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SUNBEAM DITCH

Structure dossier · WDID 4400778 · 1 · YAMPA RIVER · DWR record

Where this page's figures come from

Generated 2026-08-27 23:48 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 1954-05-30 — 559th most senior of the 3562 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: VAN DORN IRRIG P L (1954-05-10). Immediately behind: JUNIPER RES (1954-06-08).

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. UnitsUsesWhat the court said this water may be used for -- irrigation, municipal supply, augmentation and so on.Case
38135.01954-05-301960-09-01 6.70.0 CIRR 77

Recorded use (last 15 years on record)

In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 385 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2021, came in at 151 AF — 39% of that, and 2nd lowest of the 15 years with a recorded volume.

YearDiverted (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 recordDays recordedPeak (cfs)
2007 970 12th lowest of 15 · 252% of median 106 7.1
2008 1,156 14th lowest of 15 · 300% of median 144 6.8
2009 367 7th lowest of 15 · 95% of median 71 6.3
2010 358 6th lowest of 15 · 93% of median 66 6.3
2011 305 4th lowest of 15 · 79% of median 42 10.4
2012 1,156 14th lowest of 15 · 300% of median 112 10.4
2013 1,122 13th lowest of 15 · 291% of median 116 10.4
2014 671 11th lowest of 15 · 174% of median 85 10.4
2015 427 9th lowest of 15 · 111% of median 69 5.3
2016 475 10th lowest of 15 · 123% of median 82 5.9
2017 385 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median 53 4.9
2018 346 5th lowest of 15 · 90% of median 76 3.7
2019 276 3rd lowest of 15 · 72% of median 52 5.6
2020 69 1st lowest of 15 · 18% of median 21 2.0
2021 151 2nd lowest of 15 · 39% of median 19 5.2

How good is our record of it?

Grade B (8/10 points) — the components below are the finding; the letter alone is not.

The rubric, component by component
CheckStateDetail
identity complete name, type, and water source all on file
decreed rights on file 1 right(s), seniority decoded
diversion record present 5512 measured days; currency unknown (no data-coverage date to compare against)
record continuity patchy 41% of the irrigation seasons in 1963-2025 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.