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BIG MESA DITCH
Structure dossier · WDID 5800539 · 1 · BEAR RIVER · 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 (a1c9146) — every figure regenerates from this named code version and data image.
Where it sits in line
Priority 1900-06-01 — 247th most senior of the 3097 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: HOWE DITCH (1898-10-27). Immediately behind: LEIGHTON DITCH (1900-06-01).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18898.18414 | 1900-06-01 | 1902-09-15 | 0.0 | 0.0 | C | IRRDOM | 150 |
| 19990.15938 | 1893-08-20 | 1904-09-26 | 28.0 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 123B |
| 35924.0 | 1948-05-10 | 1953-03-09 | 0.0 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 391 |
Recorded use (last 15 years on record)
In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 3,948 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2025, came in at 2,472 AF — 63% of that, and 4th 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 4,227 | 11th lowest of 15 · 107% of median | 65 | 42.2 |
| 2012 | 2,407 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 61% of median | 156 | 21.8 |
| 2013 | 3,376 | 7th lowest of 15 · 86% of median | 109 | 35.0 |
| 2014 | 4,046 | 9th lowest of 15 · 102% of median | 90 | 35.5 |
| 2015 | 4,233 | 12th lowest of 15 · 107% of median | 122 | 36.3 |
| 2016 | 3,948 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | 142 | 37.3 |
| 2017 | 4,841 | 14th lowest of 15 · 123% of median | 142 | 38.1 |
| 2018 | 2,685 | 5th lowest of 15 · 68% of median | 131 | 34.1 |
| 2019 | 5,023 | 15th lowest of 15 · 127% of median | 136 | 41.8 |
| 2020 | 3,077 | 6th lowest of 15 · 78% of median | 130 | 36.0 |
| 2021 | 1,710 | 1st lowest of 15 · 43% of median | 88 | 33.7 |
| 2022 | 2,231 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 56% of median | 165 | 33.7 |
| 2023 | 4,480 | 13th lowest of 15 · 114% of median | 126 | 33.7 |
| 2024 | 4,181 | 10th lowest of 15 · 106% of median | 119 | 36.9 |
| 2025 | 2,472 | 4th lowest of 15 · 63% of median | 108 | 32.9 |
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.