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ELK CREEK DITCH
Structure dossier · WDID 4300623 · 1 · NORTH ELK CREEK · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-28 00:36 by Hydrohistorian. Sources: DWR HydroBase snapshot HydroBase_CO_20260707 (history) + CDSS REST (current), USGS NWIS cross-checks. Engine v0.5.0 (a1c9146) — 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 1881-08-05 — 2nd most senior of the 3293 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: POWELL PARK DITCH (1880-05-01). Immediately behind: WRIGHT DITCH (1883-04-01).
Decreed rights (7)
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11540.0 | 1881-08-05 | 1889-05-10 | 1.6 | 0.0 | C | IRRRECFISFIRDOMSTKAUG | 2 |
| 13264.0 | 1886-04-25 | 1889-05-10 | 1.0 | 0.0 | C | IRRRECFISFIRDOMSTKAUG | 34 |
| 32172.13423 | 1886-10-01 | 1942-05-26 | 1.52 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 356 |
| 44321.0 | 1971-05-07 | 1971-12-31 | 2.0 | 0.0 | C | IRRDOMSTK | |
| 44559.25932 | 1920-12-31 | 1972-12-31 | 3.13 | 0.0 | C | IRRRECFISFIRDOMSTKAUG | |
| 44773.0 | 1972-08-01 | 1972-12-31 | 0.4 | 0.0 | C | IRRDOMSTK | |
| 57708.57101 | 2006-05-03 | 2008-12-31 | 12.0 | 0.0 | C | RECFISFIROTHWLD |
Legal record & documents
21 decreed actions on record across
11 court cases:
24CW3002, 16CW3042, 08CW0042, W1581-72, W1508-72, 94CW0263, W0460-71, 16CW3003, 14CW3041, CA0624 and 1 more below.
Every case, dated
| Case | Actions | Latest adjudication | Types |
|---|---|---|---|
24CW3002 | 1 | 2008-12-31 | S |
16CW3042 | 1 | 2008-12-31 | S |
08CW0042 | 7 | 2008-12-31 | O, S |
W1581-72 | 1 | 1972-12-31 | S |
W1508-72 | 1 | 1972-12-31 | S |
94CW0263 | 3 | 1972-12-31 | O, S |
W0460-71 | 1 | 1971-12-31 | S |
16CW3003 | 1 | 1971-12-31 | S |
14CW3041 | 2 | 1971-12-31 | S |
CA0624 | 1 | 1942-05-26 | S |
CA0133 | 2 | 1889-05-10 | 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 5,174 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2025, came in at 5,174 AF — 100% of that, and 8th 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 | 4,987 | 7th lowest of 15 · 96% of median | 365 | 12.0 |
| 2011 | 5,840 | 13th lowest of 15 · 113% of median | 365 | 12.0 |
| 2012 | 6,067 | 15th lowest of 15 · 117% of median | 366 | 9.5 |
| 2013 | 4,699 | 4th lowest of 15 · 91% of median | 304 | 9.5 |
| 2015 | 1,053 | 1st lowest of 15 · 20% of median | 61 | 8.7 |
| 2016 | 5,984 | 14th lowest of 15 · 116% of median | 366 | 8.7 |
| 2017 | 5,345 | 10th lowest of 15 · 103% of median | 365 | 9.1 |
| 2018 | 4,552 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 88% of median | 365 | 9.6 |
| 2019 | 5,405 | 11th lowest of 15 · 104% of median | 365 | 9.3 |
| 2020 | 4,883 | 6th lowest of 15 · 94% of median | 366 | 7.2 |
| 2021 | 5,299 | 9th lowest of 15 · 102% of median | 365 | 9.6 |
| 2022 | 5,824 | 12th lowest of 15 · 113% of median | 304 | 15.1 |
| 2023 | 3,949 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 76% of median | 237 | 16.5 |
| 2024 | 4,782 | 5th lowest of 15 · 92% of median | 366 | 9.3 |
| 2025 | 5,174 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | 304 | 11.8 |
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 | 7 right(s), seniority decoded |
| diversion record | present | 10676 measured days; currency unknown (no data-coverage date to compare against) |
| record continuity | continuous | 81% of the irrigation seasons in 1964-2025 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.