Hydrohistorian

← My Water  ·  Print / save as PDF

ELK DITCH

Structure dossier · WDID 5300569 · 1 · ELK CREEK · DWR record

Where this page's figures come from

Generated 2026-08-27 21:11 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 1889-07-31 — 143rd 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: MEANA DITCH (1889-05-01). Immediately behind: TEPE DITCH (1892-10-10).

Decreed rights (2)

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
20427.144571889-07-311907-12-09 0.70.0 CIRR 163
37010.01951-05-011956-02-07 1.00.0 CIRR 366

Recorded use (last 15 years on record)

In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 70 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2024, came in at 124 AF — 177% of that, and 14th 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)
2007 82 9th lowest of 15 · 117% of median 93 0.5
2008 58 6th lowest of 15 · 83% of median 52 0.6
2009 100 11th lowest of 15 · 143% of median 82 0.7
2010 70 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median 70 0.7
2011 107 13th lowest of 15 · 153% of median 66 1.0
2012 36 2nd lowest of 15 · 51% of median 56 0.5
2013 136 15th lowest of 15 · 194% of median 57 1.7
2014 63 7th lowest of 15 · 90% of median 107 0.3
2015 94 10th lowest of 15 · 134% of median 101 0.5
2016 46 4th lowest of 15 · 66% of median 86 0.3
2017 47 5th lowest of 15 · 67% of median 100 0.3
2018 21 1st lowest of 15 · 30% of median 33 0.3
2019 105 12th lowest of 15 · 150% of median 56 1.2
2020 43 3rd lowest of 15 · 61% of median 88 0.2
2024 124 14th lowest of 15 · 177% of median 99 0.6

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.