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RIFLE GAP RESERVOIR
Structure dossier · WDID 3903508 · 3 · RIFLE CREEK · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-27 22:04 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 1951-01-10 — 356th 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: EATON PUMP & PIPELINE (1950-01-07). Immediately behind: DAWSON WELL NO 1 (1952-12-31).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37503.36899 | 1951-01-10 | 1966-11-10 | 13601.0 | 0.0 | A | IRRRECDOM | 307 |
Legal record & documents
3 decreed actions on record across
3 court cases:
W0046, CA4914, 84CW0218.
Every case, dated
| Case | Actions | Latest adjudication | Types |
|---|---|---|---|
W0046 | 1 | 1966-11-10 | S |
CA4914 | 1 | 1966-11-10 | S |
84CW0218 | 1 | 1966-11-10 | S |
DWR's own records for this structure: net amounts · transactions & adjudication history · scanned decrees (search a case number there for the imaged document). On this site: the district's full legal picture →
Recorded use (last 15 years on record)
In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 7,050 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2024, came in at 2,200 AF — 31% of that, and 1st 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 | 8,082 | 9th lowest of 15 · 115% of median | 5,882 | 365 | 53.8 |
| 2011 | 10,312 | 12th lowest of 15 · 146% of median | 3,705 | 365 | 110.1 |
| 2012 | 4,953 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 70% of median | 8,478 | 366 | 37.3 |
| 2013 | 8,396 | 10th lowest of 15 · 119% of median | 4,806 | 365 | 211.1 |
| 2014 | 24,687 | 15th lowest of 15 · 350% of median | 2,916 | 365 | 1632.4 |
| 2015 | 9,497 | 11th lowest of 15 · 135% of median | 2,866 | 365 | 250.5 |
| 2016 | 5,043 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 72% of median | 3,705 | 366 | 42.7 |
| 2017 | 5,055 | 4th lowest of 15 · 72% of median | 6,266 | 365 | 38.3 |
| 2018 | 5,345 | 6th lowest of 15 · 76% of median | 4,749 | 365 | 28.7 |
| 2019 | 13,138 | 13th lowest of 15 · 186% of median | 2,519 | 365 | 61.5 |
| 2020 | 5,089 | 5th lowest of 15 · 72% of median | 7,429 | 366 | 32.8 |
| 2021 | 6,660 | 7th lowest of 15 · 94% of median | 4,965 | 365 | 193.4 |
| 2022 | 7,050 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | 543 | 365 | 794.7 |
| 2023 | 14,042 | 14th lowest of 15 · 199% of median | 0 | 365 | 853.6 |
| 2024 | 2,200 | 1st lowest of 15 · 31% of median | 50 | 305 | 141.2 |
Trends for this structure
Recorded use shows no clear trend over its last 15 recorded years — which is itself worth knowing.
How good is our record of it?
Grade B (8/10 points) — the components below are the finding; the letter alone is not.
The rubric, component by component
| Check | State | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| identity | complete | name, type, and water source all on file |
| decreed rights | on file | 1 right(s), seniority decoded |
| diversion record | present | 5844 measured days; currency unknown (no data-coverage date to compare against) |
| record continuity | patchy | 56% of the irrigation seasons in 1975-2024 carry measured days |
| published-record stability | stable | no upstream revisions recorded against this structure |
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.