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JAMES WHEELER DITCH
Structure dossier · WDID 5800706 · 1 · ELK RIVER · DWR record
Where this page's figures come from
Generated 2026-08-27 20:39 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 1889-02-01 — 85th 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: YAMPA RIVER DIVERSION (1888-10-29). Immediately behind: OAKTON DITCH (1889-03-27).
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. | Units | UsesWhat the court said this water may be used for -- irrigation, municipal supply, augmentation and so on. | Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14277.0 | 1889-02-01 | 1892-09-22 | 1.5 | 0.0 | C | IRR | (62(67 |
| 40677.0 | 1961-05-15 | 1964-03-30 | 2.5 | 0.0 | C | IRR | 49 |
Recorded use (last 15 years on record)
In a median year this structure has a recorded diversion of 89 AF. Its most recent year on record, 2025, came in at 17 AF — 19% of that, and 1st 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 | 263 | 12th lowest of 15 · 296% of median | 108 | 1.2 |
| 2012 | 444 | 14th lowest of 15 · 499% of median | 128 | 4.1 |
| 2013 | 325 | 13th lowest of 15 · 365% of median | 136 | 1.9 |
| 2014 | 790 | 15th lowest of 15 · 888% of median | 142 | 4.9 |
| 2015 | 153 | 10th lowest of 15 · 172% of median | 127 | 1.3 |
| 2016 | 50 | 4th lowest of 15 · 56% of median | 92 | 0.5 |
| 2017 | 23 | 2nd lowest of 15 · 26% of median | 58 | 0.2 |
| 2018 | 56 | 5th lowest of 15 · 63% of median | 53 | 0.8 |
| 2019 | 143 | 9th lowest of 15 · 161% of median | 97 | 0.8 |
| 2020 | 222 | 11th lowest of 15 · 249% of median | 103 | 1.6 |
| 2021 | 89 | 8th lowest of 15 · 100% of median | 80 | 1.0 |
| 2022 | 33 | 3rd lowest of 15 · 37% of median | 49 | 0.3 |
| 2023 | 67 | 7th lowest of 15 · 75% of median | 68 | 1.0 |
| 2024 | 62 | 6th lowest of 15 · 70% of median | 96 | 0.8 |
| 2025 | 17 | 1st lowest of 15 · 19% of median | 29 | 0.5 |
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.