Hydrohistorian
← My Water · Print / save as PDF
BIG MESA DITCH
Structure dossier · WDID 5300511 · 1 · SUNNYSIDE CREEK · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-27 21:14 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 1888-04-15 — 71st most senior of the 1231 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: TUKE NO 1 DITCH (1888-04-04). Immediately behind: CORRELL DITCH (1888-04-15).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13985.0 | 1888-04-15 | 1890-11-20 | 0.6 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 77 |
| 14350.0 | 1889-04-15 | 1890-11-20 | 1.2 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 94 |
| 14715.0 | 1890-04-15 | 1890-11-20 | 2.8 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 106 |
Recorded use (last 15 years on record)
In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 187 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2020, came in at 205 AF — 110% of that, and 10th 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 224 | 12th lowest of 15 · 120% of median | 115 | 1.5 |
| 2006 | 184 | 7th lowest of 15 · 98% of median | 115 | 1.0 |
| 2007 | 151 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 81% of median | 77 | 1.0 |
| 2008 | 222 | 11th lowest of 15 · 119% of median | 96 | 1.5 |
| 2009 | 200 | 9th lowest of 15 · 107% of median | 94 | 1.5 |
| 2010 | 258 | 14th lowest of 15 · 138% of median | 124 | 1.5 |
| 2011 | 256 | 13th lowest of 15 · 137% of median | 102 | 1.5 |
| 2012 | 173 | 5th lowest of 15 · 92% of median | 106 | 1.0 |
| 2013 | 187 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | 99 | 1.5 |
| 2015 | 431 | 15th lowest of 15 · 230% of median | 142 | 4.0 |
| 2016 | 96 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 51% of median | 107 | 1.2 |
| 2017 | 178 | 6th lowest of 15 · 95% of median | 48 | 4.6 |
| 2018 | 37 | 1st lowest of 15 · 20% of median | 75 | 0.2 |
| 2019 | 161 | 4th lowest of 15 · 86% of median | 59 | 1.4 |
| 2020 | 205 | 10th lowest of 15 · 110% of median | 102 | 1.2 |
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.