 | 13.3 |
| 2021 | 2,859 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 57% of median | 43 | 214 | 12.1 |
| 2022 | 2,788 | 1st lowest of 15 · 56% of median | 44 | 214 | 13.0 |
| 2023 | 4,320 | 4th lowest of 15 · 86% of median | — | 240 | 13.6 |
| 2024 | 4,354 | 5th lowest of 15 · 87% of median | 44 | 305 | 16.7 |
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.