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SURFACE CREEK DITCH (WARD)
Structure dossier · WDID 4000661 · 1 · WARD CREEK · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-27 22:35 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 1886-07-26 — 141st 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: SANDSTONE BLUFF DITCH (1886-07-25). Immediately behind: SURFACE CREEK DITCH (KISER) (1886-07-26).
Decreed rights (6)
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13356.0 | 1886-07-26 | 1889-06-17 | 9.73 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 8 |
| 13377.0 | 1886-08-16 | 1889-06-17 | 0.4 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 9 |
| 20501.13372 | 1886-08-11 | 1907-09-28 | 75.0 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 23 |
| 25807.21275 | 1908-04-01 | 1930-02-10 | 0.0 | 0.0 | C | IRR | |
| 38777.0 | 1956-03-02 | 1964-01-31 | 1.2 | 0.0 | C | IRR | K134 |
| 50769.19357 | 1902-12-31 | 1989-12-31 | 31.0 | 0.0 | C | STOSTKOTH |
Legal record & documents
7 decreed actions on record across
7 court cases:
89CW0241, CA4808, 09CW0069, CA0457, W0011, CA3856, CA1206.
Every case, dated
| Case | Actions | Latest adjudication | Types |
|---|---|---|---|
89CW0241 | 1 | 1989-12-31 | S |
CA4808 | 1 | 1964-01-31 | S |
09CW0069 | 1 | 1930-02-10 | S |
CA0457 | 1 | 1907-09-28 | S |
W0011 | 1 | 1889-06-17 | O |
CA3856 | 1 | 1889-06-17 | O |
CA1206 | 1 | 1889-06-17 | O |
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 9,487 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2024, came in at 4,471 AF — 47% of that, and 3rd 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 | 7,614 | 6th lowest of 15 · 80% of median | 4,331 | 214 | 31.8 |
| 2011 | 13,428 | 13th lowest of 15 · 142% of median | — | 214 | 53.9 |
| 2012 | 10,833 | 10th lowest of 15 · 114% of median | — | 266 | 42.5 |
| 2013 | 9,300 | 7th lowest of 15 · 98% of median | — | 304 | 42.2 |
| 2014 | 13,132 | 12th lowest of 15 · 138% of median | — | 214 | 63.9 |
| 2015 | 13,763 | 14th lowest of 15 · 145% of median | — | 272 | 51.6 |
| 2016 | 9,487 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | — | 366 | 41.6 |
| 2017 | 9,895 | 9th lowest of 15 · 104% of median | — | 304 | 70.2 |
| 2018 | 3,639 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 38% of median | — | 181 | 27.6 |
| 2019 | 12,983 | 11th lowest of 15 · 137% of median | — | 214 | 52.0 |
| 2020 | 4,817 | 4th lowest of 15 · 51% of median | — | 213 | 38.4 |
| 2021 | 2,903 | 1st lowest of 15 · 31% of median | — | 200 | 24.4 |
| 2022 | 6,662 | 5th lowest of 15 · 70% of median | — | 209 | 33.3 |
| 2023 | 13,990 | 15th lowest of 15 · 148% of median | — | 208 | 94.8 |
| 2024 | 4,471 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 47% of median | — | 124 | 40.7 |
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 A (9/10 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 | 6 right(s), seniority decoded |
| diversion record | present | 12978 measured days; currency unknown (no data-coverage date to compare against) |
| record continuity | continuous | 100% of the irrigation seasons in 1970-2024 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.