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PRESTON DITCH
Structure dossier · WDID 4000590 · 1 · SMITH FORK · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-27 19:50 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 1883-02-04 — 40th most senior of the 4661 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: CRISLER DITCH (1883-02-04). Immediately behind: BONE MESA PIPELINE (1883-05-01).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12088.0 | 1883-02-04 | 1889-06-17 | 0.5 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 1 |
Recorded use (last 15 years on record)
In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 173 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2024, came in at 303 AF — 175% of that, and 14th 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 173 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | 203 | 1.4 |
| 2011 | 256 | 13th lowest of 15 · 148% of median | 192 | 4.0 |
| 2012 | 35 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 20% of median | 166 | 0.5 |
| 2013 | 86 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 50% of median | 125 | 3.0 |
| 2014 | 172 | 7th lowest of 15 · 99% of median | 171 | 2.6 |
| 2015 | 219 | 11th lowest of 15 · 127% of median | 125 | 3.8 |
| 2016 | 196 | 10th lowest of 15 · 113% of median | 164 | 2.7 |
| 2017 | 247 | 12th lowest of 15 · 143% of median | 94 | 3.0 |
| 2018 | 26 | 1st lowest of 15 · 15% of median | 103 | 1.0 |
| 2019 | 344 | 15th lowest of 15 · 199% of median | 170 | 1.6 |
| 2020 | 190 | 9th lowest of 15 · 110% of median | 183 | 0.8 |
| 2021 | 160 | 6th lowest of 15 · 92% of median | 174 | 1.2 |
| 2022 | 130 | 5th lowest of 15 · 75% of median | 170 | 0.5 |
| 2023 | 126 | 4th lowest of 15 · 73% of median | 144 | 1.9 |
| 2024 | 303 | 14th lowest of 15 · 175% of median | 166 | 1.4 |
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.