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BUTTE CREEK DITCH

Structure dossier · WDID 5200529 · 1 · BIG ALKALI CREEK · DWR record

Where this page's figures come from

Generated 2026-08-27 19:17 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 in line

Priority 1894-02-01 — 60th most senior of the 562 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: NORMAN DITCH (1893-03-15). Immediately behind: MUDHOLE DITCH (1896-06-01).

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
19790.161031894-02-011907-01-26 2.20.0 CIRR 61

Recorded use (last 15 years on record)

In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 401 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2023, came in at 93 AF — 23% 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)
2008 470 14th lowest of 15 · 117% of median 119 2.7
2009 464 12th lowest of 15 · 116% of median 129 2.7
2010 445 11th lowest of 15 · 111% of median 134 2.3
2011 416 9th lowest of 15 · 104% of median 107 2.7
2012 127 3rd lowest of 15 · 32% of median 73 1.5
2013 401 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median 150 2.0
2014 650 15th lowest of 15 · 162% of median 101 4.6
2015 468 13th lowest of 15 · 117% of median 164 2.0
2016 347 7th lowest of 15 · 86% of median 163 3.6
2017 433 10th lowest of 15 · 108% of median 193 1.6
2018 184 4th lowest of 15 · 46% of median 141 1.1
2019 250 5th lowest of 15 · 62% of median 101 1.6
2020 273 6th lowest of 15 · 68% of median 138 1.9
2021 39 1st lowest of 15 · 10% of median 79 0.2
2023 93 2nd lowest of 15 · 23% of median 93 0.8

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.