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WILLOW DITCH (SMITH CREEK)
Structure dossier · WDID 5100963 · 1 · SMITH CREEK · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-27 20:43 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.
Which of its rights get called out?
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 1892-06-01 — 303rd 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: GEORGE BUNTE NO 2 DITCH (1890-05-15). Immediately behind: STANLEY DITCH (1903-12-31).
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. | Units | UsesWhat the court said this water may be used for -- irrigation, municipal supply, augmentation and so on. | Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23817.15493 | 1892-06-01 | 1917-08-11 | 1.75 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 322 |
Recorded use (last 15 years on record)
In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 216 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2024, came in at 308 AF — 143% 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 121 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 56% of median | 62 | 1.0 |
| 2000 | 52 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 24% of median | 77 | 0.5 |
| 2004 | 216 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | 99 | 2.0 |
| 2005 | 0 | 1st lowest of 15 · 0% of median | 1 | 0.0 |
| 2006 | 147 | 5th lowest of 15 · 68% of median | 98 | 0.9 |
| 2015 | 142 | 4th lowest of 15 · 66% of median | 57 | 1.5 |
| 2016 | 264 | 10th lowest of 15 · 122% of median | 153 | 1.5 |
| 2017 | 397 | 15th lowest of 15 · 184% of median | 181 | 1.8 |
| 2018 | 202 | 7th lowest of 15 · 94% of median | 179 | 1.0 |
| 2019 | 387 | 14th lowest of 15 · 179% of median | 159 | 2.0 |
| 2020 | 224 | 9th lowest of 15 · 104% of median | 105 | 2.0 |
| 2021 | 197 | 6th lowest of 15 · 91% of median | 153 | 2.0 |
| 2022 | 300 | 12th lowest of 15 · 139% of median | 141 | 2.0 |
| 2023 | 295 | 11th lowest of 15 · 137% of median | 153 | 2.0 |
| 2024 | 308 | 13th lowest of 15 · 143% of median | 155 | 2.0 |
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.