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SHERIFF DITCH (WILLOW CREEK)
Structure dossier · WDID 5100921 · 1 · WILLOW CREEK · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-27 21:01 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 1883-06-06 — 24th most senior of the 2208 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: NINE MILE DITCH (1883-04-30). Immediately behind: HERSHEY DITCH (1883-07-13).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12210.0 | 1883-06-06 | 1906-08-11 | 5.0 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 16 |
| 12585.0 | 1884-06-15 | 1906-08-11 | 8.0 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 24 |
| 23817.17713 | 1898-06-30 | 1917-08-11 | 0.25 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 323 |
Recorded use (last 15 years on record)
In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 977 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2024, came in at 657 AF — 67% of that, and 4th 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 839 | 6th lowest of 15 · 86% of median | 55 | 8.5 |
| 2010 | 1,063 | 11th lowest of 15 · 109% of median | 70 | 8.0 |
| 2011 | 1,016 | 9th lowest of 15 · 104% of median | 66 | 8.0 |
| 2012 | 1,143 | 13th lowest of 15 · 117% of median | 82 | 8.0 |
| 2013 | 413 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 42% of median | 42 | 8.0 |
| 2014 | 977 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | 70 | 8.2 |
| 2015 | 1,044 | 10th lowest of 15 · 107% of median | 104 | 13.6 |
| 2016 | 543 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 56% of median | 36 | 10.0 |
| 2017 | 732 | 5th lowest of 15 · 75% of median | 71 | 8.5 |
| 2018 | 1,150 | 14th lowest of 15 · 118% of median | 125 | 8.5 |
| 2019 | 883 | 7th lowest of 15 · 90% of median | 113 | 13.0 |
| 2020 | 1,150 | 14th lowest of 15 · 118% of median | 142 | 7.0 |
| 2022 | 394 | 1st lowest of 15 · 40% of median | 68 | 5.0 |
| 2023 | 1,067 | 12th lowest of 15 · 109% of median | 119 | 7.9 |
| 2024 | 657 | 4th lowest of 15 · 67% of median | 95 | 6.0 |
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.