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ELK HEAD DITCH
Structure dossier · WDID 5300571 · 1 · EGERIA CREEK · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-27 20:28 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.
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 1890-09-01 — 114th 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: WHITESIDE NO 3 DITCH (1890-08-09). Immediately behind: ANTELOPE SCHOOL WELL (1890-12-31).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14854.0 | 1890-09-01 | 1890-11-20 | 1.6 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 141 |
Recorded use (last 15 years on record)
In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 98 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2024, came in at 177 AF — 181% of that, and 11th 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 60 | 6th lowest of 15 · 61% of median | 77 | 0.5 |
| 2007 | 56 | 5th lowest of 15 · 57% of median | 62 | 0.5 |
| 2008 | 111 | 9th lowest of 15 · 113% of median | 85 | 0.7 |
| 2009 | 194 | 13th lowest of 15 · 198% of median | 99 | 1.0 |
| 2010 | 32 | 4th lowest of 15 · 33% of median | 42 | 0.5 |
| 2011 | 9 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 9% of median | 14 | 0.4 |
| 2012 | 19 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 19% of median | 20 | 0.5 |
| 2013 | 87 | 7th lowest of 15 · 89% of median | 57 | 1.0 |
| 2014 | 338 | 15th lowest of 15 · 345% of median | 55 | 5.3 |
| 2015 | 191 | 12th lowest of 15 · 195% of median | 79 | 1.4 |
| 2016 | 256 | 14th lowest of 15 · 261% of median | 41 | 3.6 |
| 2017 | 176 | 10th lowest of 15 · 180% of median | 57 | 2.4 |
| 2019 | 0 | 1st lowest of 15 · 0% of median | 2 | 0.0 |
| 2020 | 98 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | 44 | 1.1 |
| 2024 | 177 | 11th lowest of 15 · 181% of median | 34 | 2.7 |
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.