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ELK CREEK DITCH NO. 3
Structure dossier · WDID 4301101 · 1 · NORTH ELK CREEK · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-28 02:56 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 1920-12-31 — 1416th 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: SMITH SPG NO 3 (1920-06-15). Immediately behind: BUCKLES SPG 2 (1921-12-31).
Decreed rights (3)
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 44559.25932 | 1920-12-31 | 1972-12-31 | 2.0 | 0.0 | C | IRRSTK | |
| 52595.51986 | 1992-05-01 | 1994-12-31 | 2.0 | 0.0 | C | IRRRECFISDOMAUGOTH | |
| 57708.57101 | 2006-05-03 | 2008-12-31 | 3.0 | 2.0 | C | RECFISFIROTHWLD |
Legal record & documents
6 decreed actions on record across
4 court cases:
16CW3042, 08CW0042, 94CW0263, W1509-72.
Every case, dated
| Case | Actions | Latest adjudication | Types |
|---|---|---|---|
16CW3042 | 1 | 2008-12-31 | S |
08CW0042 | 2 | 2008-12-31 | S |
94CW0263 | 2 | 1994-12-31 | S |
W1509-72 | 1 | 1972-12-31 | 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 2,451 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2025, came in at 2,888 AF — 118% of that, and 13th 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 | 3,312 | 14th lowest of 15 · 135% of median | 365 | 6.5 |
| 2011 | 2,451 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | 304 | 5.5 |
| 2013 | 1,343 | 4th lowest of 15 · 55% of median | 151 | 5.0 |
| 2014 | 651 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 27% of median | 148 | 2.5 |
| 2015 | 254 | 1st lowest of 15 · 10% of median | 62 | 2.1 |
| 2016 | 1,736 | 5th lowest of 15 · 71% of median | 366 | 5.1 |
| 2017 | 2,885 | 12th lowest of 15 · 118% of median | 365 | 5.0 |
| 2018 | 2,735 | 10th lowest of 15 · 112% of median | 365 | 4.2 |
| 2019 | 2,773 | 11th lowest of 15 · 113% of median | 365 | 5.1 |
| 2020 | 2,732 | 9th lowest of 15 · 112% of median | 366 | 4.1 |
| 2021 | 2,321 | 7th lowest of 15 · 95% of median | 304 | 4.0 |
| 2022 | 1,333 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 54% of median | 176 | 4.4 |
| 2023 | 2,190 | 6th lowest of 15 · 89% of median | 237 | 8.8 |
| 2024 | 3,410 | 15th lowest of 15 · 139% of median | 366 | 8.6 |
| 2025 | 2,888 | 13th lowest of 15 · 118% of median | 304 | 7.1 |
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 | 3 right(s), seniority decoded |
| diversion record | present | 8903 measured days; currency unknown (no data-coverage date to compare against) |
| record continuity | continuous | 81% of the irrigation seasons in 1974-2025 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.