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ALFALFA DITCH
Structure dossier · WDID 4000751 · 1 · SURFACE CREEK · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-27 22:05 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 1881-12-17 — 3rd 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: TRICKLE DITCH (1881-12-17). Immediately behind: BUTTES DITCH (1881-12-17).
Decreed rights (5)
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11674.0 | 1881-12-17 | 1889-06-17 | 14.15 | 0.0 | C | STOIRRMUNDOMSTK | 1 |
| 20501.1782 | 1898-10-15 | 1907-09-28 | 3400.0 | 0.0 | A | STO | 24 |
| 22370.0 | 1911-04-01 | 1914-06-23 | 10.25 | 0.0 | C | IRR | A123 |
| 29260.2355 | 1914-06-24 | 1937-05-28 | 60.75 | 0.0 | C | IRR | H97 |
| 56978.11674 | 1881-12-17 | 2006-12-31 | 2.0 | 0.0 | C | IRR |
Legal record & documents
29 decreed actions on record across
17 court cases:
06CW0133, CA2563, CA0617, 11CW0163, CA0457, CA5338, CA4634, CA3836, CA3726, CA3725 and 7 more below.
Every case, dated
| Case | Actions | Latest adjudication | Types |
|---|---|---|---|
06CW0133 | 1 | 2006-12-31 | S |
CA2563 | 1 | 1937-05-28 | S |
CA0617 | 1 | 1914-06-23 | S |
11CW0163 | 6 | 1914-06-23 | O, S |
CA0457 | 1 | 1907-09-28 | S |
CA5338 | 2 | 1889-06-17 | O |
CA4634 | 1 | 1889-06-17 | O |
CA3836 | 1 | 1889-06-17 | O |
CA3726 | 2 | 1889-06-17 | O |
CA3725 | 2 | 1889-06-17 | O |
CA1639 | 3 | 1889-06-17 | O |
CA1211 | 2 | 1889-06-17 | O |
CA0527 | 1 | 1889-06-17 | O |
CA0038 | 2 | 1889-06-17 | O |
91CW0007 | 1 | 1889-06-17 | O |
75CW0044 | 1 | 1889-06-17 | O |
07CW0049 | 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 8,494 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2024, came in at 6,383 AF — 75% of that, and 4th 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 | 8,040 | 7th lowest of 15 · 95% of median | 365 | 58.0 |
| 2011 | 9,807 | 13th lowest of 15 · 116% of median | 365 | 72.5 |
| 2012 | 6,629 | 5th lowest of 15 · 78% of median | 305 | 23.0 |
| 2013 | 5,603 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 66% of median | 212 | 58.9 |
| 2014 | 9,132 | 10th lowest of 15 · 108% of median | 267 | 70.0 |
| 2015 | 9,671 | 12th lowest of 15 · 114% of median | 365 | 73.8 |
| 2016 | 8,931 | 9th lowest of 15 · 105% of median | 362 | 35.8 |
| 2017 | 9,382 | 11th lowest of 15 · 110% of median | 360 | 49.9 |
| 2018 | 4,851 | 1st lowest of 15 · 57% of median | 364 | 27.0 |
| 2019 | 10,406 | 15th lowest of 15 · 122% of median | 365 | 54.9 |
| 2020 | 8,032 | 6th lowest of 15 · 95% of median | 365 | 55.8 |
| 2021 | 6,380 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 75% of median | 365 | 27.6 |
| 2022 | 8,494 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | 365 | 42.9 |
| 2023 | 10,222 | 14th lowest of 15 · 120% of median | 365 | 84.4 |
| 2024 | 6,383 | 4th lowest of 15 · 75% of median | 305 | 24.8 |
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 | 5 right(s), seniority decoded |
| diversion record | present | 19621 measured days; currency unknown (no data-coverage date to compare against) |
| record continuity | continuous | 100% of the irrigation seasons in 1969-2024 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.