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ELKHEAD CREEK RESERVOIR
Structure dossier · WDID 4403902 · 3 · ELKHEAD CREEK · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-28 01:21 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 1954-06-08 — 561st 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: JUNIPER RES (1954-06-08). Immediately behind: VAN TASSEL WELL 6 (1954-07-01).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 38144.0 | 1954-06-08 | 1960-09-01 | 0.0 | 0.0 | A | IRRMUNINDRECFISDOMSTKPWR | 11 |
| 41126.0 | 1962-08-07 | 1972-05-30 | 0.0 | 13699.0 | A | IRRMUNINDRECDOMSTKPWRALL | 42 |
| 42642.0 | 1966-10-01 | 1972-05-30 | 5389.0 | 0.0 | A | RECFISWLD | 57 |
| 44925.44731 | 1972-06-20 | 1973-12-31 | 8310.0 | 0.0 | A | IRRMUNINDREC | |
| 55806.0 | 2002-10-16 | 2002-12-31 | 12957.0 | 1043.0 | A | IRRMUNCOMINDRECFISDOMSTKAUGPWR |
Legal record & documents
12 decreed actions on record across
9 court cases:
11CW0009, 02CW0106, W0466-73, W0973-76, CA2259, 93CW0131, 10CW0015, 79CW0110, 12CW3008.
Every case, dated
| Case | Actions | Latest adjudication | Types |
|---|---|---|---|
11CW0009 | 2 | 2002-12-31 | S |
02CW0106 | 2 | 2002-12-31 | S |
W0466-73 | 2 | 1973-12-31 | S |
W0973-76 | 1 | 1972-05-30 | S |
CA2259 | 1 | 1972-05-30 | S |
93CW0131 | 1 | 1972-05-30 | S |
10CW0015 | 1 | 1972-05-30 | S |
79CW0110 | 1 | 1960-09-01 | S |
12CW3008 | 1 | 1960-09-01 | 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 11,601 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2025, came in at 5,971 AF — 52% of that, and 4th 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 264 | 1st lowest of 15 · 2% of median | 4,925 | 20 | 32.8 |
| 2012 | 11,276 | 6th lowest of 15 · 97% of median | 16,551 | 302 | 1295.8 |
| 2013 | 12,350 | 10th lowest of 15 · 106% of median | 8,219 | 365 | 249.4 |
| 2014 | 17,353 | 12th lowest of 15 · 150% of median | 9,410 | 365 | 603.2 |
| 2015 | 12,111 | 9th lowest of 15 · 104% of median | 14,731 | 304 | 208.4 |
| 2016 | 371 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 3% of median | 5,007 | 30 | 12.0 |
| 2017 | 17,611 | 13th lowest of 15 · 152% of median | 4,553 | 309 | 858.0 |
| 2018 | 6,227 | 5th lowest of 15 · 54% of median | 8,605 | 231 | 329.8 |
| 2019 | 912 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 8% of median | 5,000 | 40 | 37.0 |
| 2020 | 15,826 | 11th lowest of 15 · 136% of median | 8,636 | 276 | 529.6 |
| 2021 | 20,575 | 14th lowest of 15 · 177% of median | 8,961 | 225 | 700.5 |
| 2022 | 27,187 | 15th lowest of 15 · 234% of median | 6,273 | 307 | 993.7 |
| 2023 | 11,481 | 7th lowest of 15 · 99% of median | 6,289 | 248 | 751.8 |
| 2024 | 11,601 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | 5,529 | 244 | 613.0 |
| 2025 | 5,971 | 4th lowest of 15 · 52% of median | 11,809 | 210 | 162.9 |
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 B (8/10 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 | 3476 measured days; currency unknown (no data-coverage date to compare against) |
| record continuity | patchy | 70% of the irrigation seasons in 2002-2025 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.