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LAST CHANCE DITCH
Structure dossier · WDID 4500668 · 1 · COLORADO RIVER · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-27 23:06 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 1887-03-23 — 65th most senior of the 1378 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: BERNKLAU DITCH (1887-03-21). Immediately behind: SHUTT DITCH (1887-05-11).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13596.0 | 1887-03-23 | 1888-05-05 | 47.817 | 0.0 | C | IRRMUNINDAUG | 73 |
| 35476.0 | 1947-02-17 | 1959-07-21 | 0.0 | 0.0 | C | INDDOM | |
| 36204.0 | 1949-02-14 | 1952-09-05 | 0.0 | 0.0 | C | COMINDFIRDOMPWR | 259 |
| 52230.48303 | 1982-04-01 | 1993-12-31 | 7.0 | 0.0 | C | IRRSTK | |
| 55152.55014 | 2000-08-15 | 2001-12-31 | 0.0 | 1.0 | C | IND |
Legal record & documents
32 decreed actions on record across
15 court cases:
01CW0008, 93CW0092, 05CW0052, 10CW0175, CA0089, 95CW0319, 83CW0136, 83CW0110, 81CW0288, 07CW0219 and 5 more below.
Every case, dated
| Case | Actions | Latest adjudication | Types |
|---|---|---|---|
01CW0008 | 3 | 2001-12-31 | O, S |
93CW0092 | 1 | 1993-12-31 | S |
05CW0052 | 2 | 1959-07-21 | S |
10CW0175 | 1 | 1952-09-05 | S |
CA0089 | 1 | 1888-05-05 | O |
95CW0319 | 2 | 1888-05-05 | O |
83CW0136 | 2 | 1888-05-05 | O |
83CW0110 | 2 | 1888-05-05 | O |
81CW0288 | 2 | 1888-05-05 | O |
07CW0219 | 3 | 1888-05-05 | O |
04CW0192 | 4 | 1888-05-05 | O |
04CW0158 | 2 | 1888-05-05 | O |
04CW0094 | 2 | 1888-05-05 | O |
00CW0253 | 2 | 1888-05-05 | O |
00CW0244 | 3 | 1888-05-05 | 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 10,472 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2024, came in at 13,376 AF — 128% of that, and 14th 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 9,288 | 1st lowest of 15 · 89% of median | — | 256 | 28.5 |
| 2011 | 10,157 | 6th lowest of 15 · 97% of median | — | 304 | 30.0 |
| 2012 | 9,426 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 90% of median | — | 221 | 40.9 |
| 2013 | 9,819 | 5th lowest of 15 · 94% of median | — | 276 | 34.0 |
| 2014 | 10,813 | 11th lowest of 15 · 103% of median | — | 365 | 30.8 |
| 2015 | 10,472 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | — | 354 | 30.3 |
| 2016 | 10,305 | 7th lowest of 15 · 98% of median | 1,747 | 334 | 36.7 |
| 2017 | 9,413 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 90% of median | — | 294 | 25.0 |
| 2018 | 14,257 | 15th lowest of 15 · 136% of median | 1,747 | 265 | 49.9 |
| 2019 | 11,075 | 12th lowest of 15 · 106% of median | — | 356 | 34.1 |
| 2020 | 10,656 | 10th lowest of 15 · 102% of median | — | 305 | 32.0 |
| 2021 | 10,576 | 9th lowest of 15 · 101% of median | — | 359 | 30.0 |
| 2022 | 11,530 | 13th lowest of 15 · 110% of median | 1,301 | 365 | 31.1 |
| 2023 | 9,641 | 4th lowest of 15 · 92% of median | 865 | 365 | 30.0 |
| 2024 | 13,376 | 14th lowest of 15 · 128% of median | 865 | 305 | 51.5 |
Trends for this structure
Recorded use is rising over its last 15 recorded years (+137 AF/yr, Mann-Kendall p=0.038).
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 | 14942 measured days; currency unknown (no data-coverage date to compare against) |
| record continuity | continuous | 100% of the irrigation seasons in 1975-2024 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.